LONDON, October 24 /PRNewswire/ -- VocaLink, the payment transaction specialist, and BankGiroCentralen (BGC), the Swedish Automated Clearing House (ACH), have won the National Outsourcing Association (NOA) Award for Innovation in Outsourcing. The award has been given in recognition of the groundbreaking clearing and settlement business model that was developed to outsource the processing of Sweden's automated payments to VocaLink. The deal represented the first time the processing for a national payments scheme has been transferred to a non- domestic player.

Martin Wilson, Chief Commercial Officer of VocaLink, said: We're delighted and proud to be given this award. This is in recognition of all the hard work and effort that has gone into the outsourcing deal from both BGC and VocaLink over the past year. Our partnership has the potential to refresh thinking on scalable, flexible, commercial and economic models for payments. The Swedish banks and BGC should be commended on this innovative and bold step, which is particularly relevant in the current economic climate and with regard to the impact that SEPA will have on national ACHs.

The outsourcing deal between VocaLink and BGC will see the majority of Swedish giro payments being processed by VocaLink in the UK. This will enable BGC to accelerate the deployment of a strategic payments solution, allowing it to focus on those aspects of the business where it can add most customer value. These include providing banks with broader product portfolios, quicker delivery of new products and lower development and operational costs.

The judges of the NOA Awards 2008 recognised that VocaLink had changed the nature of the whole business and this obviously had a huge impact on its industry and its clients. The winners represent the length and breadth of the outsourcing industry, from banking to telecoms, small companies to large, individuals and major corporates. The fifth annual independent awards were held on 23 October 2008 at the Park Plaza Riverbank in London.

Notes to Editors

About VocaLink

VocaLink is a specialist provider of transaction services to banks, their corporate customers and Government departments. It processes domestic and international automated payments and provides ATM switching solutions. On a peak day, the VocaLink automated payment platform processes over 90 million transactions and over half a billion in a month. Its switching platform connects the world's busiest ATM network of over 60,000 ATMs. Its Real-Time Payments platform provides the central infrastructure for the UK Faster Payments service. It is working with BGC to provide outsourced processing for the majority of Sweden's domestic payments.

Having pioneered electronic payments for over four decades, many of the world's top banks and their corporate customers rely on VocaLink to meet their transaction needs. Its processing services offer banks reach throughout the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) and beyond; and are complemented by value-added services that leverage industry expertise and technical capabilities.

Please visit http://www.vocalink.com for more information

For further information please contact: Gerald Cross at The JJ Group +44(0)1865-343100 or vocalink@thejjgroup.com Kevin Monks at VocaLink +44(0)870-920-8574 or kevin.monks@vocalink.com Deborah Souter at VocaLink +44(0)870-920-8651 or deborah.souter@vocalink.com

For further information please contact: Gerald Cross at The JJ Group, +44(0)1865-343100 or vocalink@thejjgroup.com; Kevin Monks at VocaLink, +44(0)870-920-8574 or kevin.monks@vocalink.com; Deborah Souter at VocaLink, +44(0)870-920-8651 or deborah.souter@vocalink.com