National Payment Card

New Agreement Uses
Driver's License As Debit Card

January 3, 2007

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- National Payment Card LLC, an electronic funds payment service bureau that interfaces with POS systems, announced an agreement with Murphy Oil USA Inc. to institute its patent-pending technology that it says will substantially reduce card acceptance costs at selected Murphy Oil USA retail outlets.

National Payment Card said that the PIN-based payment system processes transactions through the Federal Reserve Automated Clearing House (ACH), resulting in lower merchant fees and a self-funded loyalty program that provides immediate savings at the pump for consumers.

When fully deployed, Murphy Oil customers at approximately 984 fueling sites in 12 states will be able to participate in the program, allowing them to pay at the pump or in-store using a driver's license with a magnetic stripe that is tied to their checking account. When the sale is made, an electronic check is debited from the customer's account and is processed through the federal ACH system.

According to National Payment Card, the system costs only a fraction of what Murphy normally pays in merchant service fees, because the funds come directly from the consumer's bank account, removing the middlemen in the credit card and debit card networks altogether. The company said that its charge to merchants is a flat-fee of 15 cents per transaction on a loyalty card and 17 cents on a sale to a third-party card or driver's license.

The driver's license payment program gives Murphy "an instant card deck for millions of consumers who can enroll in the program without the cost of issuing new cards," said Peter Guidi, vice president of sales for National Payment Card. "The consumer will have the convenience of a card that is already in their wallet or purse."

According to National Payment Card, there are about 150 million Americans across 24 states carrying driver's licenses with magnetic stripes.

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