AACE Ace Cash Express

DALLAS, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACE Cash Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:AACE), announced that it has made a $25,000 contribution to the American Red Cross for the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund from the ACE Community Fund. In addition, the ACE Community Fund will set aside $25,000 to assist ACE associates and their families. The Company will also collect money to aid the victims and families of the hurricane disaster from employee contributions and customer donations collected across the United States. In the past, ACE has donated over a quarter of a million dollars to the American Red Cross for efforts to aid in the tragedies of 9-11, the tsunami, and Florida hurricanes. "When a disaster like this happens, it is difficult to even imagine the devastation," said Jay B. Shipowitz, President and CEO. "This catastrophe really hits home because we have associates and their family members that are directly affected. We hope that our contribution will ease some of the burden. Our thoughts and prayers go out to these communities." Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, Chief Executive Officer, American Red Cross Dallas Area Chapter said, "This generous donation from ACE Cash Express to the Red Cross will enable us to provide immediate assistance to the thousands affected by this unimaginable tragedy. We cannot begin to express our thanks for the support of ACE and its customers in our efforts." ACE has 20 company-owned stores in the New Orleans area, served by 40 employees, that have been the most severely affected by the hurricane. At this point, ACE has not been able to visit any of the affected stores and continues to assess the impact of the hurricane on its operations and its business. About ACE Cash Express ACE Cash Express, Inc. is a leading retailer of financial services, including check cashing, short-term consumer loans and bill payment services, and the largest owner, operator and franchisor of check cashing stores in the United States. As of June 30, 2005, ACE had a network of 1,371 stores in 37 states and the District of Columbia, consisting of 1,142 company-owned stores and 229 franchised stores. ACE focuses on serving consumers, many of whom seek alternatives to traditional banking relationships in order to gain convenient and immediate access to check cashing services and short-term consumer loans. ACE's website is found at http://www.acecashexpress.com/ . About the American Red Cross Governed by volunteers and supported by community donations, the American Red Cross is a nationwide network of nearly 900 field units dedicated to saving lives and helping people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies. Led by 1 million volunteers and 36,000 employees, the Red Cross annually mobilizes relief to families affected by more than 70,000 disasters, trains almost 12 million people in lifesaving skills and keeps U.S. military families connected worldwide. The American Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood and blood products to more than 3,000 hospitals across the nation and also assists victims of international disasters and conflicts at locations worldwide. Marsha J. Evans is the President and CEO of the American Red Cross. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are generally identified by the use of words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "target," "goal," "should," "would," and terms with similar meanings. Although ACE believes that the current views and expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these views and expectations, and the related statements, are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are not under ACE's control and may not even be predictable. Any inaccuracy in the assumptions, as well as those risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from these in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and factors include, but are not limited to, matters described in ACE's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as: * ACE's relationships with Republic Bank & Trust Company, First Bank of Delaware, Travelers Express and its affiliates, and its bank lenders; * ACE's relationships with providers of services or products offered by ACE or property used in its operations; * federal and state governmental regulation of check cashing, short-term consumer lending and related financial services businesses; * any impact on the loans offered by each of Republic Bank & Trust Company and First Bank of Delaware at ACE's stores in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arkansas from the implementation of the revised Guidelines for Payday Lending announced on March 1, 2005 by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which revised Guidelines provide guidance to banks that engage in payday lending, and include a requirement that such banks develop procedures to ensure that a payday loan is not provided to any customer with payday loans outstanding from any lender for more than 3 months in the previous 12 months; * any litigation; * theft and employee errors; * the availability of adequate financing, suitable locations, acquisition opportunities and experienced management employees to implement ACE's growth strategy; * increases in interest rates, which would increase ACE's borrowing costs; * the fragmentation of the check cashing industry and competition from various other sources, such as banks, savings and loans, short-term consumer lenders, and other similar financial services entities, as well as retail businesses that offer services offered by ACE; * the terms and performance of third-party services offered at ACE's stores; and * customer demand and response to services offered at ACE's stores. ACE expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in ACE's views or expectations, or otherwise. ACE makes no prediction or statement about the performance of its common stock. DATASOURCE: ACE Cash Express, Inc. CONTACT: Eric Norrington, VP of Communications & Government Relations of ACE Cash Express, Inc., +1-972-550-5032, or Web site: http://www.acecashexpress.com/

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