American Express Incentive Services, LLC & Schoolpop, Inc. - Subsidiary of LoyaltyPoint, Inc. - Announce Five-Year Exclusive Agreement and New Product Offerings Strategic Marketing Partnership Brings Multi-Merchant Stored-Value 'Scrip' Cards to Schools and Nonprofits ATLANTA, Aug. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Schoolpop, Inc., a leading provider of nontraditional fundraising programs for schools and nonprofits and a subsidiary of LoyaltyPoint, Inc. (OTC:LYLP) (BULLETIN BOARD: LYLP) , a loyalty marketing company for merchants, schools, and nonprofit organizations, and American Express Incentive Services (AEIS), a reward solutions company that helps corporations drive business results, build loyalty, and recognize improved performance, today announced the completion of a five-year exclusive strategic marketing partnership. The agreement follows a prior exclusive relationship between the two companies and includes an equity stake by AEIS in LoyaltyPoint and an exclusive product offering for Schoolpop for the school and nonprofit fundraising market within the U.S. Current exclusive AEIS products have driven significant revenue for LoyaltyPoint, comprising 73.4 percent of total company sales and 75.8 percent of prepaid stored-value (or "scrip") card sales for the six-month period ending June 30, 2004. The companies are teaming up to create a unique series of new scrip cards that will be useable at multiple establishments and that will be introduced into the school and nonprofit markets under Schoolpop's Scrip & Earn product line, the cornerstone of Schoolpop's suite of nontraditional fundraising programs. Scrip & Earn raises money for schools and nonprofit organizations by utilizing prepaid stored-value cards (or certificates) that can be used to purchase goods from brand-name community-minded merchants. Schools and nonprofit organizations purchase these prepaid cards from Schoolpop and then resell the prepaid cards to their supporters, who use them for their everyday shopping needs. The school or nonprofit organization earns a percentage of the purchase price of each prepaid card by purchasing the card from Schoolpop at a discount and selling it at face value to its supporters. Under the agreement, the two companies will launch exclusive new prepaid card products that offer access to national retailers. The cards will be themed to represent consumers' typical spending categories such as clothing, home furnishings, electronics and groceries. "The ability to provide schools and nonprofits an easy to manage, multi-merchant scrip program is a breakthrough offering. It creates a tremendous advantage for opening up new markets for scrip," said Paul Robinson, Schoolpop's chairman and CEO. "Most schools don't have the resources to manage a traditional scrip program involving hundreds of cards, so they can't take full advantage of a scrip program's earning power. AEIS has made it possible to create an innovative program that meets parents' and supporters' everyday shopping needs with only a handful of cards." The initial stored-value themed cards include: -- Primary(SM) Card - accepted at select community-minded merchants that satisfy consumers' typical spending needs. -- Persona(R) Select Card - accepted at select community-minded merchants that offer specialty shopping options. -- Grocery Card - accepted at select community-minded grocery stores where the American Express(R) Card is welcomed. -- Be My Guest(R) Card - accepted at dining establishments where the American Express Card is welcomed. -- Fill It Up(R) Card - accepted at gasoline establishments where the American Express Card is welcomed. "We've decided to further our interest in the school and nonprofit market through Schoolpop. Based on past revenue realized through the Schoolpop channel, we believe this agreement may represent a substantial opportunity," said Jim Menadier, chief operating officer of American Express Incentive Services. "We are committed to making this a successful venture and are creating products specifically designed to support this market." The new prepaid cards will be available in early fall 2004 to existing Scrip & Earn customers of Schoolpop. Schoolpop will roll out a new program designed around the expanded AEIS cards in 2005. About Schoolpop Inc. Schoolpop is America's leading provider of nontraditional fundraising programs with more than 50,000 schools and nonprofits enrolled nationwide. Schoolpop's programs contribute a percentage of everyday shopping purchases from parents and supporters, who can conveniently shop from hundreds of brand- name merchant websites, stores, catalogs and gift cards. Schoolpop's suite of programs have resulted in over $200M in contributions, furthering Schoolpop's mission to eliminate the negative impact of budget shortfalls by providing a one-stop shop for schools and nonprofits to enroll in a suite of nontraditional fundraising programs that are hassle-free for schools, convenient for parents and safe for students. Schoolpop partners with hundreds of world-class, community-minded merchants and sponsors the Share the Dream Foundation, providing merit and financial need-based scholarship programs for students. For more information visit http://www.schoolpop.com/ . About LoyaltyPoint, Inc. LoyaltyPoint, Inc. is a loyalty marketing company for merchants, schools, and nonprofits. The Company markets online, gift card, store, catalog, and event-based loyalty programs that generate contributions to schools, nonprofits and other organizations, based upon parent and supporter purchases. Please visit us at http://www.loyaltypoint.com/ . About American Express Incentive Services AEIS provides business-to-business incentive tools for applications such as employee reward and recognition, sales incentives, loyalty programs, consumer promotions and rebates. AEIS' incentive solutions include stored-value cards, American Express(R) Gift Cheques and an online incentive solution. AEIS is headquartered in Fenton, Mo. For more information, please contact Bridget Westhoff at 636-226-2039. This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("Act"), regarding the launching of new card products and the program representing a substantial opportunity. Additionally words such as "seek," "intend," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "anticipate" and other similar expressions are forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific to the matters discussed in this press release. Some or all of the results anticipated by these forward-looking statements may not occur. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, its ability to integrate its scrip offerings, manage its growth and other factors mentioned in various Securities and Exchange Commission filings made periodically by the Company. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof and the Company expressly disclaims any obligation to provide public updates, revisions or amendments to any forward-looking statements made herein to reflect changes in the Company's expectations or future events. Contact: Investor Relations: ROI Group Associates, Inc. Thomas Mikolasko, Phone: (212) 495-0200 x16, Andrea Costa, Phone: (212) 495-0200 x14, Media Relations: LoyaltyPoint Inc. Mickey Freeman, Phone: (770) 736-9383 x103, DATASOURCE: LoyaltyPoint, Inc. CONTACT: Investor Relations: Thomas Mikolasko, +1-212-495-0200, ext. 16, , or Andrea Costa, +1-212-495-0200, ext. 14, , both of ROI Group Associates, Inc., for LoyaltyPoint Inc.; or Media Relations: Mickey Freeman of LoyaltyPoint Inc., +1-770-736-9383, ext. 103, Web site: http://www.loyaltypoint.com/ http://www.schoolpop.com/

Copyright