Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) and Heartland Payment Systems® (NYSE: HPY), one of the nation’s largest payments processors, today announced a strategic relationship to deliver integrated, high-security payment systems to retailers nationwide and implement Heartland’s end-to-end encryption E3™ solution.

“Security in payments transactions is critical in today’s environment of cyber crime and data breaches,” commented Bob Carr, Heartland’s chairman and chief executive officer. “It’s important that merchants nationwide – even those not employing Heartland’s E3 terminals which are expected to be available at the end of this year – have the ability to protect cardholder data. Our strategic relationship with Hypercom will help make E3 more widely available.”

“As one of the top processors in the country, Heartland is helping change the landscape of payment transactions security,” said Philippe Tartavull, Hypercom’s chief executive officer and president. “We will expand payment processing services and help Heartland implement the next generation of end-to-end card data protection for merchants and consumers nationwide.”

Heartland is licensing Hypercom’s SmartPayments™ Server Software products as key components of its host electronic transaction processing platform. Branded as Heartland Connect Gateway™, this software will enable Hypercom® point-of-sale systems to integrate E3 technology which is designed to protect card data from the moment of swipe through transmission to the card brands. The gateway will also allow Hypercom terminals and others to support E3.

SmartPayments will facilitate Heartland’s ability to offer E3 to several key markets by providing an infrastructure and total solution that supports restaurant, hotel and retail, mobile commerce, IP terminals, an e-commerce virtual terminal solution for card-not-present and card-present transactions including debit. SmartPayments provides the ability to support integrated plug-ins for Microsoft’s Retail Management System (RMS) and Intuit’s QuickBooks accounting packages.

About Heartland Payment Systems

Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY), the 5th largest payments processor in the United States, delivers credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payments solutions to more than 250,000 business locations nationwide. Heartland is the founding supporter of The Merchant Bill of Rights, a public advocacy initiative that educates merchants about fair credit and debit card processing practices. For more information, please visit HeartlandPaymentSystems.com, MerchantBillOfRights.com, E3Secure.com and CostOfABurger.com.

This press release may contain statements of a forward-looking nature which represent beliefs and assumptions of Heartland’s management concerning future events. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and are based on information currently available to Heartland. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements due to many factors, including, without limitation, the risks that Heartland may be unable to successfully develop and implement end-to-end encryption technology, the card brands may not agree to accept encrypted data, the market may not accept the change from current encryption technology to end-to-end encryption technology and our end-to-end encryption may not work as intended. Information concerning other factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements set forth herein is contained in Heartland’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K, or its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, as applicable. Heartland undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise after this press release is disseminated.

About Hypercom (www.hypercom.com)

Global payment technology leader Hypercom Corporation delivers a full suite of high security, end-to-end electronic payment products and services. The Company's solutions address the high security electronic transaction needs of banks and other financial institutions, processors, large scale retailers, smaller merchants, quick service restaurants, and users in the transportation, petroleum, healthcare, prepaid, unattended and many other markets. Hypercom solutions enable businesses in more than 100 countries to securely expand their revenues and profits. Hypercom is a founding member of the Secure POS Vendor Alliance (SPVA) and is the second largest provider of electronic payment solutions and services in Western Europe and third largest provider globally.

Hypercom and Optimum & Design are registered trademarks of Hypercom Corporation. SmartPayments is a trademark of Hypercom Corporation. All other products or services mentioned in this document are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks or registered service marks of their respective owners. This press release includes statements that may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding market acceptance of new products, product capability and performance, product competitiveness, product sales, revenues and profits, market share, and expected acquisition results and benefits. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. In particular, factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include: industry, competitive and technological changes; the loss of, and failure to replace any significant customers; the composition, timing and size of orders from and shipments to major customers; inventory obsolescence; market acceptance of new products and services; compliance with industry standards, certifications and government regulations; the performance of suppliers, contract manufacturers and subcontractors; the ability to successfully integrate the technologies, operations and personnel of acquired businesses in a timely manner; the ability to obtain the expected strategic and financial benefits from acquisitions; risks associated with international operations and foreign currency fluctuations, the state of the U.S. and global economies in general and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's most recent 10-K and subsequent 10-Qs and 8-Ks. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and are not guarantees of future performance. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. HYCP