Gateway Payment System

Datacash Group PLC
13 January 2004

Embargoed for 7.00am Tuesday 13th January 2004
DataCash Group Plc ('DataCash' or 'the Company')



                     DATACASH ROLLS OUT PAYMENTS SOLUTIONS
                             FOR GOVERNMENT GATEWAY


Overview:


•  DataCash chosen by multinational IT group Schlumberger to operate credit card 
   and direct debit payment services on the Government's new Gateway internet 
   payment system

•  Both companies and individuals will be able to order services from Government 
   departments via the internet using the new network

•  Online payment technology selected for its security, reliability and ease of 
   use

•  DataCash expects a rapid expansion of volumes in payment transactions on the 
   network

•  Agreement compliments DataCash's already substantial presence in the UK's 
   online card processing market


DataCash, the UK's leading payment services provider, today announced it has
been appointed by SchlumbergerSema, the Information Technology business segment
of Schlumberger Limited, to supply its outsourced solutions for the Cabinet
Office's Government Gateway.

SchlumbergerSema provides systems integration and managed services for the
Government Gateway and, in order to procure those services, has contracted
DataCash to provide its card and direct debit payment services.

The Government Gateway is a secure, resilient hub that provides a single point
of contact for citizens to access UK Government information via the Internet.
The Gateway links to individual departments, local authorities and trusted
portals. It is an important part of the government's strategy of delivering
'joined up' government, enabling people to communicate and make transactions
with government from a single point of entry.

A number of government organisations are already available online through the
Gateway including DEFRA, DWP, DARDNI, DTI, HM Customs and Excise, Inland
Revenue, and LRNI

One of the key business drivers in the latest release of the Government Gateway
was the need to support all combinations of payment from citizens to government,
business to government and intra government.

DataCash has been selected to provide the secure, outsourced, payments
technology that supports the Gateway's ability to take and process payments made
by credit and debit card as well as direct debit and direct credit.

Derek Ward, managing director for public sector at SchlumbergerSema, said, "The
DataCash solution meets the needs of the Cabinet Office providing a secure,
reliable and easy to use online payment mechanism. SchlumbergerSema has worked
closely with DataCash to integrate the solution seamlessly into the existing
infrastructure and deliver this new functionality to the Government Gateway on
time and to budget."

Gavin Breeze, Business Development Director, DataCash said, "We are delighted to
have been selected to provide the outsourced payment solutions behind the
Gateway. We deliver a robust, scalable, highly secure service capable of
processing what we anticipate will be a rapidly expanding volume of payment
transactions. DEFRA was the first department to go live with our system and we
look forward to working closely with both SchlumbergerSema and the Cabinet
Office as we roll out the solution to government departments and local
authorities."



                                  * * ENDS * *



For Further information Contact:

Gavin Breeze, Business Development Director
T. 0870 72 74 76 1
E. [e-mail]


About DataCash

DataCash is the only quoted payment solution provider in Europe and provides
outsourced solutions for the authorisation, settlement and fraud management of
credit and debit cards as well as direct debits, direct credits and cheques. All
transactions are accessible to merchants through a real-time MIS Reporting
Suite.

DataCash's fraud management solutions support industry initiatives such as AVS/
CV2 and 3-D Secure's Verified by Visa and MasterCard SecureCode as well as
traditional, rules-based, fraud screening.

DataCash's solutions are suitable for merchants selling through any channel
including High Street Point of Sale, the Web, Interactive TV, Kiosk, Call Centre
and Interactive Voice Response ('IVR')



About Government Gateway

The Government Gateway allows government organisations and electronic business
users and citizens to communicate with each other using a common, consistent
mechanism. The Gateway infrastructure also enables government departments and
organisations to communicate between themselves - so a central government
department, for example, could use the Gateway to securely route transactions to
a local authority

The Gateway facilitates joined-up working between all stakeholders and acts as
an intelligent hub; providing authentication services, verifying the integrity
and validity of submitted transactions from citizens and businesses and routing
them to and from appropriate government departments and organisations.

The potential user community consists of tens of millions of citizens, agents
and businesses.  The number of national, regional and local government
organisations is estimated to be in excess of 1,000.  For more information,
visit http://www.gateway.gov.uk


About Schlumberger

Schlumberger is a global oilfield and information services company with major
activity in the energy industry. The company employs 78,000 people of more than
140 nationalities working in 100 countries and comprises three primary business
segments. Schlumberger Oilfield Services is the world's premier oilfield
services company supplying a wide range of technology services and solutions to
the international oil and gas industry. WesternGeco, jointly owned with Baker
Hughes, is the world's largest and most advanced surface seismic company.
SchlumbergerSema is a leading supplier of IT consulting, systems integration,
and network and infrastructure services to the energy industry, as well as to
the public sector, telecommunications and finance markets. In 2002, Schlumberger
operating revenue was $13.2 billion. For more information, visit www.slb.com

Atos Origin announced in September last year that it has signed an agreement to
acquire the core IT services activities of SchlumbergerSema from Schlumberger.
The agreement, subject to regulatory approvals, is expected to be completed no
later than January 2004.  For more information, www.atosorigin.com


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange