12/7/2006

Planet Payment and Fifth Third Launch Multi-Currency Pricing Service

Long Beach, NY — December 7, 2006 — Planet Payment [LSE:AIM: PPTR and PPT] and Fifth Third Processing Solutions, the electronic transaction processing division of Fifth Third Bank, announced today a new service, Multi-Currency Pricing (MCP), designed to help Fifth Third’s internationally focused merchant services clients more effectively process card-not-present transactions in multiple currencies.

Through a strategic partnership, Planet Payment and Fifth Third, the industry’s fourth largest merchant acquirer, will offer Multi-Currency Pricing enabling merchants to offer customers around the world the ability to shop, view prices and pay for purchases entirely in their own currency across a number of card-not-present channels, including the Internet, mail order and telephone order. The service is key to the localized shopping experience merchants are looking to create for global customers, because these customers are more comfortable making buying decisions in their own currencies. With this service, E-Commerce and Mail Order / Telephone Order (MO/TO) merchants offering MCP can attract more international shoppers and increase the likelihood that purchases will be completed.

“Fifth Third has a long history of providing innovative, profit-building and high-quality transaction processing solutions to its merchant clients,” commented Donald Boeding, senior vice president and general manager of Merchant Services. “Multi-Currency Pricing is the latest demonstration of how we continue to meet our clients’ constantly changing needs. We’re confident that our clients will be able to significantly enhance their international initiatives with Multi-Currency Pricing.”

Fifth Third’s Multi-Currency Pricing supports most major currencies, without requiring merchants to establish foreign banking relationships or pay funds transfer fees from overseas accounts. Merchants will know the settlement amount in U.S. Dollars at the time of authorization, and the funds availability is the same as for a domestic transaction. Merchants continue to receive reporting and payment in US Dollars, regardless of which currency the customer uses, eliminating the need for elaborate currency management.

Taking immediate advantage of the international selling opportunity presented by this new service is CSM Worldwide, a global provider of forecasting, market assessment and planning support to the automotive industry. "At CSM Worldwide, quality and innovation are among the core values we apply to serving our global customer base, and Fifth Third's Multi-Currency Pricing solution supports these values most effectively. Multi-Currency pricing is a natural addition to our multi-lingual website, providing our valued customers around the world total clarity in their buying decisions and expense management processes,” said Robert Swistock, CFO for CSM Worldwide.

In addition to recently launching Multi-Currency Pricing, Fifth Third has been working with Planet Payment to offer its Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) solution to internationally focused bricks and mortar merchants since 2004. With DCC, customers shop in the merchant’s local currency and are then offered the choice at checkout to complete the transaction in their home currency. This service provides shoppers with convenience and true price-transparency and is used around the world in card-present environments including retail, restaurant and hospitality. Fifth Third also supports the FX Assured® product, which combines traditional DCC benefits with the assurance of the same or better rate for conversion than the cardholder’s own card issuing bank would effectively charge.

Media Inquiries to:
Stephanie L. Honan
Fifth Third Processing Solutions
Stephanie.Honan@53.com (513) 534-6957

Joel Mayer
Planet Payment
jmayer@planetpayment.com (516) 670-3200

About Planet Payment:

Planet Payment is the trade name for Planet Group, Inc. [LSE: AIM: PPTR and PPT for Reg S and unrestricted common shares respectively]. Further information on Planet Payment can be found at: www.planetpayment.com

Planet Payment is a multi-currency payment and data processor, enabling processors, acquiring banks and their merchants to accept, process and reconcile credit card transactions in multiple currencies, allowing cardholders to view prices and settle transactions in their native currency. Planet Payment’s systems also enable it to provide enhanced data reporting and data management to merchants who are using multiple systems in different countries.

The Planet Payment business was established in 1999. Planet Payment is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Hong Kong.


About Fifth Third Processing Solutions:

Fifth Third Processing Solutions is one of the nation’s largest providers of credit, debit, EBT, ACH and check acceptance services. Established in 1973, Fifth Third's high-end in-house processing capabilities offer an unparalleled combination of flexibility, reliability, experience, and proactive support. Fifth Third innovations include the development of JEANIE®, the nation's first modern ATM network and Fifth Third DirectSM, the industry-leading interactive, Internet-based back-office support system. As one of the five businesses operated by Fifth Third Bancorp, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, Fifth Third Processing Solutions processes 17 billion ATM and POS transactions per year for more than 137,000 merchant locations and 1,700 financial institutions worldwide, including First Niagara Financial Group, Sovereign Bank, The Kroger Co., AutoZone, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nordstrom, Inc. and The Finish Line. Annually, Fifth Third processes $138.6 billion in credit card sales. More information may be found at http://merchant.53.com