Ussery To Retire From TSYS After 40 Years of Service Retaining Positio

Ussery To Retire From TSYS After 40 Years of Service Retaining Position as Chairman of the Board

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    Business Editors
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    COLUMBUS, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 21, 2005--TSYS(R) (NYSE: TSS) today announced the planned retirement of Richard W. Ussery as an executive team member, effective June 30, 2005. Ussery will continue to serve as a director and chairman of the board for TSYS.
    In making the announcement, TSYS Chief Executive Officer Philip W. Tomlinson stated, "Rick Ussery has served as a driving force and key visionary leader in the building of what is today one of the world's largest payments services companies. Rick's understanding of leading-edge technology and his entrepreneurial spirit helped enable the creation of TSYS in 1983 and has prepared us to anticipate and meet the changing demands and needs of the top players in the card issuing, acquiring and electronic payments arena. He has been a major contributor to the 22-year growth record of TSYS, and his leadership style has empowered team members to be the best they can be. We will continue to look to Rick for his guidance and wisdom."
    In his role as chairman of TSYS' board of directors, Ussery will continue to manage the company's relationship with board members. Additionally, under a consulting agreement effective July 1, 2005 and concluding June 30, 2006, Ussery will be responsible for providing advice, counsel and expertise with respect to TSYS' investor relations activities, corporate strategy and future building projects; TSYS' community relations activities, including selected civic and charitable projects; and team member and leadership training as requested by TSYS and Synovus, including speaking engagements at the Synovus Leadership Institute.
    Prior to Ussery's current executive position as chairman of the board, he was appointed as the first CEO and president of Total System Services, Inc., now TSYS, when the company became public in 1983. He became chairman and CEO in 1992 and held both positions until the promotion of Phil Tomlinson in 2004 from president to CEO and Troy Woods from executive vice president to president. On June 15, 2005, Ussery will complete 40 successful years with the Synovus family of companies, having begun his career as a teller at Columbus Bank & Trust Company in 1965, Synovus' Columbus, Georgia-based bank. Ussery was later promoted to assistant data processing officer in 1970, assistant cashier in 1971 and assistant vice president in 1972. In 1975, he was promoted to vice president and operations officer and then promoted to senior vice president of operations for the holding company, CB&T Bancshares, now Synovus, in 1981.
    Tomlinson continued, "In January 2004, we began implementing the first steps of our long-range succession planning process, which has allowed us to add more depth and talent to our senior executive leadership team. And as a result, we have been preparing for Rick's retirement. We are thrilled that Rick will continue to be involved in our organization. We have a great team of people at TSYS who enable us to continue our long-term success."
    For more information on Rick Ussery, please refer to the attached biography and career highlights.
    TSYS (www.tsys.com) is one of the world's largest companies for outsourced payment services, offering a broad range of issuer- and acquirer-processing technologies that support consumer finance, credit, debit, prepaid and related services for financial institutions and retail companies throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific. Based in Columbus, Ga., TSYS (NYSE: TSS) is closely held by Synovus (NYSE: SNV), one of FORTUNE magazine's "Most Admired Companies" and a member of its "100 Best Companies to Work For" Hall of Fame. For more information, contact news@tsys.com.

    Richard W. Ussery
    Chairman of the Board
    TSYS

    Rick Ussery, 57, chairman of the board of TSYS, served 21 years as the company's first chief executive officer until January 1, 2004.
    During Ussery's leadership, TSYS reported 22 percent or greater compound growth in accounts, revenues and net income for the past 20 straight years. TSYS shares posted compound annual growth of 26 percent for 20 years, more than double the gains of the S&P 500 Index in the same period. Chief Executive magazine ranked Ussery among the top-performing service-sector CEOs in America based on shareholder value and return.
    In many respects, Ussery's 40-year career reflects the company he led across three decades. He worked as a full-time teller for Columbus Bank and Trust Company, Synovus' Columbus, Georgia-based bank, in 1965 while he was a full-time college student. Ussery worked 18 years with CB&T, later becoming the senior vice president of operations for the parent company, Synovus. While at CB&T, he was a member of the team that designed and developed the credit-card software that was a forerunner of the system that TSYS uses today.
    In 1983, the bank established its successful back-office payment services division as a separate company, with Ussery as its first president and CEO. He became chairman and CEO in 1992.
    Ussery guided TSYS through every phase of its transformation from a division of CB&T to a global payments firm. In 1983, TSYS serviced 2.7 million accounts. With more than 370 million customer accounts in service today, TSYS is recognized as the world's leading processor of credit and commercial card accounts and processes more accounts outside the U.S. than any other third-party processor. The company has relationships with 10 of the top-15 issuing institutions in the United States as well as other of the world's largest financial institutions.
    Ussery earned a bachelor's degree from Auburn University, and also graduated from Duke University's Fuqua School of Executive Management and Rutgers University's Stonier School of Banking. Ussery was recognized as the Distinguished Alumnus for Auburn University's College of Business in 1990. In addition to his role as chairman of TSYS, Ussery also serves on the board's executive committee. He also serves on the board of Georgia Power Company. He is a member of the Columbus State University Foundation board and its investment committee. In his career, Ussery has served on numerous education, civic, charitable and advisory boards, including: Auburn University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce, United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley, Easter Seals and Partners in Education. Ussery currently serves on Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue's Commission for a New Georgia.

    Richard W. Ussery
    Chairman of the Board
    TSYS

    Career highlights:

--	In 1965, Ussery began his career as a teller at Columbus Bank and Trust Company (CB&T), Columbus, Georgia.
--	In 1966, the bank began developing a data processing department and recruited the best talent to lead the strategy. Ussery scored the highest on a computer programming aptitude test that was given to every team member at the bank.
--	In 1966, Ussery was selected as one of the founding team members to join the bank's new data processing department as a computer operator.
--	In 1966, Ussery and team built the software systems to convert demand deposits to the new IBM 360 computer.
--	In 1967, Ussery and team began to develop the software system to process the CB&T Charge Account Card. This system, under Ussery's leadership, would be the predecessor to the "Total System".
--	In 1968, Ussery was responsible for all new technologies at CB&T and installed systems to allow all banking applications to go online using a new IBM product called CICS/VS. He also installed the first audio response unit in the world driven by CICS/VS.
--	In 1970, Ussery was promoted to assistant data processing officer.
--	In 1971, Ussery was promoted to assistant cashier.
--	In 1972, Ussery was promoted to assistant vice president.
--	In 1975, Ussery was promoted to vice president and operations officer.
--	In 1981, Ussery was promoted to senior vice president for the holding company, CB&T Bancshares.
--	In 1983, Ussery became the first president and chief executive officer of Total System Services, now TSYS.

    TSYS' success under Ussery's leadership:

    -- TSYS became a public company in August 1983 and joined the
    NYSE in June of 1989.

    -- TSYS grew from processing 2.7 million cardholder accounts in
    1983 to over 300 million in 2003.

    -- TSYS grew from a net income of $2 million in 1983 to a net
    income of $141 million in 2003.

    -- TSYS capitalization of $3 million in 1982 grew to market
    capitalization of over $4.8 billion in 2003.

    -- TSYS assets grew from $9 million in 1982 to over $1 billion in
    2003.

    -- TSYS revenues grew from $11.4 million in 1982 to over $1
    billion in 2003.

    -- TSYS received a compound growth rate of 22% or greater in
    accounts, revenues and net income for 21 consecutive years.

    -- TSYS has had seven (7) stock splits since 1983 (100 shares in
    1983 now total 5,400 in 2003).

    -- Chief Executive magazine ranked Ussery as the 15th top CEO of
    service companies in creating shareholder value and return.

    -- Ussery started the company with 124 team members; there are
    now more than 6,000.

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CONTACT: TSYS, Columbus Investor Relations Leo S. Berard, 706-649-5220 leoberard@tsys.com or Media Relations Eric S. Bruner, 706-644-8457 ebruner@tsys.com

KEYWORD: GEORGIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING MANAGEMENT CHANGES PHOTO PHOTOWIRE SOURCE: TSYS PHOTO: 43947

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