Global Payments and HSBC Form Strategic Joint Venture

ATLANTA and HONG KONG – Global Payments Inc. (NYSE: GPN), a leading provider of electronic transaction processing solutions, announced today it has agreed to form a joint venture with The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited to provide payment processing services to merchants in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is the founding member of the HSBC Group, one of the largest financial services institutions in the world, with assets of approximately US$1.467 billion and over 9,700 offices in 77 countries and territories. In the Asia-Pacific region, the bank has payment processing operations in ten countries and territories to be included in the joint venture, which are Brunei, the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region), India, the Macau SAR, mainland China, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Taiwan.

“We are thrilled that HSBC, one of the world’s most respected financial institutions, has agreed to partner with Global Payments in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Global Payments, Paul R. Garcia. “This region has incredible growth opportunities for credit and debit card payment processing, especially in mainland China and India. This strategic transaction heralds a promising new chapter in our company’s history,” continued Garcia.

“HSBC is excited about this unique opportunity to join forces with Global Payments,” said Michael Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. “The joint venture will have the combined benefit of HSBC’s large and extensive footprint in the region as well as Global Payments’ technological expertise. We believe this is a powerful combination,” added Smith.

Under the terms of the agreement, and pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, Global Payments will pay HSBC US$67.2 million in cash to acquire a 56 percent ownership interest in the joint venture. HSBC will control the remaining 44 percent and will contribute its existing Asia- Pacific merchant acquiring channel in ten countries and territories to the joint venture. In addition, the bank has agreed to a ten-year marketing alliance in which HSBC will refer new merchant customers to the joint venture for payment processing services in ten Asia-Pacific countries and territories.

Global Payments will discuss this transaction and its fiscal 2006 first quarter results during a conference call on September 23, 2005 at 10:30 a.m. EDT. The call may be accessed by calling 1-888-791-2132 (U.S.) or +1-517-623- 4000 (internationally), or via the company’s Web site at http://www.globalpaymentsinc.com by clicking the “Web Cast” button. The pass code for all callers is GPN. The company has also included a slide presentation relating to this transaction on its Web site, which is currently available for review. A replay of the call and this slide presentation will be available on the company’s Web site through October 7, 2005.