Technology Excellence, Market Savvy and Strong Partner Orientation Puts Hypercom Above All Others

WOKING, England, March 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/–Visa EU (European Union) and CEMEA (Central Europe, Middle East and Africa) have awarded global payment technology leader Hypercom Corporation (NYSE: HYC) the prestigious Visa Chip Vendor of the Year Award for 2003. Visa EU and CEMEA cited Hypercom’s strong and unwavering commitment to technology excellence and its rigorous, on-going strategy and ability above all others to provide smart, fast, easy-use payment terminals and technology that meet the most demanding EMV standards.

In presenting the prestigious award, Mr. Waqar Qureshi, Vice President of CHIP Business Support, Visa EU Region, recognized and applauded Hypercom’s industry leadership, technological expertise, global capabilities and strong partnership orientation.

“Hypercom is clearly a payment technology leader with the technology, product and market skill to deliver innovative, fast, easy-use payment terminals and technology that meet the EMV standards. Their latest innovation, the Hypercom® Crypto Processor (HCP) module, allows some of the fastest EMV transactions. It is with great pleasure that we award Hypercom the prestigious Visa EU and CEMEA Chip Vendor of the Year Award for 2003,” said Mr. Qureshi.

Chris Alexander, Chairman and CEO, Hypercom Corporation, comments: “This achievement again demonstrates Hypercom’s leadership in delivering fast, easy-use, smart card-capable payment and networking technology and products that add value at the point-of-transaction on a global basis. We are delighted to be ahead of the market demand again with our HCP, which can perform lightning fast EMV transactions with large keys and DDA cards. We are honoured to be selected above all others for this prestigious award.”

The highly coveted Visa International EU and CEMEA Award is the latest in a series of Hypercom achievements. Global payment technology leader Hypercom last year became the first card payment vendor to achieve EMV Level 2 certification–and the first to certify three card payment terminals to Level 2. The company and its industry partners have rolled out several large smart card programs in Europe, Asia and Latin America. These include smart card-based credit, debit, stored value, loyalty, ticketing and e-coupon applications. More recently, shipments of smart card-enabled ICE™ terminals with HyperSafe™ operating system security have accelerated in the US, where savvy processors have begun preparing for the arrival of smart cards.

Additionally, the company three years ago remotely upgraded its installed base of card payment terminals in the UK with the latest EMV-certified software applications. This remote upgrade was done from Hypercom’s sophisticated and centrally located Term-Master® Suite terminal management system–further demonstrating Hypercom’s ability to keep payment technology apace with evolving smart card standards–without having to upgrade hardware.

About Visa

Visa is the world’s leading payment brand generating US$2.4 trillion in annual card sales volume. Visa has unsurpassed acceptance in more than 150 countries. The Visa organization plays a pivotal role in developing innovative payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa is a leader in Internet based payments and is pioneering the creation of u-commerce, or universal commerce–the ability to conduct commerce anywhere, anytime, and any way. For more information, visit http://www.visaeu.com.

About Hypercom (http://www.hypercom.com)

Hypercom Corporation is a leading global provider of electronic payment solutions that add value at the point-of-sale for consumers, merchants and acquirers, and yield increased profitability for its customers. Hypercom’s products include secure Web-enabled information and transaction terminals that work seamlessly with its networking equipment and software applications for e-commerce, m-commerce, smart cards and traditional payment applications. Hypercom’s widely-accepted ePOS-infocommerce® (epic®) framework of consumer-activated, EMV-certified, touch-screen ICE (Interactive Consumer Environment) information and transaction terminals enable acquirers and merchants to decrease costs, increase revenues and improve customer retention.

Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Hypercom has shipped more than five million terminals in over 100 countries, which conduct over 10 billion transactions annually.

Hypercom, ePOS-infocommerce and epic are registered trademarks of Hypercom Corporation. ICE and HyperSafe are trademarks 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. Certain matters discussed within this press release are forward- looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Although Hypercom management believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, it can give no assurance that its expectations will be attained. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations include industry, competitive and technological changes; risks associated with international operations and foreign currency fluctuations; the composition, timing and size of orders from and shipments to major customers; inventory obsolescence; market acceptance of new products and other risks detailed from time to time in Hypercom’s SEC reports, including the company’s most recent 10K and subsequent 10Qs.

For further information, please contact: Gwyneth Pritchard of Hypercom EMEA, +44 1483 778107, gpritchard@hypercom.com, or Pete Schuddekopf of Hypercom Corporation, +1-602-504-5383, pschuddekopf@hypercom.com; or Coelina Carter of Visa EU, +44 207 557 5331, carterc@visa.com.