Elavon becomes the identity for NOVA and its affiliate merchant acquiring brands including First Horizon Merchant Services (FHMS) and euroConex. Elavon effectively unites the company's acquiring solutions organization to address the expanding payment processing needs of its partners and clients. Backed by U.S. Bancorp's strategic investments and operational efficiency, Elavon is positioned to capitalize on emerging market opportunities and build on the strength of its international processing platform and proven business model.

Beyond continued strong organic growth, Elavon has profited from the investments made by U.S. Bancorp, which have fuelled expansion. These strategic acquisitions include the Citibank Card Acceptance business in Europe, FHMS and most recently Southern DataComm —purchases that have placed Elavon into a leadership position in the payments industry and established it as a global gateway solutions provider. Elavon's development of an international processing platform that consolidates multiple front-end authorization and back-end settlement systems onto a single network allows the company to quickly respond to evolving security requirements and technology advances.

"Uniting NOVA, euroConex, FHMS and our other brands under one company name positions Elavon to be recognized as the preeminent global leader in the payments industry," said Stuart C. Harvey, Jr., chief executive officer, Elavon. "Our investment in developing an international processing platform delivers the scale necessary to quickly respond to client and market needs. We now have the opportunity to develop even deeper, broader relationships with our customers and partners that extend our reach into new markets worldwide."

"U.S. Bancorp continues to demonstrate its commitment to the payments space by making wise investments in our growth," said Pamela Joseph, vice chairman, Payment Services, U.S. Bancorp. "We believe in the strength of Elavon's business model and the opportunities it fosters as we expand worldwide."

In addition to global expansion opportunities, Elavon is also positioned to respond to the expanding needs of merchants in multiple segments including retail, hospitality, health care, education, and the public sector. End-to-end processing control and the delivery of strategic solutions including electronic check conversion, health care claims eligibility processing, and convenience fee processing are all important in helping businesses better manage costs.

"Global end-to-end control enables us to capitalize on emerging market opportunities that extend to our channel partners," said Harvey. "Our successful business model allows our channel partners to focus on their core competencies while keeping their clients compliant, secure, efficient and financially poised for success in the global economy."