Heartland Payment Systems is one of the nation's largest providers of merchant acquiring services. The agreement continues a long-standing partnership between the two companies, with Vital remaining Heartland's preferred third-party provider of transaction processing and related support services.

"We value our partnership with Heartland Payment Systems and are pleased to continue the relationship. Heartland is a great company and we are delighted to serve as their partner in delivering secure, reliable solutions to their merchant customers," said Bev Wells, Vital's president and chief executive officer. "Heartland has experienced tremendous growth, and we are excited to extend our relationship to achieve even more successes in the years to come."

The multi-year contract extension is effective April 1, 2006. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.