Denver – August 14, 2007 – First Data Corporation (NYSE: FDC) today announced that the latest ranking of energy retail markets worldwide has been revealed in the third edition of the World Energy Retail Market Ranking report, published by First Data Utilities’ and VaasaETT’s Utility Customer Switching Research Project.

According to the research, the Australian state of Victoria is the hottest energy retail market in the world. Almost one in four utility customers in Victoria switched suppliers during the past year. Previous top-ranked market Great Britain has been relegated to second place.

The report also revealed that successful utility retail competition is being sustained in markets around the world, with almost all active-rated markets showing increasing levels of customer switching activity. In the United States, accumulated data highlights the success of the Texas electricity retail market, in contrast to other states that employ a regulated hybrid market structure.

The Utility Customer Switching Research Project monitors customer switch rates and trends in fully competitive deregulated energy retail markets worldwide and has provided the first global view of utility customer switching activity.

For more information about the Utility Customer Switching Research Project, please visit www.utility-customer-switching.com/. To request a copy of the World Energy Retail Market Rankings report, e-mail information@firstdatautilities.com.

About VaasaETT
VaasaETT is an independent international think-tank for the global energy and utility industry, with networking expertise in utility markets. VaasaETT augments global knowledge to generate practical strategic solutions for customers around the world. For more information, visit www.vaasaett.com.

About First Data Utilities
First Data Utilities develops top-rated utility billing software and provides outsourced utility billing and payment transaction services. The company offers a wide portfolio of outsourced services spanning the entire meter-to-cash transaction cycle, and is uniquely positioned to combine the best technologies and services — including the top-rated Peace® Customer Information System (CIS) software — in ways that achieve greater efficiency to drive down utility customer cost-to-serve. First Data Utilities is at the forefront of utility software development with its adoption of world-class Agile development techniques and Service Oriented Architecture. First Data has more than 300 utility clients ranging from entrepreneurial new entrant energy retailers to the largest dual-fuel utilities with millions of customers and multiple market operations. For more information, visit www.firstdatautilities.com.

About First Data Corp.
First Data Corp. (NYSE: FDC) is a leading provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions for businesses worldwide. Serving over 5 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and their customers, First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods and services using virtually any form of payment. The company's portfolio of services and solutions includes merchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions; receivables management solutions; electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR® Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2 million ATM and retail locations. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.

Contacts:

Glen Turpin
First Data Corporation
+1.303.967.6552
glen.turpin@firstdatacorp.com

James Braatvedt
First Data Utilities
+64.373.0400 ext. 3639
james.braatvedt@peace.com

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