HSBC JV with Global Payments

HSBC Holdings PLC
08 September 2005



                      HSBC TO FORM CREDIT CARD PROCESSING
                            JV WITH GLOBAL PAYMENTS

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited has entered into an
agreement with Global Payments Inc. to establish a joint venture to expand the
companies' credit card merchant acquiring businesses in Asia.

Under the agreement, HSBC will transfer its existing credit card merchant
acquiring businesses in 10 countries and territories in Asia to the new company.
HSBC will retain a 44 per cent interest in the joint venture and will transfer
the remaining 56 per cent in the new company to Global Payments for a
consideration of US$67.2 million. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals
and certain conditions.

Global Payments is one of the largest payment processing providers in the world,
offering transaction processing products and services that manage, support and
speed up the processing of funds and payment information. Global Payments has
offices in the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico and assets totalling US$853
million at 31 May 2005.

Michael Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong and
Shanghai Banking Corporation, said: "This is a good opportunity to join forces
with Global Payments. The joint venture will have the 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."

Paul R Garcia, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Global
Payments, said: "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. The 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."

Upon completion, expected within 12 months, HSBC's merchant acquiring operations
in 10 Asia-Pacific countries and territories will be migrated to the joint
venture as and when local regulations allow and subject to regulatory approvals.
The countries and territories covered by the agreement are Brunei, the Hong Kong
SAR, India, the Macau SAR, mainland China, Malaysia, Maldives, Singapore, Sri
Lanka and Taiwan.

Headquartered in Hong Kong, the new company will have an initial complement of
about 100 employees providing services to an existing base of over 40,000
service outlets.

The board for the new company will comprise three directors from Global Payments
and two from HSBC. Under the terms of the agreement, HSBC has agreed to
marketing alliances with the joint venture company for up to 10 years in each of
the 10 countries and territories involved. Under the marketing alliances, HSBC
will exclusively refer new card merchant clients to the new company for payment
processing services in the markets covered by the joint venture.

Notes to editors:

1. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and a
principal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,700 offices in 77
countries and territories and assets of US$1,467 billion at 30 June 2005, is one
of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations.

2. Global Payments Inc.
Global Payments Inc. is a leading provider of electronic transaction processing
services for consumers, merchants, independent sales organisations, financial
institutions, government agencies and multinational corporations located
throughout the US, Canada, Latin America and Europe. Global Payments offers a
comprehensive line of processing solutions for credit and debit cards,
business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electronic cheque conversion
and cheque guarantee, cheque verification and recovery, as well as terminal
management. The company also provides consumer money transfer services from the
US and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco and the Philippines.



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