MCLEAN, VA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/17/09 -- Sage North America today announced that Christine "Chris" Scappa, senior vice president (SVP) of operations for its Sage Payment Solutions division, has joined the 2010 board of directors for the Women Networking in Electronic Transactions (W.net) organization. Made up of CEOs, presidents, senior managers, and other emerging leaders, W.net strives to inspire and empower women in the electronic transactions industry to maximize their individual potential and position themselves for greater personal success.

"I'm inspired by the W.net organization, and honored to join their 2010 board," said Scappa. "I look forward to contributing to W.net's continued success as I also focus on empowering women within Sage, and throughout the electronic transactions industry, to achieve their personal and professional goals."

As SVP of operations for Sage Payment Solutions, Scappa oversees daily management for customer support, agent support, underwriting, risk management, quality assurance, and corporate training. She has been with Sage Payment Solutions since 2000. Previously, she managed an independent bankcard sales office with a primary focus on Internet electronic commerce solutions, as well as served in leadership roles for a telecommunications company.

The full W.net 2010 Board of Directors is as follows:

--  President: Joan Mitchell, Moneris Solutions Corporation
--  Immediate Past-President: Shannon Byrne Susko, Subserveo, Inc.
--  President-Elect: Kim Fitzsimmons, First Data Corporation
--  Treasurer: Mary Dees Griffith, Preferred Health Technology Inc.
--  Directors-at-Large: Patty Bengtson, TSYS Acquiring Solutions;
    Christine Lee, National Processing Company; Marla Knutson, TransFirst, LLC;
    Linda Rossetti, Bluestone Payments, LLC; Christine Scappa, Sage North
    America (Sage Payment Solutions); Lisa Shipley, Ingenico North America
--  Ex-Officio: Diane (Vogt) Faro, First Data Corporation, W.net Founder;
    Mary Gerdts, POST Integrations, Inc., W.net Founder; Linda Perry, EVP,
    Global Sales and Marketing at ISTS Worldwide, Inc., W.net Founder; Holli
    Targan, Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer & Weiss, PC, W.net Founder.
    

About W.net:

Founded in 2005 by Diane (Vogt) Faro, Mary Gerdts, Linda Perry and Holli Targan, Women Networking in Electronic Transactions (W.net) strives to inspire and empower women in the electronic transactions industry to maximize their individual potential and position themselves for greater personal success. W.net is made up of CEOs, presidents, senior managers, emerging leaders and women from all levels in the electronic transactions industry. The organization hosts a number of events across North America throughout the year, including Local Interest Networking Circle (LINC) meetings and educational seminars where members exchange ideas, insights and career development tips; the Designer BootCamp Career Development & Leadership Summit; and its annual awards ceremony and luncheon, The Diva Awards. W.net is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization; all contributions are fully tax deductible. For more information on the organization, membership and services provided, please visit www.w-net.biz.

About Sage Payment Solutions

For more than 20 years, Sage Payment Solutions has been making it easy for businesses to accept electronic payments. Processing services are currently being provided to more than 140,000 businesses, who are delivering improved customer experiences by accepting multiple forms of payment, including credit and debit cards, electronic checks, gift cards, and automatic recurring payments. With Sage Payment Solutions, businesses can also expand the way they accept payments, from card present and mail order/telephone order (MO/TO), to Internet and payments integrated with Sage and other third party software. For more information about Sage Payment Solutions, please call 800-261-0240, or visit www.sagepayments.com.

About Sage North America

Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs more than 4,100 people and supports nearly 3.1 million small and medium-size business customers. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,400 people and supports 6.1 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the Web site at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

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