Press Release Source: ICM Telecommunications Inc.
ICM Telecommunications Retains Market Advantages, Inc. as Its Investment Banking Firm to Identify Capital and Strategic Acquisitions
Tuesday August 5, 9:00 am ET
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Aug. 5, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- ICM Telecommunications, Inc. (Other OTC:ICMH.PK - News), a rapidly growing provider of prepaid pin-based products through its Point of Sales Activation (POSA) terminals, today announced that the company has retained Market Advantages, Inc. as its investment banking firm to identify capital resources to fuel future growth, as well as assist the company in its strategic efforts to grow both internally and through acquisitions.
Over the past month, the company has experienced rapid growth, hiring additional sales representatives to meet the growing needs of its grocery and convenience store clients in the Pacific Northwest, enhanced its product and service offerings, and accelerated its strategic geographic expansion by adding a highly seasoned sales and marketing team in Arizona to its growing network, six months ahead of its original projected schedule.
``To continue that momentum, we clearly need additional working capital, and the Market Advantages team is uniquely qualified to assist us in this rapidly expanding marketplace,'' ICM President & CEO Doug Hamby said. ``The company has already identified several potential funding sources, and coordinated one of our most promising e-commerce relationships.''
``We are especially pleased to be working with Doug Hamby and his management team,'' said Market Advantages President Jason Genet. ``Our experience in the e-commerce and merchant marketplace over the past several years uniquely qualifies us to help ICM.''
Genet cited the recent strategic alliance his firm forged with ICM and payQuake, a rapidly growing payment solutions provider, as an example of the firm's capabilities and ICM's strategic direction.
payQuake merchant accounts range from no-set-up or monthly fees to rates as low as 1.59%. The pricing model permits millions of users of PayPal (NasdaqNM:EBAY - News) to have a real traditional merchant account with all the same protection as a larger scale merchant account.
As the business grows, the merchant can migrate his or her account to more traditional pricing. When the joint agreement Market Advantages had arranged was announced, Tony Perre, CEO of payQuake, said, ``Our model is built on the empowerment of the merchant, and we can see that ICM Telecommunications and its unique platform does just that -- giving the power of choice to the merchant, who in turn can give that same power to its consumers.''
``Our whole business model is focused on giving the merchant and the consumer choices of how they want to spend or accept monetary devices,'' Hamby noted. ``payQuake furthers those choices.''
Hamby noted that industry analysts now believe that within two years, by 2005, the overall market for prepaid products will climb to as much as $4 to $5 billion. The CEO said that ICM believes that, with its current suite of prepaid products, and those now in development, that the company could conceivably capture as much as 1% of that market by that time, and grow aggressively thereafter with continuing new services being introduced to this dynamic marketplace.
Statements contained in this release, which are not historical facts, may be considered ``forward-looking statements'' under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and the current economic environment. We caution the reader that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. Unknown risk, uncertainties as well as other uncontrollable or unknown factors could cause actual results to materially differ from the results, performance, or expectations expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Contact:
ICM Telecommunications, Inc.
Doug Hamby
(503) 534-3663
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Source: ICM Telecommunications Inc.
