First Cash Financial Services Selects AT&T for International Network Services

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) today announced that First Cash Financial Services (NASDAQ: FCFS), a leading provider of specialty consumer financial services and related retail products, has selected AT&T to provide domestic and international network services under a three-year, $7 million contract.

Under the terms of the agreement, AT&T is providing Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to nearly 250 First Cash retail locations in the United States. Additionally, AT&T is providing a solution to connect nearly 190 First Cash retail locations in Mexico by using AT&T’s Internet Protocol (IP)-enabled Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based Frame Relay/ATM network. The two network solutions will work together and enable improved communications that will lead to business and customer benefits such as cost-efficiencies and optimized transaction time.

“First Cash Financial Services needed a service provider that offered not only a secure, reliable network solution, but also a global footprint,” said Doug Orr, executive vice president and chief financial officer, First Cash Financial Services. “AT&T brought its expertise to the table, along with a flexible solution that could cater directly to our needs as they change with customer demand.”

The MPLS-based solution offers a scalable way for First Cash to introduce critical applications as needed — offering a flexible foundation on which to build new applications and bandwidth. A significant element of First Cash’s growth strategy is based on the aggressive expansion of new stores and products in Mexico. As the market for these services evolves in Mexico, First Cash can meet demand by mirroring those changes in its data network.

Business continuity is an added benefit that these solutions provide for First Cash. Each retail location is connected to a data center with dual-entry into the network, which provides added reliability for connecting to the network services. If one point of entry is unavailable, First Cash stores have a second connection to the network available at all times. The MPLS-based solution also allows First Cash to have greater flexibility in managing the data flow from its stores to the data center. This enables First Cash to balance its data loads during peak times to ensure the greatest network efficiency while relying on two points of entry into the network.

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