AACE Ace Cash Express

DALLAS, March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ACE Cash Express, Inc. (NASDAQ:AACE) today announced that it has amended its existing bank credit facility to extend the maturity date, increase the facility size and improve pricing. The new facility became effective on February 28, 2006. Under the amended bank facility the new commitments increase total availability from $200 million to $275 million, including a $200 million working capital facility and a $75 million seasonal facility available during each tax season, and the maturity date is extended from June 30, 2008 to December 31, 2010. The increased capacity will provide additional capital and enhance ACE's ability to execute its growth strategy of opening new stores and opportunistically pursuing acquisitions. The pricing on the facility was also reduced to LIBOR plus 200 basis points from LIBOR plus 225 basis points and can be further reduced to LIBOR plus 175 basis points based upon the company's leverage ratio. William S. McCalmont, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer commented, "We are pleased to complete this amendment of our bank facility, and we believe the additional capacity, extended maturity, and improved pricing reflects the confidence that our bank group has in ACE. This represents another key step that we have taken to strengthen our capital structure and increase our financial flexibility as we expand the ACE network and our service offerings." Wells Fargo Bank is the Administrative Agent and Co-Lead Arranger, JPMorgan Chase Bank is the Syndication Agent and Co-Lead Arranger, and KeyBank, Union Bank of California and U.S. Bank are the Co-Documentation Agents. Other lenders in the facility include Amegy Bank, The Bank of Nova Scotia, National City Bank, RZB Finance, LLC, Texas Capital Bank, Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c., LegacyTexas Bank, and North Fork Bank. About ACE ACE Cash Express, Inc. is a leading retailer of financial services, including check cashing, short-term consumer loans, bill payment and prepaid debit card services, and the largest owner, operator and franchisor of check cashing stores in the United States. As of December 31, 2005, ACE had a network of 1,520 stores in 34 states and the District of Columbia, consisting of 1,301 company-owned stores and 219 franchised stores. ACE focuses on serving consumers, many of who seek alternatives to traditional banking relationships in order to gain convenient and immediate access to financial services. ACE's website is found at http://www.acecashexpress.com/ . Forward Looking Statements This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These statements are generally identified by the use of words such as "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "believe," "intend," "plan," "target," "goal," "should," "would," and terms with similar meanings. Although ACE believes that the current views and expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, these views and expectations, and the related statements, are inherently subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are not under ACE's control and may not even be predictable. Any inaccuracy in the assumptions, as well as those risks, uncertainties and other factors could cause the actual results to differ materially from these in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties, and factors include, but are not limited to matters described in ACE's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as: * ACE's relationships with Republic Bank & Trust Company, First Bank of Delaware, Travelers Express and its affiliates, and its bank lenders; * ACE's relationships with providers of services or products offered by ACE or property used in its operations; * federal and state governmental regulation of check cashing, short-term consumer lending and related financial services businesses; * any impact to ACE's earnings derived from the RBT loans offered by Republic Bank & Trust Company and the FBD loans offered by First Bank of Delaware at ACE's stores in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arkansas from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Revised Guidelines for Payday Lending, which took effect on July 1, 2005 and require that such banks develop procedures to ensure that a payday loan is not provided to any customer with payday loans outstanding from any lender for more than 3 months in the previous 12 months; * any litigation; * theft and employee errors; * the availability of adequate financing, suitable locations, acquisition opportunities and experienced management employees to implement ACE's growth strategy; * increases in interest rates, which would increase ACE's borrowing costs; * the fragmentation of the check cashing industry and competition from various other sources, such as banks, savings and loans, short-term consumer lenders, and other similar financial services entities, as well as retail businesses that offer services offered by ACE; * the terms and performance of third-party services offered at ACE's stores; and * customer demand and response to services offered at ACE's stores. ACE expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in ACE's views or expectations, or otherwise. ACE makes no prediction or statement about the performance of its common stock. DATASOURCE: ACE Cash Express, Inc. CONTACT: William S. McCalmont, Executive Vice President & CFO, +1-972-753-2314, or , or Douglas Lindsay, Vice President of Finance, +1-972-753-2342, or , both of ACE Cash Express, Inc. Web site: http://www.acecashexpress.com/

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