Armen Khachadourian Joins Tier as Head of Card Programs; Nationally Recognized Card Expert to Drive Prepaid Debit Card Market Expansion

RESTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 9, 2006--Tier Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:TIERE), today announced that Armen Khachadourian will join Tier as Vice President, Strategic Programs. In this newly created position, Mr. Khachadourian will report to T. Jack Williams and will drive the prepaid debit card market expansion of the company's Official Payments Corp. subsidiary.

Mr. Khachadourian brings over 25 years of strategic and hands-on business experience in global payments systems sales and new market expansion. Mr. Khachadourian comes to Tier from JPMorgan Chase where he was the global prepaid product manager for JPMorgan Chase Treasury Services. In this roll, he expanded cash digitization products worldwide and developed new acquisition channels. He also developed the legal and functional infrastructure in the U.K. to issue and market euro denominated prepaid and debit cards. Additionally, he issued prepaid cards for over 10 U.S. Treasury agencies and a multi-purpose payroll card to the U.S. Navy, thus streamlining payroll functions and eliminating cash on board ships.

“I am delighted to join the Tier/Official Payments team, a recognized government card payments innovator”

Prior to this, Mr. Khachadourian spent 20 years with Visa USA where he established new markets for Visa in areas such as federal and state government agencies. He also developed payment solutions and expanded card acceptance to the recurring payments industry.

"Armen's extensive experience in developing and issuing branded payment cards, combined with his ability to identify and develop new market opportunities make him an ideal fit for this new position," said James R. Weaver, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tier. "We are witnessing a convergence of our traditional business process outsourcing and electronic payments processing services as more clients desire reloadable prepaid debit cards as part of both their inbound and outbound payments solutions. Branded prepaid cards are gaining acceptance in areas traditionally served by cash and paper checks such as government benefits recipients, students and those without traditional banking accounts. We are fortunate to have Armen on board to help drive our prepaid debit, and other new card market initiatives."

"I am delighted to join the Tier/Official Payments team, a recognized government card payments innovator," Khachadourian said. "The use of prepaid, reloadable payment cards is accelerating across numerous markets as consumers and businesses move to cashless payment methods. I look forward to combining these payment trends with Official Payments' brand power and in-depth financial transaction processing expertise in capitalizing on the many payment market growth opportunities available."

About Tier

Tier Technologies offers a diversified array of innovative business and financial transaction processing solutions. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, Tier's clients include more than 2,200 federal, state, and local governments, educational institutions, utilities and commercial clients in the U.S. and abroad. Tier provides information technology solutions, and through its Official Payments Corp. subsidiary, delivers payment processing solutions for a wide range of markets. From designing, installing and maintaining cutting-edge public sector software systems, to delivering fast, secure and convenient financial transaction processing solutions, Tier provides integrated information solutions that solve problems while balancing innovation with practicality. For more information, see www.tier.com.

Statements made in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding expectations for future revenues, earnings, and expenses, are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Tier undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Each of these statements is made as of the date hereof based only on current information and expectations that are inherently subject to change and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual events or results may differ materially from those projected in any of such statements due to various factors. For a discussion of these and other factors which may cause our actual events or results to differ from those projected, please refer to the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Sept. 30, 2004, our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, as well as other filings with the SEC.