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ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION
INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

Commission file number 001-15749

ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(972) 348-5100
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None
(Title of Class)

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý    No o

        Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendments to this Form 10-K. ý

        Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2). Yes ý    No o

        As of June 28, 2002, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, 74,691,912 shares of common stock were outstanding and the aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on that date was approximately $407.0 million.

        As of February 28, 2003, 74,993,346 shares of common stock were outstanding and the aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on that date was approximately $269.4 million. Aggregate market value is estimated solely for the purposes of this report. This shall not be construed as an admission for the purposes of determining affiliate status.

Documents Incorporated By Reference

        Certain information called for by Part III is incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement for the 2003 Annual Meeting of our stockholders which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2002.

ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION

INDEX

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Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

        This Form 10-K and the documents incorporated by reference herein contain 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. Such statements may use words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "predict," "project" and similar expressions as they relate to us or our management. When we make forward-looking statements, we are basing them on our management's beliefs and assumptions, using information currently available to us. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those discussed in the "Risk Factors" section in Item 1 of this Form 10-K. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, actual results may vary materially from what we projected. Any forward-looking statements contained in this annual report reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity. We have no intention, and disclaim any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future results or otherwise.

PART I

Item 1.    Business

Our Company

        We are a leading provider of transaction services, credit services and marketing services in North America. We focus on facilitating and managing electronic transactions between our clients and their customers through multiple distribution channels including in-store, catalog and the Internet. Our credit and marketing services assist our clients in identifying and acquiring new customers, as well as helping to increase the loyalty and profitability of their existing customers. We have a client base in excess of 300 companies, consisting mostly of specialty retailers, petroleum retailers, supermarkets, financial services companies and utilities. We generally have long-term relationships with our clients, with contracts typically ranging from three to five years in duration.

        We are the result of the 1996 merger of two entities acquired by Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe: J.C. Penney's transaction services business, BSI Business Services, Inc., and Limited Brands, Inc.'s credit card bank operation, World Financial Network National Bank. In June 2001, we concluded the initial public offering of our common stock, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. We continue to execute on our growth strategy through a combination of internal growth and acquisitions.

        During 2002, we announced contracts to provide private label credit card services to Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids, Ann Taylor, Ann Taylor Loft and Ann Taylor Factory Stores, Restoration Hardware, Gordmans Inc., and American Signature Home. In August 2002, we extended our client relationships through August 2009 with Limited Brands and its retail affiliates, including The Limited, Victoria's Secret Stores, Victoria's Secret Catalogue, Express, Bath & Body Works, Lerner New York, Henri Bendel and Structure, which includes Express Men's. Limited Brands, indirectly through Limited Commerce Corp., is one of our largest stockholders and, together with its retail affiliates, is our largest client, representing approximately 18.8% of our 2002 consolidated revenue. In December 2002, we extended our client relationship through January 2013 with Brylane's catalog brands, including Chadwick's of Boston, Lane Bryant Catalog, Roaman's, Brylane Home, Brylane Home Kitchen, Lerner Catalog, King Size, Jessica London and La Redoute.

        We signed contract extensions or renewals with Amex Bank of Canada, the retail services division of BMO Bank of Montreal, and Canada Safeway, each a significant sponsor of our AIR MILES^® Reward Program, and initiated new sponsor categories with the addition of Manulife Financial and

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Northwest Airlines. In January 2002, we acquired Frequency Marketing, Inc., a small marketing services firm that provides resources and technology for the design, implementation and management of loyalty marketing programs. The acquisition added products and services for our loyalty marketing offerings in the United States.

        We extended our utility services relationship for five years with Georgia Natural Gas in December 2002. In September 2002, we entered into a new utility services relationship with an affiliate of Duke Energy in connection with our acquisition of Enlogix Group, formerly wholly-owned subsidiaries of Duke Energy, which provides customer information system services to utilities in Canada. We also signed a multi-year extension to continue as Marathon Ashland Petroleum's exclusive provider of network processing and bankcard settlement.

        Our corporate headquarters are located at 17655 Waterview Parkway, Dallas, Texas 75252, and our telephone number is 972-348-5100.

Our Market Opportunity and Growth Strategy

        Our services are applicable to the full spectrum of commerce opportunities involving companies that sell products and services to individual consumers. We are well positioned to benefit from trends favoring outsourcing and electronic transactions. Many companies, including retailers, petroleum companies and utilities, lack the economies of scale and core competencies necessary to support their own transaction processing infrastructure and credit card and database operations. Companies are also increasingly outsourcing the development and management of their marketing programs. Additionally, the use of card-based forms of payment by consumers in the United States has steadily increased over the past ten years. According to The Nilson Report, consumer expenditures in the United States using card-based systems are expected to grow from 32% of all payments in 2001 to 46% in 2010.

        Our growth strategy is to pursue initiatives to capitalize on our market position and core competencies. Key elements of our strategy are:

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expanding relationships with our base of over 300 clients by offering them integrated transaction processing and marketing services.    We offer our clients products and services that will help them more effectively understand and service their customers and allow them to build and maintain long-term relationships with their customers. By providing services directly to our clients' customers we are able to become an integral part of our clients' business.



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expanding our client base in our existing market sectors.    We will continue focusing on particular markets that are experiencing rapid growth and increasingly utilizing outsourcing, such as transaction and credit services related to our private label programs for retailers, marketing services related to the AIR MILES Reward Program in Canada and transaction services for the utility industry.



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continuing to establish long-term relationships with our clients that result in a stable and recurring revenue base.    We seek to maintain a stable and recurring revenue base by building and maintaining long-term relationships with our clients and entering into contracts that typically extend for three to five years. Most of our services require the payment of monthly charges based on the number of transactions we process, allowing us to generate recurring revenues.



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pursuing focused, strategic acquisitions and alliances to enhance our core capabilities, increase our scale and expand our range of services.    Since our inception we have grown in part through selective acquisitions. We intend to continue to acquire other companies with complementary products, services or relationships to enhance and expand our offering and increase our market share. We also seek to enter into other strategic relationships that extend our customer reach and generate additional revenue.

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Products and Services

        Our products and services are centered around three core capabilities—Transaction Services, Credit Services and Marketing Services. We have traditionally marketed and sold our products and services on a stand-alone basis, but increasingly are marketing and selling them on a bundled and integrated basis. Our products and services and target markets are listed below.

Transaction Services

        We facilitate and manage transactions between our clients and their customers through our scalable processing systems. Our largest clients within this segment include Limited Brands and its retail affiliates, representing approximately 19.8% of this segment's 2002 revenue.

        Issuer Services.    According to The Nilson Report, based on the number of accounts on file, we were the second largest outsourcer of retail private label card programs in the United States in 2001, with over 63.6 million accounts on file. We assist clients in issuing private label credit cards branded with the retailers' name or logo that can be used by customers at the clients' store locations. We also provide service and maintenance to our clients' private label card programs and assist our clients in acquiring, retaining and managing valuable repeat customers. Our Transaction Services segment performs issuer services for our Credit Services segment in connection with that segment's private label card programs. The inter-segment services accounted for 45.6% of Transaction Services revenue in 2002.

        We have developed a proprietary private label credit card system designed specifically for retailers with the flexibility to make changes to accommodate our clients' specific needs. We have also built into the system marketing tools to assist our clients in increasing sales. We utilize our Quick Credit and On-Line Prescreen products to originate new private label credit card accounts. We believe that these products provide an effective marketing advantage over competing services.

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        We use automated technology for bill preparation, printing and mailing. Commingling statements, presorting and bar coding allow us to take advantage of postal discounts. In addition, we also process customer payments using image processing technology to maximize efficiency. By doing so, we improve the funds availability for both our clients and for those private label receivables that we own or securitize.

        Our customer care operations are influenced by our retail heritage. We focus our training programs in all areas on achieving the highest possible standards. We monitor our performance by conducting surveys with our clients and their customers. Our call centers are equipped to handle phone, mail, fax and Internet inquiries. We also provide collection activities on delinquent accounts to support our retail private label credit card programs.

        Utility Services.    We believe that we are one of the largest independent service providers of customer information systems for utilities in North America. We provide a comprehensive single source business solution for customer care and billing solutions. We have solutions for both the regulated and de-regulated marketplace. These solutions provide not only hosting of the customer information system, but also customer care and statement generation, focusing on successful acquisition, value enhancement and retention of our clients' customers.

        In both a regulated and de-regulated environment, providers will need more sophisticated and complex billing and customer information systems to effectively compete in the marketplace. We believe that our ability to integrate transaction and marketing services effectively will provide a competitive advantage for us.

        Our current service offering is based on hosting customer information systems that allow us to provide our core service offerings of call center operation, statement generation and payment processing. In addition, we offer customer acquisition and database marketing services.

        Merchant Services.    We are a leading provider of transaction processing services, based on transactions processed, and believe that we are the largest transaction processor to the U.S. petroleum retail industry. Additionally, we have a significant presence in the specialty retail and transportation industries. We have built a network that enables us to process virtually all electronic payment types including credit card, debit card, prepaid card, electronic benefits and fleet and check transactions. In addition to authorization and settlement of transactions, we also provide merchants with on-line, two-way mail messaging between our clients and their individual locations by broadcasting and receiving messages through their terminal devices.

Credit Services

        Through our Credit Services segment we are able to finance and operate private label programs more effectively than a typical retailer can operate a stand-alone program, as we are able to fund receivables through our securitization program to achieve lower borrowing costs while having the infrastructure to support and leverage a variety of portfolio types and a large number of account holders. Through our subsidiary, World Financial Network National Bank, we underwrite the accounts and fund purchases for 52 private label credit clients, representing over 72 million cardholders and over $2.7 billion of receivables as of December 31, 2002. Our clients are predominately specialty retailers, and the largest within this segment include Limited Brands and its retail affiliates, representing 44.5% of this segment's 2002 revenue, and Brylane, representing 22.4% of this segment's 2002 revenue.

        We believe that an effective risk management process is important in both account underwriting and servicing. We use a risk analysis in establishing initial credit limits with cardholders. Because we process a large number of credit applications each year, we use automated proprietary scoring technology and verification procedures to process these applications. Our underwriting process involves the purchase of credit bureau information for each credit applicant. We continuously validate, monitor

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and maintain the scorecards, and we use the resulting data to ensure optimal risk performance. These models help segment prospects into narrower ranges within each risk score provided by Fair, Isaac and Co., or FICO, allowing us to better evaluate individual credit risk and to tailor our risk-based pricing accordingly. We generally receive a merchant fee for processing sales transactions charged to a private label credit card program for which we provide receivables funding. Processing includes authorization and settlement of the funds to the retailer, net of our merchant discount fee.

        We utilize a securitization program as our primary funding vehicle for private label credit card receivables. Securitizations involve the packaging and selling of both current and future receivable balances of credit card accounts to a special purpose entity that then sells them to a master trust. Our Transaction Services segment retains rights to service the securitized accounts. Our securitizations are treated as sales for accounting purposes and, accordingly, the receivable is removed from our balance sheet. We retain an ownership interest in the receivables, which is commonly referred to as a seller's interest, and a residual interest in the trust, which is commonly referred to as an interest only strip. The interest only strip is based on assumptions regarding future payments and credit losses and is subject to volatility that could materially affect our operating results. Both the amount and timing of estimated cash flows are dependent on the performance of the underlying credit card receivables, and actual cash flows may vary significantly from expectations. If payments from cardholders or defaults by cardholders exceed our estimates, we may be required to decrease the carrying value of the interest only strips through a charge against earnings. Limited Brands and its retail affiliates accounted for approximately 32.1% of the receivables in the trust portfolio as of December 31, 2002, and Brylane accounted for approximately 14.7%.

        In November 2002, we completed a $600.0 million offering of five-year asset-backed notes issued as part of our securitization program for World Financial Network National Bank. The notes were issued through the World Financial Network Credit Card Master Note Trust. The notes are rated AAA thru BBB by Standard and Poor's, Moody's and Fitch debt-rating services and are secured by a beneficial interest in a pool of receivables that arise under World Financial Network National Bank's private label credit card accounts.

Marketing Services

        Our clients are focused on targeting, acquiring and retaining loyal and profitable customers. We create and manage marketing programs that result in securing more frequent and sustained customer purchasing. We utilize the information gathered through our loyalty programs to help our clients design and implement effective marketing programs. Our primary service for this segment is the AIR MILES Reward Program, representing the substantial majority of this segment's 2002 revenue. Our clients within this segment are financial services providers, supermarkets, petroleum retailers and specialty retailers. BMO Bank of Montreal, Canada Safeway, Shell Canada and Amex Bank of Canada were the four largest Marketing Services clients in 2002, responsible for approximately 54.0% of our 2002 Marketing Services revenue. BMO Bank of Montreal represented approximately 28.8% of this segment's 2002 revenue.

        AIR MILES Reward Program.    We operate what we believe to be the largest loyalty program in Canada. The AIR MILES Reward Program enables consumers to earn AIR MILES reward miles as they shop across a range of retailers and other sponsors participating in the AIR MILES Reward Program. The AIR MILES Reward Program has enabled sponsors to use this tool to increase revenues by bringing new customers to the sponsor, retaining existing customers and increasing the amount spent by customers.

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        We deal with three primary parties in connection with our AIR MILES Reward Program: Sponsors, Collectors and Suppliers.

Sponsors

        A sponsor enters into an agreement with us to secure exclusive rights for its particular region and product or service category, to reward customers for changing their shopping behavior and to increase sales from collectors. The program has over 100 brand names represented by sponsors, including BMO Bank of Montreal, Canada Safeway, Amex Bank of Canada, Shell Canada, A&P Canada and Sobeys.

Collectors

        Members of the AIR MILES Reward Program, known as collectors, accumulate AIR MILES reward miles based on their purchasing behavior at sponsor locations. The AIR MILES Reward Program offers a reward structure that provides a quick and easy way for collectors to earn a broad selection of travel, entertainment and other lifestyle rewards by shopping at participating sponsors. Using 2000 census data, our active participants represented over 63% of all Canadian households. We have issued over ten billion AIR MILES reward miles since the program's inception in 1992.

Suppliers

        We enter into supply agreements with suppliers of rewards to the program such as airlines, movie theaters and manufacturers of consumer electronics. We make these reward opportunities available through Air Canada and over 180 other reward suppliers. We make payments to suppliers based on a contractual supply arrangement when a collector redeems AIR MILES reward miles.

        Marketing Services.    In the U.S. we have developed marketing capabilities designed to increase loyal, profitable customers for our clients. Our suite of analytical and profiling tools enable our clients to better understand their customers and optimize opportunities for developing loyal and profitable customer relationships.

Safeguards To Our Business Disaster And Contingency Planning

        We have a number of safeguards to protect us from the risks we face as a business. Given the significant amount of data that we manage, much of which is real-time data to support our clients' commerce initiatives, we have established redundant facilities for our data centers. We operate two data processing centers. In the event of a disaster at either of our two data centers, we can restore that data center's systems at a third party provided disaster recovery center.

Protection of Intellectual Property and Other Proprietary Rights

        We rely on a combination of copyright, trade secret and trademark laws, confidentiality procedures, contractual provisions and other similar measures to protect our proprietary information and technology used in each segment of our business. We currently hold one patent. In addition, we have five patent applications with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office, one international application, and one international application that has entered the national phase in two countries. We generally enter into confidentiality or license agreements with our employees, consultants and corporate partners, and generally control access to and distribution of our technology, documentation and other proprietary information. Despite the efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain the use of our products or technology that we consider proprietary and third parties may attempt to develop similar technology independently. We pursue registration and protection of our trademarks primarily in the United States and Canada, although we do have applications pending in South American and European countries. Effective protection of intellectual property rights may be unavailable or limited in some countries. The laws of some countries do not protect our

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proprietary rights to the same extent as in the United States and Canada. We are the exclusive Canadian licensee of the AIR MILES family of trademarks pursuant to a license agreement with Air Miles International Trading B.V. We believe that our trademarks are important for our branding and corporate identification and marketing of our services in each segment.

Competition

        The markets for our products and services are highly competitive. We compete with data processing companies, credit card issuers and marketing services companies, as well as with the in-house staffs of our current and potential clients.

        Transaction Services.    We are a leading provider of transaction services. Our focus has been on industry segments characterized by companies with large customer bases, detail-rich data and high transaction volumes. Targeting these specific market sectors allows us to develop and deliver solutions that meet the needs of these sectors. This focus is consistent with our marketing strategy for all products and services. Additionally, we believe we effectively distinguish ourselves from other payment processors by providing solutions that help our clients leverage investments they have made in their payment systems by using these systems for electronic marketing programs. Competition in the area of utility services comes primarily from larger, more well-funded and well-established competitors and from companies developing in-house solutions and capabilities.

        Credit Services.    Our credit services business competes primarily with financial institutions whose marketing focus has been on developing credit card programs with large revolving balances. These competitors further drive their businesses by cross-selling their other financial products to their cardholders. Our focus has been on targeting retailers that understand the competitive advantage of developing loyal customers. Typically these retailers have customers that make more frequent and smaller transactions. This results in the effective capture of detail-rich data within our database marketing services, allowing us to mine and analyze this data to develop successful customer relationship management strategies for our clients. As an issuer of private label credit cards, we compete with other payment methods, primarily general-purpose credit cards like Visa, MasterCard and American Express, as well as cash, checks and debit cards.

        Marketing Services.    As a provider of marketing services, we generally compete with advertising and other promotional and loyalty programs, both traditional and online, for a portion of a client's total marketing budget. In addition, we compete against internally developed products and services created by our existing and potential clients. For each of our marketing services, we expect competition to intensify as more competitors enter our market. In addition, new competitors with our AIR MILES Reward Program may target our sponsors and collectors as well as draw rewards from our rewards suppliers. Our ability to generate significant revenue from clients and loyalty partners will depend on our ability to differentiate ourselves through the products and services we provide and the attractiveness of our loyalty and rewards programs to consumers. The continued attractiveness of our loyalty and rewards programs will depend in large part on our ability to remain affiliated with sponsors that are desirable to consumers and to offer rewards that are both attainable and attractive to consumers. Intensifying competition will make it more difficult for us to do this. For our database marketing services, our ability to continue to capture detailed transaction data on consumers is critical in providing effective customer relationship management strategies for our clients.

Regulation

        Federal and state laws and regulations extensively regulate the operations of our credit services bank subsidiary, World Financial Network National Bank. Many of these laws and regulations are intended to maintain the safety and soundness of World Financial Network National Bank, and they impose significant restraints on it to which other non-regulated companies are not subject. Because

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World Financial Network National Bank is deemed a credit card bank within the meaning of the Bank Holding Company Act, we are not subject to regulation as a bank holding company. If we were subject to regulation as a bank holding company, we would be constrained in our operations to a limited number of activities that are closely related to banking or financial services in nature. Nevertheless, as a national bank, World Financial Network National Bank is still subject to overlapping supervision by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

        World Financial Network National Bank must maintain minimum amounts of regulatory capital. If World Financial Network National Bank does not meet these capital requirements, the regulators have broad discretion to institute a number of corrective actions that could have a direct material effect on our financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulating framework for prompt corrective action, World Financial Network National Bank must meet specific guidelines that involve measures and ratios of its assets, liabilities, regulatory capital, interest rate exposure and certain off-balance sheet items under regulatory accounting standards, among other factors. Under the National Bank Act, if the capital stock of World Financial Network National Bank is impaired by losses or otherwise, we, as the sole shareholder, may be assessed the deficiency. To the extent necessary, if a deficiency in capital still exists, the FDIC may be appointed as a receiver to wind up World Financial Network National Bank's affairs.

        Before World Financial Network National Bank can pay dividends to us, it must obtain prior regulatory approval if all dividends declared in any calendar year would exceed its net profits for that year plus its retained net profits for the preceding two calendar years, less any transfers to surplus. In addition, World Financial Network National Bank may only pay dividends to the extent that retained net profits, including the portion transferred to surplus, exceed bad debts. Moreover, to pay any dividend, World Financial Network National Bank must maintain adequate capital above regulatory guidelines. Further, if a regulatory authority believes that World Financial Network National Bank is engaged in or is about to engage in an unsafe or unsound banking practice, which, depending on its financial condition, could include the payment of dividends, the authority may require, after notice and hearing, that World Financial Network National Bank cease and desist from the unsafe practice.

        We are limited under Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act in the extent to which we can borrow or otherwise obtain credit from or engage in other "covered transactions" with World Financial Network National Bank, which may have the effect of limiting the extent to which World Financial Network National Bank can finance or otherwise supply funds to us. "Covered transactions" include loans or extensions of credit, purchases of or investments in securities, purchases of assets, including assets subject to an agreement to repurchase, acceptance of securities as collateral for a loan or extension of credit, or the issuance of a guarantee, acceptance or letter of credit. Although the applicable rules do not serve as an outright bar on engaging in "covered transactions," they do require that we engage in covered transactions with World Financial Network National Bank only on terms and under circumstances that are substantially the same, or at least as favorable to World Financial Network National Bank, as those prevailing at the time for comparable transactions with nonaffiliated companies. Furthermore, with certain exceptions, each loan or extension of credit by World Financial Network National Bank to us or our other affiliates must be secured by collateral with a market value ranging from 100% to 130% of the amount of the loan or extension of credit, depending on the type of collateral. The Federal Reserve Board has proposed new regulations concerning covered transactions that attempt to clarify and expand the foregoing limitations.

        We are required to monitor and report unusual or suspicious account activity as well as transactions involving amounts in excess of prescribed limits under the Bank Secrecy Act, IRS rules and other regulations. Due to the tragic events of September 11, 2001, Congress, the IRS and the bank regulators have focused their attention on banks' monitoring and reporting of suspicious activities.

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Additionally, Congress and the bank regulators have proposed, adopted or passed a number of new laws and regulations that may increase reporting obligations of banks.

        We are also subject to numerous laws and regulations that are intended to protect consumers, including state law, the Truth in Lending Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act. These laws and regulations mandate various disclosure requirements and regulate the manner in which we may interact with consumers. These and other laws also limit finance charges or other fees or charges earned in our activities. We conduct our operations in a manner that we believe excludes us from regulation as a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If we were deemed a consumer reporting agency, however, we would be subject to a number of additional complex regulatory requirements and restrictions.

        A number of privacy regulations have been implemented in the United States and Canada in recent years. These regulations place many new restrictions on our ability to collect and disseminate customer information.

        Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, we maintain a comprehensive written information security program that includes administrative, technical and physical safeguards relating to customer information. We also were required to develop an initial privacy notice, and we are required to provide annual privacy notices, to customers that describe in general terms our information sharing practices. If we intend to share nonpublic personal information about customers with nonaffiliated third parties, we must provide our customers with a notice and a reasonable period of time for each customer to "opt out" of any such disclosure.

        In addition to the federal privacy laws with which we must comply, states also have adopted statutes, regulations or other measures governing the collection and distribution of personal information about customers. In some cases these state measures are preempted by federal law, but if not, we make efforts to monitor and comply with individual state privacy laws in the conduct of our business.

        Canada has likewise enacted privacy legislation known as the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. This Act requires organizations to obtain a consumer's consent to collect, use or disclose personal information. Under this Act, which took effect on January 1, 2001, the nature of the required consent depends on the sensitivity of the personal information, and the Act permits personal information to be used only for the purposes for which it was collected. The Province of Quebec has made similar privacy legislation applicable to the private sector in that province since 1994 and other provinces are considering further privacy legislation. We believe we have taken appropriate steps with our AIR MILES Reward Program to comply with the law.

Employees

        As of December 31, 2002, we had approximately 6,500 employees in the United States, Canada and New Zealand. We believe our relations with our employees are good. We have no collective bargaining agreements with our employees.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval

        Our audit committee has resolved to pre-approve all audit and non-audit services to be performed for us by our independent auditors, Deloitte & Touche LLP. Non-audit services that have received pre-approval include tax preparation, tax consultation and advice, assistance with our securitization program, review and support for securities issuances and acquisition assistance.

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Available Information

        We file annual, quarterly and special reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. You may read and copy any document we file at the SEC's Public Reference Room at 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public at the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. No information from this web page is incorporated by reference herein. Our web site is www.alliancedatasystems.com. You may also obtain copies of our annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and certain other information filed with the SEC, as well as amendments thereto, free of charge from our web site. These documents are posted to our web site as soon as reasonably practicable after we have filed or furnished these documents with the SEC. We post our audit committee, compensation committee and executive committee charters, and our corporate governance guidelines on our web site.

Risk Factors

Risks Related to General Business Operations

Our ten largest clients were responsible for 55.5% of our consolidated revenue last year, and the loss of any of these clients could cause a significant drop in our revenue.

        We depend on a limited number of large clients for a significant portion of our consolidated revenue. Our 10 largest clients were responsible for approximately 55.5% of our consolidated revenue during the year ended December 31, 2002, with Limited Brands and its retail affiliates representing approximately 18.8% of our 2002 consolidated revenue. A decrease in revenue from any of our significant clients for any reason, including a decrease in pricing or activity, or a decision to either utilize another service provider or to no longer outsource some or all of the services we provide, could have a material adverse effect on our consolidated revenue.

        Transaction Services.    Our 10 largest clients in this segment were responsible for approximately 61.6% of our Transaction Services revenue in 2002. Limited Brands and its retail affiliates were the largest Transaction Services client in 2002, representing approximately 19.8% of this segment's 2002 revenue, and Brylane, our second largest Transaction Services client, was responsible for approximately 10.0% of this segment's 2002 revenue. Our contracts with Limited Brands and its retail affiliates expire in 2009, and our contracts with Brylane expire in 2013. Equiva Services, LLC, which is the service provider to Shell-branded locations in the United States, was responsible for approximately 3.1% of this segment's 2002 revenue, or 1.9% of our overall 2002 consolidated revenue. Through our Equiva relationship, we were responsible for processing credit and debit card transactions at Shell gas stations in the United States through our point-of-sale terminals. Our contract with Equiva expired in December 2002. We do not believe that the loss of Equiva will have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

        Credit Services.    Our two largest clients in this segment were responsible for approximately 66.9% of our Credit Services revenue in 2002. Limited Brands and its retail affiliates were responsible for approximately 44.5%, and Brylane was responsible for approximately 22.4% of our Credit Services revenue in 2002. Our contracts with Limited Brands and its retail affiliates expire in 2009, and our contracts with Brylane expire in 2013.

        Marketing Services.    Our 10 largest clients in this segment were responsible for approximately 68.2% of our Marketing Services revenue in 2002. BMO Bank of Montreal, Canada Safeway, Shell Canada and Amex Bank of Canada were the four largest Marketing Services clients in 2002, responsible for approximately 54.0% of our 2002 Marketing Services revenue. BMO Bank of Montreal represented approximately 28.8% of this segment's 2002 revenue. Our contract with Shell Canada expires on July 31, 2003.

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Our largest client, Limited Brands, is an affiliate of a significant stockholder, holds two positions on our board of directors, and as a result it has the ability to influence our corporate affairs in a manner that could be inconsistent with the best interests of our other stockholders.

        Eight of our clients are retail affiliates of Limited Commerce Corp., our second largest stockholder and a wholly owned subsidiary of Limited Brands. Limited Brands, together with its retail affiliates, is our largest client. Limited Commerce Corp. beneficially owned approximately 19.6% of our common stock as of February 28, 2003, and, through a stockholders agreement, has the right to designate up to two members of our board of directors. As a significant stockholder with board representation, Limited Brands, unlike our other clients, is able to exercise significant influence over matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions. The interests of Limited Brands may not be aligned with the interests of our company or other stockholders. Limited Brands could use its influence as a major client and large stockholder to negotiate contracts with us that have terms that are more favorable to Limited Brands than could be obtained by unaffiliated retailers. In addition, Limited Brands could use its influence and could act to hinder our ability to enter into contracts with its competitors.

Competition in our industry is intense and we expect it to intensify.

        The markets for our products and services are highly competitive, and we expect competition to intensify in each of those markets. Many of our current competitors have longer operating histories, stronger brand names and greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. We cannot assure you that we will be able to compete successfully against our current and potential competitors.

The markets for the services that we offer may fail to expand or may contract and this could negatively impact our growth and profitability.

        Our growth and continued profitability rely on acceptance of the services that we offer. If demand for transaction, credit or marketing services decreases, the price of our common stock could fall and you could lose value in your investment. Loyalty and database marketing strategies are relatively new to retailers, and we cannot guarantee that merchants will continue to use these types of marketing strategies. Changes in technology may enable merchants and retail companies to directly process transactions in a cost-efficient manner without the use of our services. Additionally, downturns in the economy or the performance of retailers may result in a decrease in the demand for our marketing strategies. Further, if our customers make fewer sales of their products and services, we will have fewer transactions to process, resulting in lower revenue. Any decrease in the demand for our services for the reasons discussed above or other reasons could have a material adverse effect on our growth and revenue.

We cannot assure you that we will effectively integrate acquisitions or realize their full benefits, and future acquisitions may result in dilutive equity issuances or increases in debt.

        We expect to continue to seek selective acquisitions as an element of our growth strategy. If we are unable to successfully integrate completed or any future acquisitions, we may incur substantial costs and delays or other operational, technical or financial problems, any of which could harm our business and impact the trading price of our common stock. In addition, the failure to successfully integrate any future acquisition may divert management's attention from our core operations or could harm our ability to timely meet the needs of our customers. To finance future acquisitions, we may need to raise funds either by issuing equity securities or incurring debt. If we issue additional equity securities, such sales could reduce the current value of our stock by diluting the ownership interest of our stockholders.

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Failure to safeguard our databases and consumer privacy could affect our reputation among our clients and their customers and may expose us to legal claims from consumers.

        An important feature of our marketing and credit services is our ability to develop and maintain individual consumer profiles. As part of our AIR MILES Reward Program, database marketing program and private label program, we maintain marketing databases containing information on consumers' account transactions. Although we have extensive security procedures, our databases may be subject to unauthorized access. If we experience a security breach, the integrity of our marketing databases could be affected. Security and privacy concerns may cause consumers to resist providing the personal data necessary to support our profiling capability. The use of our loyalty, database marketing or private label programs could decline if any well-publicized compromise of security occurred. Any public perception that we released consumer information without authorization could subject us to legal claims from consumers and adversely affect our client relationships.

Loss of data center capacity, interruption of telecommunication links, or inability to utilize propriety software of third party vendors could affect our ability to timely meet the needs of our clients and their customers.

        Our ability to protect our data centers against damage from fire, power loss, telecommunications failure and other disasters is critical. In order to provide many of our services, we must be able to store, retrieve, process and manage large databases and periodically expand and upgrade our capabilities. Any damage to our data centers, any failure of our telecommunication links that interrupts our operations or any impairment of our ability to use software licensed to us could adversely affect our ability to meet our clients' needs and their confidence in utilizing us for future services.

As a result of our significant Canadian operations, our reported financial information will be affected by fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. and Canadian dollars.

        A significant portion of our Marketing Services revenue is derived from our Loyalty Group operations in Canada, which transacts business in Canadian dollars. Therefore, our reported financial information from quarter-to-quarter will be affected by changes in the exchange rate between the U.S. and Canadian dollars over the relevant periods.

Our hedging activity subjects us to off-balance sheet counter-party risks relating to the creditworthiness of the commercial banks with whom we enter into hedging transactions.

        In order to execute our hedging strategies, we have entered into interest rate and foreign currency derivative contracts with commercial banks. These banks are otherwise known as counter-parties. It is our policy to enter into such contracts with counter-parties that are deemed to be creditworthy. However, if macro or micro economic events were to negatively impact the respective banks, the banks might not be able to honor their obligations and we might suffer a loss.

Our failure to protect our intellectual property rights may harm our competitive position, and litigation to protect our intellectual property rights or defend against third-party allegations of infringement may be costly.

        Third parties may infringe or misappropriate our trademarks or other intellectual property rights, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results. The actions we take to protect our trademarks and other proprietary rights may not be adequate. Litigation may be necessary to enforce our intellectual property rights, protect our trade secrets or determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. We cannot assure you that we will be able to prevent infringement of our intellectual property rights or misappropriation of our proprietary information. Any infringement or misappropriation could harm any competitive advantage we currently derive or may derive from our proprietary rights. Third parties may assert infringement claims against us. Any claims and any resulting litigation could subject us to significant liability for

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damages. An adverse determination in any litigation of this type could require us to design around a third party's patent or to license alternative technology from another party. In addition, litigation is time-consuming and expensive to defend and could result in the diversion of our time and resources. Any claims from third parties may also result in limitations on our ability to use the intellectual property subject to these claims.

If we are required to pay state taxes on transaction processing, it could negatively impact our profitability.

        Transaction processing companies may be subject to state taxation of certain portions of their fees charged to merchants for their services. If we are required to pay such taxes and are unable to pass this tax expense through to our merchant clients, these taxes would negatively impact our profitability.

Risks Particular to Transaction Services

The pace of deregulation in the utility sector may not continue as we have predicted.

        The pace of deregulation may slow, thereby creating fewer opportunities for the types of services we provide. If the pace of deregulation were to slow, we would increase our focus on regulated activities, which have traditionally been less open to outsourcing.

Competition in our segment is intense and we expect it to intensify.

        The utilities market for outsourced billing and customer care is highly competitive, and we expect competition to intensify from larger, more well-funded and well-established companies. Increased competition could result in contracts with lower margins.

Risks Particular to Credit Services

If we are unable to securitize our credit card receivables due to changes in the market, the unavailability of credit enhancements, an early amortization event or for other reasons, we would not be able to fund new credit card receivables, which would have a negative impact on our operations and earnings.

        Since January 1996, we have sold substantially all of the credit card receivables originated by our private label credit card bank, World Financial Network National Bank, to WFN Credit Company, LLC, who then sold them to World Financial Network Credit Card Master Trust and World Financial Network Credit Card Master Note Trust as part of our securitization program. This securitization program is the primary vehicle through which World Financial Network National Bank finances our private label credit card receivables. If World Financial Network National Bank were not able to regularly securitize the receivables it originates, our ability to grow or even maintain our credit services business would be materially impaired. World Financial Network National Bank's ability to effect securitization transactions is impacted by the following factors, some of which are beyond our control:

•

conditions in the securities markets in general and the asset-backed securitization market in particular;



•

conformity in the quality of credit card receivables to rating agency requirements and changes in those requirements; and



•

our ability to fund required overcollateralizations or credit enhancements, which we routinely utilize in order to achieve better credit ratings to lower our borrowing costs.

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        Once World Financial Network National Bank securitizes receivables, the agreement governing the transaction contains covenants that address the receivables' performance and the continued solvency of the retailer where the underlying sales were generated. In the event such a covenant or other similar covenant is breached, an early amortization event could be declared, in which case the trustee for the securitization trust would retain World Financial Network National Bank's interest in the related receivables, along with the excess interest income that would normally be paid to World Financial Network National Bank, until such time as the securitization investors are fully repaid. The occurrence of an early amortization event would significantly limit, or even negate, our ability to securitize additional receivables.

Increases in net charge-offs beyond our current estimates could have a negative impact on our operating income and profitability.

        The primary risk associated with unsecured consumer lending is the risk of default or bankruptcy of the borrower, resulting in the borrower's balance being charged-off as uncollectible. We rely principally on the customer's creditworthiness for repayment of the loan and therefore have no other recourse for collection. We may not be able to successfully identify and evaluate the creditworthiness of cardholders to minimize delinquencies and losses. An increase in defaults or net charge-offs beyond historical levels will reduce the net spread available to us from the securitization master trust and could result in a reduction in finance charge income or a write-down of the interest only strip. General economic factors, such as the rate of inflation, unemployment levels and interest rates, may result in greater delinquencies that lead to greater credit losses among consumers. In addition to being affected by general economic conditions and the success of our collection and recovery efforts, our delinquency and net credit card receivable charge-off rates are affected by the credit risk of credit card receivables and the average age of our various credit card account portfolios. The average age of credit card receivables affects the stability of delinquency and loss rates of the portfolio. At December 31, 2002, 47.7% of the total number of our securitized accounts with outstanding balances and 41.3% of the amount of our outstanding securitized loans were less than 24 months old. For 2002, our securitized net charge-off ratio was 7.4% compared to 8.4% for 2001 and 7.6% for 2000. We cannot assure you that our pricing strategy can offset the negative impact on profitability caused by increases in delinquencies and losses. Any material increases in delinquencies and losses beyond our current estimates could have a material adverse impact on us and the value of our net retained interests in loans that we sell though securitizations.

Changes in the amount of payments and defaults by cardholders on credit card balances may cause a decrease in the estimated value of interest only strips.

        The estimated fair value of interest only strips depends upon the anticipated cash flows of the related credit card receivables. A significant factor affecting the anticipated cash flows is the rate at which the underlying principal of the securitized credit card receivables is reduced. Other assumptions used in estimating the value of the interest only strips include estimated future credit losses and a discount rate commensurate with the risks involved. The rate of cardholder payments or defaults on credit card balances may be affected by a variety of economic factors, including interest rates and the availability of alternative financing, most of which are not within our control. A decrease in interest rates could cause cardholder payments to increase, thereby requiring a write down of the interest only strips. If payments from cardholders or defaults by cardholders exceed our estimates, we may be required to decrease the estimated value of the interest only strips through a charge against earnings.

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Interest rate increases could significantly reduce the amount we realize from the spread between the yield on our assets and our cost of funding.

        An increase in market interest rates could reduce the amount we realize from the spread between the yield on our assets and our cost of funding. A rise in market interest rates may indirectly impact the payment performance of consumers or the value of, or amount we could realize from the sale of, interest only strips. At December 31, 2002, approximately 3.4% of our outstanding debt, including the off-balance sheet debt of our securitization program, was subject to fixed rates with a weighted average interest rate of 6.6%. An additional 70.0% of our outstanding debt at December 31, 2002 was locked at an effective interest rate of 5.5% through interest rate swap agreements and treasury locks with notional amounts totaling $1.7 billion. Assuming we do not take any counteractive measures, a 1.0% increase in interest rates would result in a decrease to pretax income of approximately $2.5 million. The foregoing sensitivity analysis is limited to the potential impact of an interest rate increase of 1.0% on cash flows and fair values, and does not address default or credit risk.

We expect growth in our credit services segment to result from new and acquired private label card programs whose credit card receivable performance could result in increased portfolio losses and negatively impact our net retained interests in loans securitized.

        We expect an important source of growth in our private label card operations to come from the acquisition of existing private label programs and initiating private label programs with retailers who do not currently offer a private label card. Although we believe our pricing and models for determining credit risk are designed to evaluate the credit risk of existing programs and the credit risk we are willing to assume for acquired and start-up programs, we cannot assure you that the loss experience on acquired and start-up programs will be consistent with our more established programs. The failure to successfully underwrite these private label programs may result in defaults greater than our expectations and could have a material adverse impact on us and the value of our net retained interests in loans securitized.

Current and proposed regulation and legislation relating to our credit services could limit our business activities, product offerings and fees charged.

        Various Federal and state laws and regulations significantly limit the credit services activities in which we are permitted to engage. Such laws and regulations, among other things, limit the fees and other charges that we can impose on customers, limit or prescribe certain other terms of our products and services, require specified disclosures to consumers, or require that we maintain certain licenses, qualifications and minimum capital levels. In some cases, the precise application of these statutes and regulations is not clear. In addition, numerous legislative and regulatory proposals are advanced each year which, if adopted, could have a material adverse effect on our profitability or further restrict the manner in which we conduct our activities. The failure to comply with, or adverse changes in, the laws or regulations to which our business is subject, or adverse changes in their interpretation, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to collect our receivables and generate fees on the receivables, thereby adversely affecting our profitability.

If our bank subsidiary fails to meet credit card bank criteria, we may become subject to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act, which would force us to cease all of our non-banking business activities and thus cause a drastic reduction in our profits and revenue.

        Our bank subsidiary, World Financial Network National Bank, is a limited purpose credit card bank. The Bank Insurance Fund, which is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, insures the deposits of World Financial Network National Bank. World Financial Network National

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Bank is not a "bank" as defined under the Bank Holding Company Act because it is in compliance with the following requirements:

•

it engages only in credit card operations;



•

it does not accept demand deposits or deposits that the depositor may withdraw by check or similar means for payment to third parties;



•

it does not accept any savings or time deposits of less than $100,000, except for deposits pledged as collateral for extensions of credit;



•

it maintains only one office that accepts deposits; and



•

it does not engage in the business of making commercial loans.

        If World Financial Network National Bank failed to meet the credit card bank criteria described above, World Financial Network National Bank would be a "bank" as defined by the Bank Holding Company Act, subjecting us to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act. Being deemed a bank holding company could significantly harm us, as we could be required to either divest any activities deemed to be non-banking activities or cease any activities not permissible for a bank holding company and its affiliates. While the consequences of being subject to regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act would be severe, we believe that the risk of becoming subject to such regulation is minimal as a result of the precautions we have taken in structuring our business.

Risks Particular to Marketing Services

Air Canada is the dominant air carrier in Canada and the primary supplier of airline tickets for our AIR MILES Reward Program. Our costs may increase if we are unable to extend our current pricing arrangements with Air Canada, and we may not be able to meet the needs of our collectors if the seating capacity made available to us by Air Canada is inadequate to meet our collectors' demands.

        Our supply agreement with Air Canada, which expires on December 31, 2004, limits our guaranteed seating capacity and right to purchase tickets at negotiated rates in 2003 and 2004 to itineraries that include routes on which Air Canada is the only air carrier providing daily direct service on large aircraft. These itineraries tend to be less frequently requested by collectors. Air Canada continues to provide us with seating capacity well in excess of guaranteed levels on all its routes and continues to allow us to purchase tickets at negotiated rates on all its routes; however, if we are unable to negotiate an extension of these arrangements, we may be required to pay more for tickets from Air Canada than the negotiated rates or to purchase tickets from other airlines. Tickets from other airlines could be more expensive than a comparable ticket under the Air Canada supply agreement, and the routes offered by the other airlines may be inconvenient or undesirable to the redeeming collectors. As a result, we would experience higher air travel redemption costs than we experienced in 2002 while at the same time collector satisfaction with the AIR MILES Reward Program may be adversely affected by requiring travel on other carriers on certain routes.

If actual redemptions by collectors of AIR MILES reward miles are greater than expected, our profitability could be adversely affected.

        A portion of our revenue is based on our estimate of the number of AIR MILES reward miles that will go unused by the collector base. The percentage of unredeemed reward miles is known as "breakage" in the loyalty industry. While our AIR MILES reward miles currently do not expire, we experience breakage when reward miles are not redeemed by collectors for a number of reasons, including:

•

loss of interest in the program or sponsors;

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•

collectors moving out of the program area; and



•

death of a collector.

        If actual redemptions are greater than our estimates, our profitability could be adversely affected due to the cost of the excess redemptions.

We face increased competition from Aeroplan, Air Canada's proprietary frequent flyer program.

        In January 2003, Air Canada announced the sale of a 35% equity interest in Aeroplan to Onex Corporation on terms that would enhance Aeroplan's ability to compete with our AIR MILES Reward Program through access to increased funding and other resources. As a result, we may experience greater competition in attracting and retaining sponsors in our AIR MILES Reward Program.

The loss of our most active AIR MILES reward miles collectors could negatively impact our growth and profitability.

        Our most active AIR MILES reward miles collectors represent a disproportionately large percentage of our AIR MILES Reward Program revenue. We estimate that over half of the AIR MILES Reward Program revenues for 2003 will be derived from our most active AIR MILES reward miles collectors. The loss of a significant portion of these collectors, for any reason, could impact our ability to generate significant revenue from sponsors and loyalty partners. The continued attractiveness of our loyalty and rewards programs will depend in large part on our ability to remain affiliated with sponsors that are desirable to consumers and to offer rewards that are both attainable and attractive.

Airline or travel industry disruptions, such as an airline insolvency, could negatively affect the AIR MILES Reward Program, our revenues and profitability.

        Air travel is one of the appeals of the AIR MILES Reward Program to collectors. As a result of airline insolvencies and restructurings, we may experience service disruptions that prevent us from fulfilling collectors' flight redemption requests. As a result of airline or travel industry disruptions, such as resulted from the catastrophic events of September 11, 2001, some collectors could determine that air travel is too dangerous or, given new airport regulations, too burdensome. Consequently, collectors might forego redeeming points for air travel and therefore might not participate in the AIR MILES Reward Program to the extent they previously did, which could adversely affect our revenue from the program. A reduction in collector use of the program could impact our ability to attract new sponsors and loyalty partners and to generate revenue from current sponsors and loyalty partners.

        Air Canada faces substantial debt maturities in 2003 and 2004 as well as increasing competition from airline competitors. If Air Canada were to become insolvent, we could experience service disruptions that would adversely affect our ability to fulfill collector flight redemption requests and lead to higher air travel redemption costs.

Legislation relating to consumer privacy may affect our ability to collect data that we use in providing our marketing services, which could negatively affect our ability to satisfy our clients' needs.

        The enactment of legislation or industry regulations arising from public concern over consumer privacy issues could have a material adverse impact on our marketing services. Any such legislation or industry regulations could place restrictions upon the collection and use of information that is currently legally available, which could materially increase our cost of collecting some data. Legislation or industry regulation could also prohibit us from collecting or disseminating certain types of data, which could adversely affect our ability to meet our clients' requirements.

        The federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act makes it more difficult to collect and use information that has been legally available and may increase our costs of collecting some data. Regulations under this

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act give cardholders the ability to "opt out" of having information generated by their credit card purchases shared with other parties or the public. Our ability to gather and utilize this data will be adversely affected if a significant percentage of the consumers whose purchasing behavior we track elect to "opt out," thereby precluding us from using their data. Under the regulations, we generally are required to refrain from sharing data generated by our new cardholders until such cardholders are given the opportunity to "opt out."

        The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act enacted in Canada requires organizations to obtain a consumer's consent to collect, use or disclose personal information. Under this Act, which took effect on January 1, 2001, the nature of the required consent depends on the sensitivity of the personal information, and the Act permits personal information to be used only for the purposes for which it was collected. The Loyalty Group allows its customers to voluntarily "opt out" from receiving either one or both promotional and marketing mail or promotional and marketing electronic mail. Heightened consumer awareness of, and concern about, privacy may result in more customers "opting out" at higher rates than they have historically. This would mean that a reduced number of customers would receive bonus mile offers and therefore would collect fewer AIR MILES reward miles.

Risks Related to Our Company

Some of our stockholders currently own a significant amount of our common stock. These stockholders may have interests that conflict with yours and would be able to control the election of directors and the approval of significant corporate transactions, including a change in control.

        Limited Commerce Corp. and the affiliated entities of Welsh Carson beneficially owned approximately 19.6% and 58.3%, respectively, of our outstanding common stock as of February 28, 2003. Through a stockholders agreement, Limited Commerce Corp. has the right to designate up to two members of our board of directors and Welsh Carson has the ability to designate up to three members of our board of directors. As a result, these stockholders are able to exercise significant influence over, and in most cases control, matters requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors, changes to our charter documents and significant corporate transactions. This concentration of ownership makes it unlikely that any other holder or group of holders of common stock will be able to affect the way we are managed or the direction of our business. Limited Commerce Corp. and Welsh Carson may have interests that conflict with the interests of our company or other stockholders. Their continued concentrated ownership will make it impossible for another company to acquire us and for you to receive any related takeover premium for your shares unless they approve the acquisition.

Delaware law and our charter documents could prevent a change of control that might be beneficial to you.

        Delaware law, as well as provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, could discourage unsolicited proposals to acquire us, even though such proposals may be beneficial to you. These provisions include:

•

a board of directors classified into three classes of directors with the directors of each class having staggered, three-year terms;



•

our board's authority to issue shares of preferred stock without stockholder approval; and



•

provisions of Delaware law that restrict many business combinations and provide that directors serving on staggered boards of directors, such as ours, may be removed only for cause.

        These provisions of our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and Delaware law could discourage tender offers or other transactions that might otherwise result in our stockholders receiving a premium over the market price for our common stock.

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Future sales of our common stock may adversely affect our common stock price.

        We may pursue acquisitions of competitors and related businesses and may issue shares of our common stock in connection with these acquisitions. As of February 28, 2003, we had an aggregate of 113,253,654 shares of our common stock authorized but unissued and not reserved for specific purposes. In general, we may issue all of these shares without any action or approval by our stockholders. We have also reserved 10,253,000 shares of our common stock for issuance under our stock option and restricted stock plans and employee stock purchase plan, of which 7,500,891 shares are issuable upon vesting of restricted stock awards and upon exercise of options granted as of February 28, 2003, including options to purchase approximately 3,545,122 shares exercisable as of February 28, 2003 or that will become exercisable within 60 days after February 28, 2003. We have reserved 1,500,000 shares of our common stock for issuance under our 401(k) and Retirement Savings Plan. Sales or issuances of a substantial number of shares of common stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, could adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock and dilute the percentage ownership held by our stockholders. In addition, sales of a substantial number of shares of common stock by Limited Commerce Corp. or Welsh Carson, or the perception that such sales could occur, could also adversely affect prevailing market prices of our common stock.

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Item 2.    Properties

        We have several facilities throughout the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. As of December 31, 2002, we lease over 33 general office properties, comprising over 1.7 million square feet. These facilities are used to carry out our operational, sales and administrative functions. Our principal facilities are as follows:

        We believe our current and proposed facilities are suitable to our businesses and that we will be able to lease, purchase or newly construct additional facilities as needed.

Item 3.    Legal Proceedings

        From time to time, we are involved in various claims and lawsuits incidental to our business, including claims and lawsuits alleging breaches of contractual obligations.

        On November 16, 2000, in the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, Miami Division, a group of World Financial Network National Bank cardholders filed a putative class action complaint against World Financial Network National Bank. The plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, commenced the action alleging that World Financial Network National Bank engaged in a systematic program of false, misleading, and deceptive practices to improperly bill and collect consumer debts from thousands of cardholders, stemming from World Financial Network National Bank's alleged practices involved in calculating finance charges and in crediting cardholder payments on the next business day if received after 6:30 a.m. The parties agreed to a settlement, which did not have a material impact on us, and the case was dismissed with prejudice on November 27, 2002.

Item 4.    Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders

        There were no matters submitted to a vote of the security holders during the fourth quarter of 2002.

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PART II

Item 5.    Market for Registrant's Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters

        In June 2001, we completed the initial public offering of our common stock at a price of $12.00 per share. Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol "ADS." The following table sets forth for the periods indicated the high and low composite per share closing sales prices as reported by the New York Stock Exchange.

        As of February 28, 2003, the closing price of our common stock was $16.60, there were 74,993,346 shares of our common stock outstanding, and there were approximately 70 holders of record of our common stock.

        We have never declared or paid any dividends on our common stock, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We currently intend to retain future earnings, if any, to finance operations and the expansion of our business. Any future determination to pay cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will be dependent upon our financial condition, operating results, capital requirements and other factors that our board deems relevant. In addition, under the terms of our credit facilities, we cannot declare or pay dividends or return capital to our common stockholders, and we are restricted in the amount of any other distribution, payment or delivery of property or cash to our common stockholders.

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Item 6.    Selected Financial Data

SELECTED HISTORICAL CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING INFORMATION

        Prior to December 31, 1998, our fiscal year was based on a 52/53 week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to January 31. We have since changed our fiscal year end to December 31. Fiscal 1998 represents the eleven month period ended December 31, 1998. The following table sets forth our summary historical financial information for the periods ended and as of the dates indicated. This information was derived from our consolidated financial statements that were audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP. You should read the following historical financial information along with Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations contained in this Form 10-K, including the financial statements and related notes that are included in this Form 10-K.

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(1)

Operating EBITDA is equal to operating income plus depreciation and amortization and the change in deferred revenue less the change in redemption settlement assets. We have presented operating EBITDA because we use it to monitor compliance with the financial covenants in our amended credit agreement, such as debt-to-operating EBITDA, interest coverage ratios and minimum operating EBITDA. We also use operating EBITDA as an integral part of our internal reporting to measure performance and liquidity. In addition, operating EBITDA eliminates the uneven effect across all segments of considerable amounts of non-cash amortization of purchased intangibles recognized in business combinations accounted for under the purchase method. Operating EBITDA is not intended to be a performance measure that should be regarded as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, either operating income or net income as an indicator of operating performance or to the statement of cash flows as a measure of liquidity. In addition, operating EBITDA is not intended to represent funds available for dividends, reinvestment or other discretionary uses, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The operating EBITDA measures presented in this Form 10-K may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

(2)

Core transactions processed in 2002 reflect the previously announced pruning of non-core low margin accounts in 2002, and accordingly only includes transactions processed for continuing customers.

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Item 7.    Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Overview

        We are a leading provider of transaction services, credit services and marketing services in North America. We focus on facilitating and managing electronic transactions between our clients and their customers. We operate in three business segments: Transaction Services, Credit Services and Marketing Services.

        Transaction Services.    Transaction Services is our largest segment accounting for approximately one half of the Company. The Transaction Services segment primarily generates revenue based on the number of transactions processed, statements generated and customer calls handled. Statements generated and transactions processed are the two primary drivers of revenue for this segment.

•

Statements Generated:    This driver represents the number of statements generated for our private label and utility clients. Although we are paid for other services such as remittance processing and customer care, statements generated represents the approximate number of active accountholders.



•

Transactions Processed:    This driver represents the number of electronic payments processed in merchant services, including credit card, debit card, prepaid card, electronic benefits and fleet and check transactions, and represents approximately one quarter of this segment's revenue. We are typically paid by our clients for each transaction processed.

        Credit Services.    Credit Services accounts for approximately one quarter of the Company. The Credit Services segment primarily generates revenue from servicing fees from our securitization trusts, merchant discount fees, and net finance charges. Private label credit sales and average securitized portfolio are the two primary drivers of revenue for this segment.

•

Private Label Credit Sales:    This driver represents the dollar value of private label card sales that occur at our clients' point of sale terminals, catalogs or web sites. We are paid a percentage of these sales, referred to as merchant discount, from the retailers that utilize our private label program. Private label credit sales typically lead to higher portfolio balances as cardholders finance their purchases through our bank.



•

Average Securitized Portfolio:    This represents the average balance of outstanding receivables from our cardholders that have been securitized. Customers are assessed a finance charge based on their outstanding balance at the end of a billing cycle. There are many factors that drive the outstanding balances such as payment rates, charge-offs, recoveries and delinquencies. Management actively monitors all of these factors. Generally we securitize our receivables, which results in a sale for accounting purposes and effectively removes them from our balance sheet to one of our securitization trusts.

        Marketing Services.    Marketing services is represented primarily by our AIR MILES Reward Program, which we believe to be the largest loyalty program in Canada. We primarily collect fees from our clients based on the number of AIR MILES reward miles issued and in limited circumstances the number of AIR MILES reward miles redeemed. All of the fees collected for AIR MILES reward miles issued are deferred and recognized over time. AIR MILES reward miles issued and AIR MILES reward miles redeemed are the two primary drivers of revenue for this segment, and as a result they are both indicators of the success of the program. These two drivers are also important in the revenue recognition process.

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AIR MILES Reward Miles Issued:    The number of AIR MILES reward miles issued depends upon the buying activity of the collectors at our participating sponsors. The fees collected from

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sponsors for the issuance of AIR MILES reward miles represents future revenue and earnings for us.

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AIR MILES Reward Miles Redeemed:    A majority of the revenue we recognize in this segment is derived from the redemptions of AIR MILES reward miles by collectors. Redemptions also show that collectors are attaining the rewards that are offered through our programs.

Discussion of Critical Accounting Policies

        Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our Consolidated Financial Statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting policies that are described in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements requires management to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We continually evaluate our estimates that are deemed critical to the determination of operating results. Estimates are based on information available as of the date of the financial statements and, accordingly, actual results could differ from these estimates, sometimes materially. Critical accounting policies and estimates are defined as those that are both most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and operating results and require management's most subjective judgments. The most critical accounting policies and estimates are described below.

        Securitization of credit card receivables.    We utilize a securitization program to finance substantially all of the credit card receivables that we underwrite. Our securitization trusts allow us to sell credit card receivables to the trusts on a daily basis. We use off-balance sheet securitization for its lower cost of funds and more efficient use of capital. In a securitization transaction, we sell credit card receivables originated by our Credit Services segment to a trust and retain servicing rights to those receivables, an equity interest in the trust, and an interest in the receivables. The securitization trusts are deemed to be qualifying special purpose entities under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States ("U.S. GAAP") and are appropriately not included in our Consolidated Financial Statements. Our interest in the trusts is represented on our consolidated balance sheet as seller's interest, our interest in the receivables, and due from securitizations, our retained interests and credit enhancement components.

        In turn, the trusts issue bonds in the capital markets and notes in private transactions. The proceeds from the debt are used to fund the receivables, while cash collected from cardholders is used to finance new receivables and repay borrowings and related borrowing costs. The excess spread is remitted to us as finance charges, net.

        Our retained interest, often referred to as an interest only strip, is recorded at fair value. The fair value of our interest only strip represents the present value of the anticipated cash flows we have retained over the estimated outstanding period of the receivables. This anticipated excess cash flow consists of the excess of finance charges and past-due fees net of the sum of the return paid to bond holders, estimated contractual servicing fees and credit losses. Because there is not a highly liquid market for these assets, we estimated the fair value of the interest only strip primarily based upon discount, payment and default rates, which is the method we assume that another market participant would use to purchase the interest only strip. The estimated market assumptions are applied based upon the underlying loan portfolio grouped by loan types, terms, credit quality, interest rates and geographic location, which are the predominant characteristics that affect payment and default rates.

        Changes in the fair value of the interest only strip are reflected in financial statements as additional gains related to new receivables originated and securitized or other comprehensive income related to mark to market changes. In recording and accounting for interest only strip, we made assumptions about rates of payments and defaults, which we believe reasonably reflect economic and other relevant conditions that affect fair value. Due to subsequent changes in economic and other

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relevant conditions, the actual rates of payments and defaults generally differ from our initial estimates, and these differences could sometimes be material. If actual payment and default rates are higher than previously assumed, the value of the interest only strip could be impaired and the decline in the fair value recorded in earnings. Further sensitivity information is provided in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. The interest only strip is equal to between 1.75% and 2.25% of average securitized receivables.

        AIR MILES Reward Program.    Because management has determined that the earnings process is not complete at the time an AIR MILES reward mile is issued, the recognition of revenue on all fees received based on issuance is deferred. We allocate the proceeds from issuances of AIR MILES reward miles into two components based on the relative fair value of the related element:

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Redemption element.    The redemption element is the larger of the two components. For this component, we recognize revenue at the time an AIR MILES reward mile is redeemed, or, for those AIR MILES reward miles that we estimate will go unredeemed by the collector base, known as "breakage," over the estimated life of an AIR MILES reward mile. The total amount of deferred revenue related to the redemption element is shown on the balance sheet as "Deferred Revenue—Redemption."



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Service element.    For this component, which consists of marketing and administrative services provided to sponsors, we recognize revenue pro rata over the estimated life of an AIR MILES reward mile. The total amount of deferred revenue related to the service element is shown on the balance sheet as "Deferred Revenue—Service."

        Under certain of our contracts, a portion of the proceeds is paid to us at the issuance of AIR MILES reward miles and a portion is paid at the time of redemption. Under such contracts the proceeds received at issuance are initially deferred as service revenue and the revenue and earnings are recognized pro rata over the estimated life of an AIR MILES reward mile.

        The amount of revenue ultimately recognized is subject to the estimated life of an AIR MILES reward mile. Based on our historical analysis, we make a determination as to average life of an AIR MILES reward mile. The estimated life is actively monitored by management and subject to external influences that may cause actual performance to differ from estimates. The estimated life of an AIR MILES reward mile is 42 months and has not changed in 2002.

        We believe that the issuance and redemption of AIR MILES reward miles is influenced by the nature and volume of sponsors, the type of rewards offered, the overall health of the Canadian economy, the nature and extent of AIR MILES promotional activity in the marketplace and the extent of competing loyalty programs. These influences will primarily affect the average life of an AIR MILES reward mile. The shortening of the life of an AIR MILES reward mile will accelerate the recognition of revenue and may affect the breakage rate. As of December 31, 2002, we had $360.1 million in deferred revenue that will be recognized in the future.

Inter-Segment Sales

        Our Transaction Services segment performs card processing and servicing activities related to our Credit Services segment. For this, our Transaction Services segment receives a fee equal to its direct costs before corporate overhead plus a margin. The margin is based on current market rates for similar services. This fee represents an operating cost to the Credit Services segment and a corresponding revenue for our Transaction Services segment. Inter-segment sales are eliminated upon consolidation.

Use of EBITDA and Operating EBITDA

        We evaluate operating performance based on several factors, one of which is operating income plus depreciation and amortization, or "EBITDA." EBITDA is presented because it is an integral part

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of our internal reporting and performance evaluation for senior management. EBITDA eliminates the uneven effect across all segments of considerable amounts of non-cash amortization of purchased intangibles recognized in business combinations accounted for under the purchase method. In addition, we use operating EBITDA to monitor compliance with the financial covenants in our amended credit agreement such as debt-to-operating EBITDA, interest coverage ratios and minimum operating EBITDA. We also use operating EBITDA to measure performance and liquidity. EBITDA and operating EBITDA are not intended to be performance measures that should be regarded as an alternative to, or more meaningful than, either operating income or net income as an indicator of operating performance or to the statement of cash flows as a measure of liquidity. In addition, EBITDA and operating EBITDA are not intended to represent funds available for dividends, reinvestment or other discretionary uses, and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. The EBITDA and operating EBITDA measures presented in this Form 10-K may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

Results of Operations

Year ended December 31, 2001 compared to the year ended December 31, 2002

        Revenue.    Total revenue increased $94.1 million, or 12.1%, to $871.5 million for 2002 from $777.4 million for 2001. The increase was due to a 7.0% increase in Transaction Services revenue, an 18.2% increase in Credit Services revenue and a 17.3% increase in Marketing Services revenue as follows:

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Transaction Services.    Transaction Services revenue increased $35.2 million, or 7.0%, primarily due to increases in the generation of statements and in the revenue per statement generated, partially offset by a decrease in transactions processed. The increase in statements generated includes a change in the mix of statements generated. During 2002, utility services statements increased 130.8%, while serviced-only private label statements declined 72.8%. The increase in the number of statements generated by utility services was led by a full year of statements for Georgia Natural Gas and Puget Sound Energy. The decline in serviced-only private label is associated with the deconversion of Charming Shoppes, which led to a decrease in statements generated in the first half of the year. Full service private label statements generated increased 7.5%, primarily due to the addition of Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Crate & Barrel, and Ann Taylor during 2002. In addition, the increase in utility services and full service private label statements led to an increase in revenue per statement of 12.0%. The decrease in transactions processed was the result of pruning of non-core accounts, which led to a decrease in merchant services revenue in the third and fourth quarters of 2002.

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Credit Services.    Credit Services revenue increased $52.7 million, or 18.2%, due to increases in merchant discount fees, servicing fees and finance charges, net. Servicing fee income increased by $5.3 million, or 12.9%, during 2002 due to an increase in the average outstanding balance of the securitized credit card receivables. Finance charges, net, increased $35.2 million, or 20.9%, during 2002 as a result of a 9.6% higher average outstanding securitized portfolio. The net yield on our retail portfolio for 2002 was approximately 40 basis points higher than in 2001. The increase in the net yield is largely related to lower net charge-offs in 2002, in addition to lower financing costs. The increase in merchant discount fees is related to the 21.6% increase in private label credit sales.



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Marketing Services.    Marketing Services revenue increased $34.9 million, or 17.3%, primarily due to an increase in redemption revenue related to a 27.9% increase in the redemption of AIR MILES reward miles. Additionally, services revenue increased 10.8% as a result of a 9.0% increase in the number of AIR MILES reward miles issued and the corresponding recognition of deferred revenue balances. As a result of the increased issuance activity, our deferred revenue balance increased 9.3% to $360.1 million at December 31, 2002 from $329.5 million at December 31, 2001.

        Operating Expenses.    Total operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $75.4 million, or 11.6%, to $724.3 million for 2002 from $648.9 million for 2001. Total EBITDA margin increased to 16.9% for 2002 from 16.5% for 2001. The increase in EBITDA margin is due to increases in Transaction Services and Credit Services margins, partially offset by a decrease in Marketing Services margins.

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Transaction Services.    Transaction Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $28.5 million, or 6.6%, to $461.6 million for 2002 from $433.1 million for 2001, and EBITDA margin increased to 14.3% for 2002 from 13.9% for 2001. The increase in EBITDA margin was primarily driven by the increased statement volumes in utilities services in addition to operational efficiencies in merchant services as a result of our pruning of non-core accounts and reduction of related expenses.



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Credit Services.    Credit Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $43.9 million, or 16.9%, to $304.2 million for 2002 from $260.3 million for 2001, and EBITDA margin increased to 11.1% for 2002 from 10.1% for 2001. The increase in EBITDA margin is the result of lower net charge-offs and financing costs; excluding these factors, the increase in operating expenses is consistent with the increase in revenues.



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Marketing Services.    Marketing Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $31.7 million, or 18.4%, to $204.1 million for 2002 from $172.4 million for 2001, and EBITDA margin decreased to 13.7% for 2002 from 14.5% for 2001. The decrease in EBITDA margin is primarily the result of an increase in marketing expense related to a brand refreshing campaign for the AIR MILES Reward Program in the fourth quarter of 2002.



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Depreciation and Amortization.    Depreciation and amortization decreased $7.7 million, or 10.4%, to $66.5 million for 2002 from $74.2 million for 2001. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in amortization of purchased intangibles of $18.8 million related to the non-amortization of goodwill in 2002 in accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 142. The decrease was partially offset by an increase in depreciation and amortization from increased capital expenditures.

        Operating Income.    Operating income increased $26.4 million, or 48.7%, to $80.6 million for 2002 from $54.2 million for 2001. Operating income increased primarily from revenue gains with modest increase of EBITDA margins and a decrease in depreciation and amortization.

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        Interest Expense.    Interest expense decreased $8.9 million, or 29.6%, to $21.2 million for 2002 from $30.1 million for 2001 due in part to the repayment of $50.0 million of subordinated debt to Welsh Carson and Limited Brands in 2002. Additionally, we had lower average debt outstanding and experienced lower interest rates.

        Fair Value Loss on Derivatives.    During 2002, we incurred a $12.0 million fair value loss on an interest rate swap compared to $15.1 million loss in 2001. Part of the fair value loss was associated with cash payments we made to counter-parties of $9.4 million and $5.3 million in 2002 and 2001, respectively. In accordance with SFAS No. 133, fair value changes in derivative instruments that do not meet the accounting criteria for hedge treatment are recorded as part of earnings. The related derivative is a $200.0 million notional amount interest rate swap that swaps a LIBOR based variable interest rate for a fixed interest rate.

        Taxes.    Income tax expense increased $9.1 million to $20.7 million in 2002 from $11.6 million in 2001 due to an increase in taxable income. The effective rate decreased to 43.6% in 2002 from 290.7% in 2001.

        Transactions with Limited Brands.    Revenue from Limited Brands and its affiliates, which includes merchant and database marketing fees, increased $0.9 million to $44.4 million for 2002 from $43.5 million for 2001, partially as a result of the sale of Lane Bryant by Limited Brands. Excluding the effect of the Lane Bryant sale in 2001, the increase would have been $4.1 million. We generate a significant amount of additional revenue from our cardholders who are customers of Limited Brands and its affiliates.

Year ended December 31, 2000 compared to the year ended December 31, 2001

        Revenue.    Total revenue increased $99.2 million, or 14.6%, to $777.4 million for 2001 from $678.2 million for 2000. The increase was due to a 14.5% increase in Transaction Services revenue, a 7.9% increase in Credit Services revenue and a 13.2% increase in Marketing Services revenue as follows:

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Transaction Services.    Transaction Services revenue increased $63.8 million, or 14.5%, primarily due to an increase in the number of transactions processed and an increase in account processing in the utilities sector. Revenue related to transactions processed increased approximately $10.5 million as a result of a 9.3% increase in the number of transactions processed, partially offset by a decrease in the average price per transaction. A significant portion of the increase in transactions processed occurred among the large volume clients in the petroleum industry with a lower price per transaction. Fees related to account processing and servicing increased $46.2 million during 2001 primarily from the increase in the number of utility services related statements. The increase in utility services related statements has resulted in increased revenue per statement, as we provide more services for utility services related statements. The increase in the number of utility services related statements is a result of three

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new long-term contracts signed in 2001. Additionally, inter-segment sales increased $9.3 million during 2001 as a result of increased account processing and servicing for our Credit Services segment due to an increase in the number of private label cardholders.

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Credit Services.    Credit Services revenue increased $21.2 million, or 7.9%, due to increases in merchant discount fees, servicing fees and finance charges, net. Servicing fee income increased by $4.0 million, or 10.7%, during 2001 due to an increase in the average outstanding balance of the securitized credit card receivables. Finance charges, net, increased $12.4 million, or 8.0%, during 2001 as a result of a 6.0% higher average outstanding securitized portfolio. The net yield on our retail portfolio for 2001 was approximately 40 basis points less than in 2000. The decrease in the net yield is largely related to higher net charge-off rates in 2001, partially offset by lower cost of funds in the second half of the year.



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Marketing Services.    Marketing Services revenue increased $23.4 million, or 13.2%, primarily due to an increase in reward revenue related to a 26.0% increase in the redemption of AIR MILES reward miles. Additionally, services revenue increased 12.2% as a result of an 11.8% increase in the number of AIR MILES reward miles issued and the corresponding recognition of deferred revenue balances. As a result of the increased issuance activity, our deferred revenue balance increased 13.6% to $329.5 million at December 31, 2001 from $290.2 million at December 31, 2000.

        Operating Expenses.    Total operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $68.7 million, or 11.8%, to $648.9 million for 2001 from $580.2 million for 2000. Total EBITDA margin increased to 16.5% for 2001 from 14.5% for 2000. The increase in EBITDA margin is due to increases in Transaction Services, Credit Services and Marketing Services margins.

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Transaction Services.    Transaction Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $48.5 million, or 12.6%, to $433.1 million for 2001 from $384.6 million for 2000, and EBITDA margin increased to 13.9% for 2001 from 12.5% for 2000. The increase in EBITDA margin is the result of operational efficiencies achieved in our merchant services business and increased statement volumes and revenue per statement in the utility services sector.



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Credit Services.    Credit Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $17.4 million, or 7.2%, to $260.3 million for 2001 from $242.9 million for 2000, and EBITDA margin increased to 10.1% for 2001 from 9.4% for 2000. The increase in EBITDA margin is the result of lower cost of funds offset by an increase in net charge-offs.



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Marketing Services.    Marketing Services operating expenses, excluding depreciation and amortization, increased $12.1 million, or 7.6%, to $172.4 million for 2001 from $160.3 million for 2000, and EBITDA margin increased to 14.5% for 2001 from 10.1% for 2000. The increase in the margin is attributable to increased revenue and the leveraging of the existing infrastructure.



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Depreciation and Amortization.    Depreciation and amortization decreased $1.9 million, or 2.5%, to $74.2 million for 2001 from $76.1 million for 2000. The decrease is primarily due to a decrease in amortization of purchased intangibles of $6.4 million related to certain purchased intangibles becoming fully amortized during the year, offset in part by new capital expenditures in 2001.

        Operating Income.    Operating income increased $32.3 million, or 147.5%, to $54.2 million for 2001 from $21.9 million for 2000. Operating income increased primarily from revenue gains with modest expansion of EBITDA margins and a decrease in depreciation and amortization.

        Interest Expense.    Interest expense decreased $8.8 million, or 22.6%, to $30.1 million for 2001 from $38.9 million for 2000 due to our use of approximately $90.8 million of proceeds from our initial public

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offering to repay in full a term loan, which resulted in a decrease in average debt outstanding and lower rates.

        Fair Value Loss on Derivatives.    During 2001, we incurred a $15.1 million cash component fair value loss on an interest rate swap following the adoption of SFAS No. 133 on January 1, 2001. Part of the fair value loss was associated with cash payments we made to counter-parties of $5.3 million. In accordance with SFAS No. 133, fair value changes in derivative instruments that do not meet the accounting criteria for hedge treatment are recorded as part of earnings. The related derivative is a $200.0 million notional interest rate swap that swaps a LIBOR based variable interest rate for a LIBOR based fixed interest rate.

        Taxes.    Income tax expense increased $9.8 million to $11.6 million for 2001 from $1.8 million in 2000 due to an increase in taxable income. Our effective rate for 2001 was approximately 290.7% and is most significantly impacted by the non-deductibility of a portion of our amortization of purchased intangibles. During 2001, the Canadian corporate income tax rate was lowered. As a result, we recorded $5.7 million of income tax expense to reduce our net deferred tax assets in Canada.

        Transactions with Limited Brands.    Revenue from Limited Brands and its affiliates, which includes merchant and database marketing fees, decreased $3.2 million to $43.5 million for 2001 from $46.7 million for 2000, partially as a result of the sale of Lane Bryant by Limited Brands. Excluding the effect of the Lane Bryant sale, the decrease would have been $2.2 million. We generate a significant amount of additional revenue from our cardholders who are customers of Limited Brands and its affiliates.

Asset Quality

        Our delinquency and net charge-off rates reflect, among other factors, the credit risk of credit card receivables, the average age of our various credit card account portfolios, the success of our collection and recovery efforts, and general economic conditions. The average age of our credit card portfolio affects the stability of delinquency and loss rates of the portfolio. We continue to focus our resources on refining our credit underwriting standards for new accounts and on collections and post charge-off recovery efforts to minimize net losses. At December 31, 2002, 47.7% of securitized accounts with balances and 41.3% of securitized loans were less than 24 months old.

        Delinquencies. A credit card account is contractually delinquent if we do not receive the minimum payment by the specified due date on the cardholder's statement. It is our policy to continue to accrue interest and fee income on all credit card accounts, except in limited circumstances, until the account balance and all related interest and other fees are charged off or paid after 90 days. When an account becomes delinquent, we print a message on the cardholder's billing statement requesting payment. After an account becomes 30 days past due, a proprietary collection scoring algorithm automatically scores the risk of the account rolling to a more delinquent status. The collection system then recommends a collection strategy for the past due account based on the collection score and account balance and dictates the contact schedule and collections priority for the account. If we are unable to make a collection after exhausting all in-house efforts, we engage collection agencies and outside attorneys to continue those efforts.

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        The following table presents the delinquency trends of our securitized credit card portfolio:

        Net Charge-Offs.    Net charge-offs comprise the principal amount of losses from cardholders unwilling or unable to pay their account balances, as well as bankrupt and deceased cardholders, less current period recoveries. Net charge-offs exclude current years accrued finance charges and fees. The following table presents our net charge-offs for the periods indicated on a securitized basis. Average credit card portfolio outstanding represents the average balance of the securitized receivables at the beginning of each month in the year indicated.

        We believe, consistent with our statistical models and other credit analyses, that our securitized net charge-off ratio will continue to fluctuate.

        Age of Portfolio.    The following table sets forth, as of December 31, 2002, the number of accounts with balance and the related balances outstanding, based upon the age of the securitized accounts:

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

        Operating Activities.    We have historically generated cash flows from operations, although that amount may vary based on fluctuations in working capital and the timing of merchant settlement activity. Merchant settlement activity is driven by the number of days of float at the end of the period. As of December 31, 2002, we had one day of float compared to three days at December 31, 2001. Our operating cash flow is seasonal, with cash utilization peaking at the end of December due to increased activity in our Credit Services segment related to holiday retail sales.

        Investing Activities.    We use a significant portion of our cash flows from operations for acquisitions and capital expenditures. We acquired the following businesses in 2002 for a total of $35.9 million, net of cash acquired, compared to $89.0 million in 2001:

        In addition, the Credit Services segment utilizes a securitization program, discussed below, and certificates of deposit to finance our private label credit card program. Net securitization activity utilized $98.4 million in 2002 compared to $67.1 million in 2001.

        Financing Activities.    Our cash flows used in financing activities was $16.0 million in 2002 compared to cash flows provided by financing activities of $32.5 million in 2001. Financing activity primarily is attributed to the pay off of $50.0 million of subordinated debt to Limited Brands and Welsh Carson, offset by borrowing under our credit facilities.

        Liquidity Sources.    In addition to cash generated by operating activities, we have four main sources of liquidity: securitization program, certificates of deposit issued by World Financial Network National Bank, our credit facilities and issuances of equity securities. We believe that internally generated funds and existing sources of liquidity are sufficient to meet current and anticipated financing requirements during the next 12 months.

        Securitization Program and Off-Balance Sheet Transactions.    Since January 1996, we have sold substantially all of the credit card receivables owned by our credit card bank, World Financial Network National Bank, to World Financial Network Credit Card Master Trust and World Financial Network Credit Card Master Note Trust, and sometimes through WFN Credit Company, LLC, as part of our securitization program. This securitization program is the primary vehicle through which we finance our private label credit card receivables. The following table shows expected maturities for borrowing

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commitments of World Financial Network Credit Card Master Trust and World Financial Network Credit Card Master Note Trust by year:

        As public notes approach maturity, the notes will enter a controlled accumulation period, which typically lasts three months. During the controlled accumulation period, we will either need to arrange an additional private conduit facility or use our own balance sheet to finance the controlled accumulation until such time as we can issue a new public series in the public markets. During November 2002, we completed a $600.0 million offering of asset-backed notes to refinance an existing series of public notes. The new notes issued in November 2002 will mature in November 2007.

        As of December 31, 2002, we had over $2.7 billion of securitized credit card receivables. Securitizations require credit enhancements in the form of cash, spread deposits and additional receivables. The credit enhancement is principally based on the outstanding balances of the private label credit cards in the securitization trust and their related performance. During the period from November to January, we are required to maintain a credit enhancement level of 6% of securitized credit card receivables as compared to 4% to 5% for the remainder of the year. Accordingly, at December 31, we typically have our highest balance of credit enhancement assets. We intend to utilize our securitization program for the foreseeable future.

        If World Financial Network National Bank were not able to regularly securitize the receivables it originates, our ability to grow or even maintain our credit services business would be materially impaired. World Financial Network National Bank's ability to effect securitization transactions is impacted by the following factors, some of which are beyond our control:

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conditions in the securities markets in general and the asset-backed securitization market in particular;



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conformity in the quality of credit card receivables to rating agency requirements and changes in those requirements; and



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our ability to fund required overcollateralizations or credit enhancements, which we routinely utilize in order to achieve better credit ratings to lower our borrowing costs.

        Once World Financial Network National Bank securitizes receivables, the agreement governing the transaction contains covenants that address the receivables' performance and the continued solvency of the retailer where the underlying sales were generated. In the event one of those or other similar covenants is breached, an early amortization event could be declared, in which case the trustee for the securitization trust would retain World Financial Network National Bank's interest in the related receivables, along with the excess interest income that would normally be paid to World Financial Network National Bank, until such time as the securitization investors are fully repaid. The occurrence of an early amortization event would significantly limit, or even negate, our ability to securitize additional receivables.

        Certificates of Deposit.    We utilize certificates of deposit to finance the operating activities of our credit card bank subsidiary, World Financial Network National Bank, and to fund securitization enhancement requirements. World Financial Network National Bank issues certificates of deposit in denominations of $100,000 in various maturities ranging between three months and two years and with effective annual fixed rates ranging from 2.0% to 6.1%. As of December 31, 2002, we had $96.2 million

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of certificates of deposit outstanding. Certificate of deposit borrowings are subject to regulatory capital requirements.

        Credit Facilities.    We are party to two credit facilities with the same group of lenders. The first facility, which we entered into on July 24, 1998 and have amended on several occasions since then, provides for $83.5 million of term loans and a $100.0 million revolving commitment. The term loans mature in installments through July 2005, and the revolving commitment matures in July 2003. The second facility, which we entered into on May 22, 2002, provides for a $50.0 million revolving commitment that matures in May 2003. The covenants contained in the credit facilities are substantially identical. At December 31, 2002, we had $139.5 million outstanding under our credit facilities, consisting of $83.5 million of term loans and $56.0 million of borrowings under our $150.0 million revolving loan commitments. Existing borrowings under the term loans and the revolving facilities bear interest at variable rates based on LIBOR plus applicable Euro-dollar margins. At December 31, 2002, the effective interest rates on the two term loans were 4.6% and 9.3%, and the approximate effective interest rate on borrowings under the revolving loan facilities was 3.1%.

        Our credit facilities allow us to have outstanding funded debt obligations, whether under our credit facilities or otherwise, of up to three times our operating EBITDA (as defined in the facilities). Based on this covenant, our borrowing capacity at December 31, 2002 would have been approximately $495.6 million. With total outstanding borrowings consisting of the credit facilities, certificates of deposit, and subordinated debt of $292.9 million, we had additional borrowing capacity of $202.7 million. In addition, we had $30.4 million of cash and cash equivalents as of December 31, 2002. We utilize the credit facilities and excess cash flows from operations to support our acquisition strategy and to fund working capital and capital expenditures.

        Issuances of Equity.    On June 13, 2001, we completed our initial public offering, which consisted of the sale of 14,950,000 shares of our common stock at a price to the public of $12.00 per share. After deducting expenses and underwriting discounts and commissions, we received net offering proceeds of approximately $160.8 million. We used proceeds of approximately $90.8 million to repay in full the outstanding balance of a term loan and approximately $500,000 was used to repurchase a then outstanding warrant for 167,084 shares of our common stock. The remaining net proceeds were used to pay down additional debt and support our securitization program, acquisitions and other working capital requirements. In addition, simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering in June 2001, we converted all outstanding shares of our Series A cumulative convertible preferred stock into approximately 11,199,340 shares of common stock.

        Contractual Obligations.    The following table highlights, as of December 31, 2002, our contractual obligations and commitments to make future payments by type and period:

(1)

We repaid $50.0 million of subordinated debt during April 2002.

        We believe that we will have access to sufficient resources to meet these commitments.

37

Economic Fluctuations

        Although we cannot precisely determine the impact of inflation on our operations, we do not believe that we have been significantly affected by inflation. For the most part, we have relied on operating efficiencies from scale and technology, as well as decreases in technology and communication costs, to offset increased costs of employee compensation and other operating expenses.

        Portions of our business are seasonal. Our revenues and earnings are favorably affected by increased transaction volume and credit card balances during the holiday shopping period in the fourth quarter and, to a lesser extent, during the first quarter as credit card balances are paid down. Similarly, our petroleum related businesses are favorably affected by increased volume in the latter part of the second quarter and the first part of the third quarter as consumers make more frequent purchases of gasoline in connection with summer travel.

Regulatory Matters

        World Financial Network National Bank is subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can trigger certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a material adverse effect on our financial statements. Under capital adequacy guidelines and the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, World Financial Network National Bank must meet specific capital guidelines that involve quantitative measures of its assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items as calculated under regulatory accounting practices. The capital amounts and classification are also subject to qualitative judgments by the regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors. World Financial Network National Bank is limited in the amounts that it can dividend to us.

        Quantitative measures established by regulations to ensure capital adequacy require World Financial Network National Bank to maintain minimum amounts and ratios of total and Tier 1 capital to risk weighted assets and of Tier 1 capital to average assets. Under the regulations, a "well capitalized" institution must have a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 6%, a total capital ratio of at least 10% and a leverage ratio of at least 5% and not be subject to a capital directive order. An "adequately capitalized" institution must have a Tier 1 capital ratio of at least 4%, a total capital ratio of at least 8% and a leverage ratio of at least 4%, but 3% is allowed in some cases. Under these guidelines, World Financial Network National Bank is considered well capitalized. As of December 31, 2002, World Financial Network National Bank's Tier 1 capital ratio was 19.2%, total capital ratio was 19.7% and leverage ratio was 46.1%, and World Financial Network National Bank was not subject to a capital directive order.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

        In April 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 145, "Rescission of FASB Statements No. 4, 44 and 64, Amendment of FASB Statement No. 13 and Technical Corrections." SFAS 145 eliminates Statement 4 and, thus, the exception to applying Opinion 30 to all gains and losses related to extinguishments of debt (other than extinguishments of debt to satisfy sinking-fund requirements—the exception to application of Statement 4 noted in Statement 64). As a result, gains and losses from extinguishment of debt should be classified as extraordinary items only if they meet the criteria in Opinion 30. This provision of SFAS 145 is effective for fiscal years beginning after May 15, 2002. We expect to adopt this statement in our 2003 financial statements and accordingly reclassify extraordinary items for the years ended December 31, 2001 and 2002.

        In June 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No. 146, "Accounting for Costs Associated with Exit or Disposal Activities." SFAS No. 146 generally requires companies to recognize costs associated with exit or disposal activities when they are incurred rather than at the date of a commitment to an exit or

38

disposal plan. This pronouncement is effective for exit or disposal activities initiated after December 31, 2002, and is not expected to have a significant impact on us.

        In December 2002, the FASB issued SFAS No.148, "Accounting for Stock-Based Compensation—Transition and Disclosure—an amendment of FASB Statement No. 123." SFAS 148 amends SFAS 123 to provide alternative methods of transition for a voluntary change to the fair value method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation. In addition, SFAS 148 amends the disclosure requirements of SFAS 123 to require prominent disclosures in both annual and interim financial statements about the method of accounting for stock-based employee compensation and the effect of the method used on reported results. Management currently does not plan to transition to the fair value method of accounting for employee stock options. Accordingly, management does not believe that portion of SFAS 148 will impact the Company. However, management has provided the required disclosures.

        In November 2002, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 45, "Guarantor's Accounting and Disclosure Requirements for Guarantees, Including Indirect Guarantees of Indebtedness of Others." Interpretation No. 45 requires that at the time a company issues a guarantee, the company must recognize an initial liability for the fair value, or market value, of the obligations it assumes under that guarantee. This interpretation is applicable on a prospective basis to guarantees issued or modified after December 31, 2002. While we have various guarantees included in contracts in the normal course of business, primarily in the form of indemnities, these guarantees do not represent significant commitments or contingent liabilities of the indebtedness of others.

        In January 2003, the FASB issued Interpretation No. 46, "Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities." Interpretation No. 46 requires public companies with a variable interest in a variable interest entity to apply this guidance to that entity no later than the beginning of the first interim or annual reporting period beginning after June 15, 2003 and immediately for new interests. This application of the guidance could result in the consolidation of a variable interest entity. We are evaluating the impact of this interpretation on our financial results.

Recent Developments

        In March 2003, we purchased the customer care back office operations of American Electric Power related to the Texas marketplace for approximately $30.0 million. As part of the transaction, we will provide billing and customer care services to over 800,000 accounts that were recently acquired by a U.S. subsidiary of Centrica plc.

Item 7A.    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Market Risk

        Market risk is the risk of loss from adverse changes in market prices and rates. Our primary market risks include off-balance sheet risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, foreign currency exchange rate risk and redemption reward risk.

        Off-Balance Sheet Risk.    We are subject to off-balance sheet risk in the normal course of business, including commitments to extend credit and our securitization program. We sell substantially all of our credit card receivables to World Financial Network Credit Card Master Trust, a qualifying special purpose entity. The trust enters into interest rate swaps to reduce the interest rate sensitivity of the securitization transactions. The securitization program involves elements of credit, market, interest rate, legal and operational risks in excess of the amount recognized on the balance sheet through our retained interests in the securitization and the interest only strips.

        Interest Rate Risk.    Interest rate risk affects us directly in our lending and borrowing activities. Our total interest incurred was approximately $133.0 million for 2002, which includes both on- and

39

off-balance sheet transactions. Of this total, $21.2 million of the interest expense for 2002 was attributable to on-balance sheet indebtedness and the remainder to our securitized credit card receivables, which are financed off-balance sheet. To manage our risk from market interest rates, we actively monitor the interest rates and the interest-sensitive components both on- and off-balance sheet to minimize the impact that changes in interest rates have on the fair value of assets, net income and cash flow. To achieve this objective, we manage our exposure to fluctuations in market interest rates by matching asset and liability repricings and through the use of fixed-rate debt instruments to the extent that reasonably favorable rates are obtainable with such arrangements. In addition, we enter into derivative financial instruments such as interest rate swaps and treasury locks to mitigate our interest rate risk on a related financial instrument or to lock the interest rate on a portion of our variable debt. We do not enter into derivative or interest rate transactions for trading or other speculative purposes. At December 31, 2002, approximately 3.4% of our outstanding debt was subject to fixed rates with a weighted average interest rate of 6.6% An additional 70.0% of our outstanding debt at December 31, 2002 was locked at an effective interest rate of 5.5% through interest rate swap agreements and treasury locks with notional amounts totaling $1.7 billion.

        The approach we use to quantify interest rate risk is a sensitivity analysis which we believe best reflects the risk inherent in our business. This approach calculates the impact on pretax income from an instantaneous and sustained increase in interest rates of 1.0%. Assuming we do not take any counteractive measures, in 2002 a 1.0% increase in interest rates would have resulted in an increase to interest expense of approximately $2.5 million. In 2001, a 1.0% increase in interest rates would have resulted in an increase to interest expense of approximately $4.9 million. Conversely, a corresponding decrease in interest rates would result in a comparable decrease to interest expense. Our use of this methodology to quantify the market risk of financial instruments should not be construed as an endorsement of its accuracy or the accuracy of the related assumptions.

        Credit Risk.    We are exposed to credit risk relating to the credit card loans we make to our clients' customers. Our credit risk relates to the risk that consumers using the private label credit cards that we issue will not repay their revolving credit card loan balances. We have developed credit risk models designed to identify qualified consumers who fit our risk parameters. To minimize our risk of loan write-offs, we control approval rates of new accounts and related credit limits and follow strict collection practices. We monitor the buying limits as well as set pricing regarding fees and interest rates charged.

        Foreign Currency Exchange Rate Risk.    We are exposed to fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. and the Canadian dollar through our significant Canadian operations. Although we have entered into cross currency hedges to fix the exchange rate on any Canadian debt repayment due to a U.S. counter party, we do not hedge our net investment exposure in our Canadian subsidiary.

        Redemption Reward Risk.    We are exposed to potentially increasing reward costs associated primarily with travel rewards. To minimize the risk of rising travel reward costs, we:

•

have supply agreements with airlines in addition to Air Canada;



•

are seeking new supply agreements with additional airlines;



•

periodically alter the total mix of rewards available to collectors with the introduction of new merchandise rewards, which are typically lower cost per AIR MILES reward mile than air travel;



•

allow collectors to obtain certain travel rewards using a combination of reward miles and cash or cash alone in addition to using AIR MILES reward miles alone; and



•

periodically adjust the number of miles required to redeem a reward.

40

Item 8.    Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

        Our consolidated financial statements begin on page F-1 of this Form 10-K.

Item 9.    Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

        None.

41

PART III

Item 10.    Directors and Executive Officers of the Company—Incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement for the 2003 Annual Meeting of our stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2002.

Item 11.    Executive Compensation—Incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement for the 2003 Annual Meeting of our stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2002.

Item 12.    Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters—Incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement for the 2003 Annual Meeting of our stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2002.

Item 13.    Certain Relationships and Related Transactions—Incorporated by reference to the Proxy Statement for the 2003 Annual Meeting of our stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than 120 days after December 31, 2002.

Item 14.    Controls and Procedures

        Within the 90 days prior to the filing date of this report, we carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures pursuant to Rule 13a-15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Based upon that evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports filed or submitted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Securities and Exchange Commission's rules and forms and include controls and procedures designed to ensure that information we are required to disclose in such reports is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.

        There have been no significant changes in our internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls subsequent to the date we carried out this evaluation, including any corrective actions in regard to significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.

42

PART IV

Item 15.    Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules, and Reports on Form 8-K.

(a)

The following documents are filed as part of this report:



(1)

Financial Statements



(2)

Financial Statement Schedule



(3)

The following exhibits are filed as part of this Annual Report or, where indicated, were previously filed and are hereby incorporated by reference.

43

44

45

46

47

*

Filed herewith.

+

Portions of Exhibit have been omitted and filed separately with the commission pursuant to a request for confidential treatment.

(b)

Reports on Form 8-K for the quarter ended December 31, 2002

We filed the following Current Reports on Form 8-K during the fourth quarter of 2002:

(1)

Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 17, 2002, with respect to a press release we issued announcing earnings results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2002.



(2)

Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 11, 2002, with respect to a press release we issued announcing the closing of the $600.0 million asset backed note offering.



(3)

Current Report on Form 8-K furnished pursuant to Item 9 on December 9, 2002.

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INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION

F-1

INDEPENDENT AUDITORS' REPORT

To the Stockholders of
Alliance Data Systems Corporation

        We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Alliance Data Systems Corporation and subsidiaries (the "Company") as of December 31, 2001 and 2002, and the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2002. Our audits also include the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15. These financial statements and the financial statement schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the financial statements and the financial statement schedule based on our audits.

        We conducted our audits in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

        In our opinion, such consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Alliance Data Systems Corporation and subsidiaries as of December 31, 2001 and 2002, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2002, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, such financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic consolidated financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein.

        As discussed in Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, in 2001 the Company changed its method of accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 133, as amended. Additionally, in 2002, the Company changed its method of accounting for goodwill and other intangible assets to conform to Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 142.

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP
Deloitte & Touche LLP

Dallas, Texas
February 28, 2003

F-2

ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS CORPORATION

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

(in thousands, except per share amounts)