E-Stamp Receives National Approval from U.S. Postal Service; Small and Home Offices Can Now Buy and Print Internet Postage From their PCs

Business Wire, August 9, 1999

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 9, 1999--

E-Stamp, the Internet Postage Company(TM), today announced that it has received approval from the U.S. Postal Service to begin to sell E-Stamp(R) Internet postage nationally.

This is the first time in nearly 80 years that a U.S. company has been approved to offer a new form of postage to consumers. E-Stamp received its approval following a thorough and rigorous 10-step testing process. E-Stamp was one of only two companies approved today; the other was Stamps.com of Santa Monica, Calif.

"This is an historical day, not just for E-Stamp but also for the country. As the pioneer of Internet postage we are extremely proud to have received national approval from the U.S. Postal Service today," said Robert H. Ewald, president and CEO of E-Stamp. "We are all about simplifying people's lives by providing them with an easy and efficient Internet postage solution. Now they can go online, instead of standing in line," said Ewald.

E-Stamp's Internet postage solution consists of software and a small, highly secure device, about the size of a roll of stamps, which connects to a PC. Customers connect to E-Stamp's Internet site, buy postage using a credit card or funds transfer and download up to $500 of postage into the electronic vault. The benefit of the small device is that it allows customers to logoff the Internet to print postage anytime.

E-Stamp Internet postage works the way small office and home office (SOHO) customers do. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), 90% of small office customers use slow dial up connections to the Internet and 83% of those with Internet access rely on shared data lines.

"Thanks to this little device, once I've downloaded the postage I don't need to be online to print out stamps. It just sits on my PC until I am ready to use it," said Isobel Bonar, a communications trainer who works out of her home office in Northern California. "What makes it so easy and efficient, is that I can log off the Internet freeing up my line for other things like sending a fax or making a phone call," said Bonar.

E-Stamp Internet postage is designed to be easy, convenient and accessible. Using its postage API technology (PAPI), E-Stamp's solution is unique in its seamless integration with popular PC applications such as Microsoft(R) Word. Customers can print postage from within Microsoft Word by simply clicking on the E-Stamp icon located on the application toolbar to add postage -- there's no need to export addresses. Microsoft customers will be able to sign up for E-Stamp Internet postage at the Microsoft Office Update Web site.

In addition to its partnership with Microsoft, E-Stamp has also established relationships with other industry leading software, hardware and Internet companies. Yahoo! selected E-Stamp as its premier Internet postage merchant, and will feature E-Stamp's online postage services in the Yahoo!(R) Postal Center.

E-Stamp will also be included in the America Online Postage Services Center. Compaq Computer Corporation has agreed to offer E-Stamp Internet postage through its Compaq Online Services program and through a desktop icon on Prosignia PCs. Sunbeam's Pelouze(R) Scale division has agreed to exclusively bundle E-Stamp software with its Internet postage scale. Other supplies and peripherals partners include Avery Dennison, Tension Envelope and Dymo-CoStar.

E-Stamp Internet postage is available today through E-Stamp's online store at www.e-stamp.com or can be ordered over the phone by calling 1-888-4-E-Stamp (1-888-437-8267). E-Stamp plans to offer its Internet postage solution through leading office supply and computer superstores and catalogs, which we expect to include Best Buy, CompUSA, Staples and CDW.

The complete solution costs only $49.99 and includes the E-Stamp software, the electronic vault, and a getting started kit with documentation and labels. A 10% convenience fee is charged when postage is purchased, with a minimum fee of $4.99 and a maximum fee of $24.99 per purchase. There are no monthly fees or monthly minimums charged.

Background

In 1994, E-Stamp approached the U.S. Postal Service with the idea of using PCs to purchase and print postage. The U.S. Patent Office has issued 20 patents to E-Stamp. E-Stamp was the first company to receive approval for beta testing on March 31, 1998 and was only the fifth company in history to secure the right to sell U.S. postage. For more information about E-Stamp, please visit the web site at www.e-stamp.com.

About E-Stamp

E-Stamp Corporation, the Internet Postage Company, provides products and services that make it easy for people to purchase and use postage directly from their PC. E-Stamp's customer-centric approach is interwoven into every aspect of the company -- from a solution that does not require the inconvenience of a persistent Internet connection to impeccable customer service.

The privately held company has established partnerships with industry leaders including Microsoft, Yahoo, Compaq, America Online, Dymo-CoStar Tension Envelope and Avery Dennison. Headquartered in San Mateo, Calif., the company can be reached at 1-800-4-E-STAMP or at 650/554-8454. To receive information via e-mail, address your request to info@e-stamp.com, or access the company's web site, www.e-stamp.com.