Citibank and Paytrust Join MasterCard Remote Payment and Presentment Service; Adoption of Electronic Bill Presentment Accelerated

Business Wire, August 6, 2001

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 6, 2001

Citibank and Paytrust, Inc. announced today that they will join MasterCard's Remote Payment and Presentment Service (RPPS), enabling a growing number of Citibank consumers to access the benefits of electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) services.

This relationship furthers Citibank's efforts towards catalyzing the electronic bill payment space and reinforces its commitment to extending the reach of Internet-based payment services.

Under this arrangement, Citibank will have access to MasterCard's bill payment and presentment hub. With access to the MasterCard RPPS hub, Citibank's EBPP service, Citibank Bill Manager, which is provided through Paytrust, will be able to receive a greater number of bills electronically for presentation to its customers.

MasterCard RPPS, one of the largest proprietary electronic bill payment and presentment networks, provides participating financial institutions with flexibility and convenience to connect at one interface to reach multiple Customer Service Providers (CSPs) and Biller Service Providers (BSPs) to receive and pay bills. In addition, MasterCard RPPS provides high quality transaction processing and settlement of bills and payments between CSPs and BSPs typically in less than 24 hours. MasterCard RPPS supports open-standards based solutions to meet the interoperability needs of its customers.

"Citibank is extremely pleased to join MasterCard RPPS, which is widely recognized as a leading bill presentment and payment service, said Susan Ehrlich, director of Citibank's Consumer EBPP. "By working with MasterCard RPPS and Paytrust, Citibank gains access to an open, state-of-the-art hub that allows us to avoid multiple connections with multiple protocols and limited use. The efficiencies derived from our association with MasterCard RPPS and Paytrust will enable us to offer our customers an improved level of bill presentment and payment services."

"The emergence of the Internet has spurred a great deal of transactional volume and activity, opening up new opportunities for EBPP service providers to better serve consumers," said Edward G. McLaughlin, of Paytrust. "The bill presentment model of MasterCard RPPS enables Paytrust to offer our customers, such as Citibank, accessibility to high quality bill presentment services - quickly and cost effectively."

"This arrangement with Citibank and Paytrust complements our ongoing efforts to provide MasterCard RPPS customers with the ability to present consumers with electronic bills - quickly and cost efficiently," said Cathleen Conforti, vice president, MasterCard Remote Payment and Presentment Service. "Connectivity and easy access is essential to the growing acceptance of electronic bill payment and presentment services. The addition of Citibank and Paytrust to MasterCard RPPS will accelerate the availability of electronic bill payment and presentment services to a growing number of consumers."

Today's announcement builds upon Citibank's efforts to maximize the reach of electronic bill payment and presentment to both its consumer and corporate customers. On May 30, 2001, Citibank announced its participation with Spectrum EBP, LLC to provide corporate customers with enhanced electronic bill distribution to their customers. Citibank will continue to explore EBPP opportunities in order to provide its customers with the broadest reach of high quality electronic presentment and distribution of bills.

About Citibank:

Citibank is a member of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the preeminent global financial services company, providing some 120 million consumers, corporations, governments and institutions in more than 100 countries with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage and asset management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark umbrella are Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Salomon Smith Barney and Travelers. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com.

About Paytrust:

Using proprietary technology, Paytrust delivers 100 percent of a subscriber's bills online or to a wireless device for complete bill delivery and management, far surpassing traditional bill pay-only services. Paytrust subscribers receive bill notifications and reminders via e-mail rather than physical mail, and they can review their bill information from anywhere they have access to the Internet. Through Paytrust, customers can issue payments directly from any check writing account, perform automatic checkbook balancing and download and analyze data in their personal financial management software.

About MasterCard International

MasterCard International has the most comprehensive portfolio of payment brands in the world. More than 1.7 billion MasterCard(R), Cirrus(R) and Maestro(R) logos are present on credit, charge and debit cards in circulation today. An association comprised of more than 20,000 member financial institutions, MasterCard serves consumers and businesses, both large and small, in 210 countries and territories. MasterCard is the leader in quality and innovation, offering a wide range of payment solutions in the virtual and traditional worlds. MasterCard's award-winning Priceless(R) advertising campaign is now seen in 81 countries and in more than 36 languages, giving the MasterCard brand reach and scope unrivaled by any competitor in the industry. With more than 21 million acceptance locations, no card is accepted in more places and by more merchants than the MasterCard Card. In 2000, gross dollar volume exceeded US$857 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at www.mastercard.com.