18 Major Banks to Join Spectrum -- Spectrum Launches Certification Program for Partners.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 11, 2000

Spectrum EBP, L.L.C., a joint venture of The Chase Manhattan Corporation, First Union Corporation and Wells Fargo & Company, announced today the addition of 18 banks to the Spectrum network, including six new participants and 12 institutions that have signed letters of intent to participate in Spectrum. In addition, Spectrum launched its technology partnership program, which will enable technology vendors to pre-certify software to the Spectrum switch. Both announcements were made today to an audience of more than 170 current and prospective participants and vendors at a Spectrum-hosted workshop held at the Chicago Marriott O'Hare.

New Spectrum participants include: BB&T, First Tennessee National Bank, Hibernia National Bank, M&I Marshall & Ilsley Bank, Provident Bank and Union Bank of California. Among the banks that have signed letters of intent are: ABN Amro, Comerica, HSBC USA Inc., Mellon Bank, Michigan National, Summit Bancorp and Wachovia Corporation.

Spectrum's three founding institutions together with current and prospective member banks represent over 4.7 million on-line consumers and include nine of the top 30 credit card issuers nationwide. According to the Tower Group, financial services companies issue 4.3 billion bills annually, representing 31 percent of total annual recurring bills - more than any other industry group.

"Union Bank of California joined Spectrum because we are committed to bringing the benefits of e-billing to our business and consumer customers," said Terry Kelly, senior vice president, Union Bank of California. "Spectrum is rapidly building the critical mass of billers and individuals necessary to stimulate market growth, and we strongly believe that Spectrum's bank-centric business model will be successful."

Research shows that consumers are interested in receiving bills via their banks. According to a recent survey by Jupiter Communications, 42% of consumers would prefer to collect their bills online from banks, a clear majority over other sources, including portals and personal finance software. GartnerGroup research also indicates that consumers who bank or trade online prefer paying bills and viewing financial accounts at their banks rather than major portals by a factor of 5 to 1.

The Spectrum technology partnership program is open to software vendors and third party processors that service biller and consumer service providers. Vendors can pre-certify software to the Spectrum switch and then sell the software or service as "Spectrum-certified" to financial institutions.

"Enabling vendors to pre-certify for Spectrum, with or without a financial institution client is a clear example of Spectrum pushing the industry forward," said Liam Carmody, interim chief executive officer for Spectrum. "As more vendors are certified, financial institutions will benefit from having a variety of proven, tested solutions to choose from as well as a speedier, more efficient implementation process."

Last month, Spectrum announced its commitment to putting an IFX (Interactive Financial Exchange) switch in place by year-end. IFX will provide a number of enhancements to the capabilities currently offered by the current OFX (Open Financial Exchange) standard, including meeting billers' robust remittance information requirements. Spectrum has also committed to adding a payments capability by mid-year.

About Spectrum

Spectrum is an independent company fully owned by The Chase Manhattan Corporation (NYSE: CMB), First Union Corporation (NYSE: FTU) and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC). Formed to facilitate the exchange of electronic bills and payments, Spectrum's mission is to provide a secure, open and interoperable infrastructure to electronically link Consumer and Biller Service Providers. Additionally, Spectrum seeks to provide value to its participants by providing superior service and reducing overall bill presentment and payment costs. Spectrum does not host any bills, nor does it retain any bill details.