Arkansas to Accept Internet and Telephone Tax Payments By Credit Card; Official Payments adds 8th State Client.

Business Editors

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 17, 2000

Official Payments Corporation (NASDAQ:OPAY) announced today the company has signed an agreement with the State of Arkansas to collect Balance-Due Tax Payments, Estimated Tax Payments, Extension Tax payments, Payments and Sales & Use Tax Payments by credit card, via Internet and telephone. Taxpayers in Arkansas will be able to make these payments by visiting http://www.state.ar.us/dfa/ or www.officialpayments.com on the Internet or by calling toll-free 1-888-2PAY-TAX. The new payment channels for Tax Year 2000 are expected to go live later this year. Official Payments provides similar services to the Internal Revenue Service, the District of Columbia, and the states of California, Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Minnesota and Oklahoma.

Official Payments will charge Arkansas taxpayers a convenience fee for processing these credit card transactions. The fee schedule can be found at www.officialpayments.com. For example, a taxpayer who owed the Arkansas $900.00 and charged their taxes would find a total of $925.00 on their credit card statement: $900.00 for the tax bill and $25.00 for the convenience fee. American Express, Discover Card, and MasterCard are the credit cards accepted by the program. Taxpayers using credit cards with bonus rewards programs can, depending on their card's program, earn rewards, points, and cash-back or airline frequent flyer miles for paying their taxes.

The State of Arkansas will only accept credit card tax payments over the telephone or Internet. In-person credit card payments will not be accepted.

Official Payments expects to announce Q2 2000 financial results, after the close of the equity markets on Tuesday, July 25, 2000.

About Official Payments Corp.

Official Payments Corp. is a leading provider of electronic payment options to government entities. The company enables consumers to pay government fees and taxes via telephone or the Internet, using their credit cards. The company has partnered with the United States Internal Revenue Service, several state governments, including California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Illinois, New Jersey and Oklahoma, Minnesota and over 500 municipal and county entities, in which it collects property taxes, real estate taxes, parking fines and other government fees by credit card over the telephone and the Internet. The company is publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol OPAY. Official Payments Corp. is committed to making payments to the government go fast, smart and safe.

Statements in this release may be deemed to 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 are based upon the current economic environment and current expectations that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to statements regarding the Company's competitive position, expected operating and financial performance, business model and expected growth of electronic payments to government entities. All forward-looking statements included in this report are based upon information available to the Company as of the date hereof. You are cautioned that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. The company's actual results and the timing of certain events may differ significantly than those anticipated in, or caused by, any forward-looking statements as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the general economic and business conditions, major systems failure, constraints in capacity, rapid technological changes, ability to remain existing government contracts and enter into new government contracts, competitive nature of the market in which the Company competes, the early stages of development of the Company's products. A more complete description of these and other risks and uncertainties associated with the Company's business can be found in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Note: Official Payments Corp. and Official Payments Corp. logo are

registered trademarks. All other products or company names mentioned

are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of

their respective owners.