Basis100 Announces Strategic Agreement to Provide Services to the Global Property & Casualty Insurance Market.

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 10, 1999--

(TSE:BAS.)

Alliance with Cebra Inc. and Insurance Information Centre of

Canada Can Empower Knowledge Brokers

Basis100 Inc. (TSE:BAS), an Internet-based e-commerce services provider, announced today that it has finalized an exclusive licensing agreement with Cebra Inc., a leading e-commerce solutions company, wholly owned by the Bank of Montreal. Basis100 will manage, operate and enhance Cebra's I-formation for Insurance service worldwide. This represents the second strategic alliance Basis100 has recently completed with Cebra.

In addition, Basis100 and Cebra will join forces with the Insurance Information Centre of Canada (IICC). IICC is a non-profit organization supported by the property and casualty insurance industry and will provide the infrastructure and assist in the marketing and support of the service to property and casualty insurers in Canada. IICC is a leader in the development and delivery of insurance information, products, and services. The strategic agreement for I-formation for Insurance creates cross-selling opportunities for mortgage brokers, insurance brokers, and financial planners. "This acquisition further strengthens the alliance between Basis100 and Cebra," said Jason Smith, Executive Vice President of Retail Financial Services for Basis100. "This technology will allow Basis100 to empower the knowledge broker to fully service their customer by offering a full suite of financial services."

I-formation for Insurance clients currently represent approximately 20% of the premiums for the insurance marketplace; the service is used by over 650 insurance brokers.

The I-formation for Insurance service is a multi-faceted e-commerce solution designed to enable insurance companies, insurance brokers, and other trading partners to exchange information quickly, securely, and accurately regardless of the input and output data formats. I-formation allows communication between non-standard formats in both internal and external systems, even for large data-transfer projects such as mergers and acquisitions.

"This is a strategic alliance in the truest sense and represents the opportunity for Cebra to expand its business solutions offering, creating synergistic opportunities, " said Mark Wainberg, Vice President of Insurance and Financial Services at Cebra.

The agreement also includes the Insurance Information Centre of Canada who will assist in the management and promotion of I-formation. "The IICC is uniquely positioned to assist in expanding this service within the insurance community," said Bernard Webber, President and Chief Executive Officer of IICC. "Given IICC's involvement in insurance network services and our commitment to the Canadian insurance industry, there is significant value in our involvement with the I-formation for Insurance service,"

"Cebra is committed to developing strategic relationships to provide business oriented e-commerce solutions to the financial services and insurance industries," said Renah Persofsky, President and Chief Executive Officer for Cebra.

Basis100 was founded to capitalize on the opportunities proliferating in financial services as the evolution of the Internet propels the sector through a profound transformation. Basis100 combines innovative market approaches, a deep understanding of the financial services sector, and the vision to incorporate state-of-the-art technology into the development of uniquely powerful application services.

Basis100's 2 Minute Mortgage solution automates the entire mortgage origination process from start to finish, allowing real-time online interaction and automatic decision making and pricing for the borrower. The company's value-based services provide cost efficiencies that enable lenders to offer more products, explore new markets, and drive new business.

Basis100 is able to uncover new market opportunities and customer bases by applying Internet-based technology to a broad range of financial products, services, and channels. Basis100 also links communities of interest networks; this creates cross-selling opportunities around purchase transactions, which drives more value and return for institutions and their trading partners.

Cebra Inc., a member of the Bank of Montreal Group of Companies, is a leading provider of electronic commerce solutions.

Since its inception in April 1996, Cebra has gained a pre-eminent position at the leading edge of the electronic commerce industry. Cebra works closely with insurance, financial, government, and health-care sectors to design, implement, and support leading-edge, innovative solutions, bringing together technology developers, trading partners, and the business community.

IICC provides services and business solutions to the Canadian property and casualty insurance industry through the innovative use of strategic systems technology. IICC also supplies various loss control and planning products and services and is the focal point for dialogue between automobile manufacturers and auto insurers.