Certicom Corp. to secure banking transactions for British Columbia Central Credit Union.

TORONTO, Ontario--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1996-- Certicom Corp. ("Certicom") (CDN:CERT) announced today that it has reached an agreement to provide security for electronic transactions between British Columbia's credit unions and their 1.3 million members.

Under the terms of the agreement, Certicom will provide an enterprise-wide solution. Electronic funds transfer and remote banking transactions, on behalf of B.C. credit Union members, will be secured with an integrated hardware and software security solution. B.C. credit unions will be able to do their banking over the Internet in a safe and secure manner.

"With this implementation, B.C. credit unions will be well- positioned to provide services in the 21st Century," said Gary N. Hughes, President and CEO, Certicom Corp. "As their members demand on-line access to more banking services, credit unions can rest assured that those services are secured by Certicom's leading-edge data encryption technologies."

"We feel Certicom's Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem (ECC) is simply the best form of data encryption available on the market today," said Mervin Zabinsky, Manager, Director of Payment and Information Services for Credit Union Central of British Columbia, the system's Central organization. "ECC offers a higher level of security than competing technologies, yet it is faster and more robust. It also requires much less processing power and takes up less space on smart cards, making it ideal for remote computing, including mobile applications."

Digital information security comprises a variety of technologies to prevent the unauthorized disclosure, alteration or removal of information; to control access to information moving across networks; and to verify the integrity of electronic files and user identity. These technologies require encryption and digital signatures based on public-key cryptography.

British Columbia has 100 credit unions, operating from over 320 locations throughout the province. At year-end 1995, they had 18.1 billion in assets.

Certicom Corp. is a developer, manufacturer and vendor of digital information security products, technologies and services. Certicom markets unique cryptographic technologies in the form of software, integrated circuits and patent licensing. The company also markets a line of hardware and software information security products for fax encryption and computer network security. Certicom shares are quoted on the Canadian Dealing Network under the symbol "CERT".

CONTACT: Certicom Corp

Jennifer Vancini, 905-507-4220

[e-mail]

or

BenmchMark Communications Inc.

Terry Hrynyshyn, 416-423-6605

[e-mail]

or

Credit Union Central of B.C.

Mervin Zabinsky, 604-737-5046

[e-mail]