First Bank System, Fleet Financial Group and Royal Bank of Canada join NationsBank and Bank of America as owners of Meca Software, L.L.C.

FAIRFIELD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 1995--Two major U.S. banks and Canada's largest bank will join Bank of America and NationsBank as co-owners of MECA Software, L.L.C., which produces Managing Your Money(R), the only bank-owned personal financial software product for home banking.

The three new co-owners are First Bank System, Fleet Financial Group and Royal Bank of Canada.

"This move is consistent with MECA's strategy to join with banks and other financial institutions to bring home banking to more customers," said MECA President and CEO, Paul Harrison. "We expect to deliver customized and bank-branded versions of Managing Your Money(R) during 1996 to all five banks. These banks have a combined customer base of over 40 million customers throughout North America."

"When we announced our intention to sell additional ownership of MECA, we indicated our desire to attract a small number of large, strong, and geographically diverse banks," Harrison said. "We are very pleased with the addition of First Bank System, Fleet Financial Group and Royal Bank of Canada, which combined with Bank of America and NationsBank, will make home banking available to millions of bank customers."

MECA's highly-regarded Managing Your Money(R) software, which has won numerous awards over the last ten years including the 1995 "Editors Choice" from Home PC magazine, is the foundation on which banks and other financial institutions provide their customers with convenient remote access financial services. This link between software and banking companies is key in the highly competitive home banking environment, where financial institutions and software companies are vying for the same customers. To this end, MECA's strategic alliances with the financial services industry ensure that individual financial institutions will solidify their position as a dominant force within home banking.

"As a co-owner of MECA, we'll be able to offer our customers still more convenient and time saving ways to handle their finances," said Philip G. Heasley, vice chairman of First Bank System. "MECA's Managing Your Money(R) will be the cornerstone of our PC-based home banking offering. We're convinced our customers will find it to be a terrific complement to the multiple options we already offer them for doing business with us anytime, anywhere."

"The addition of these well known banks to the ownership of MECA clearly demonstrates the increasing popularity of PC banking as a financial services option," said Executive Vice President Jeanine Brown, head of Interactive Banking for Bank of America. "We think MECA provides an important strategic opportunity for banks to control their own destiny in this dynamic market."

"Our customers are telling us they want a product like Managing Your Money(R) that brings them the convenience of handling their finances any time they wish," said G. Patrick Phillips, president of Financial Products for NationsBank. "We'll soon be offering them the answer with the NationsBank version of Managing Your Money(R)."

Individuals and small businesses currently use the Managing Your Money(R) software for a comprehensive range of financial management needs, such as tracking income and expenses, budget management, paying bills and managing investments. The software can also be used to assist in retirement planning, tuition planning and to estimate home affordability.

"We are proud to join with these premier banks to deliver MECA's award-winning Managing Your Money(R) software as a platform for retail home banking services," said Michael R. Zucchini, vice chairman and chief technology officer of Fleet Financial Group. "This product will help bring the bank directly into our customers' home or office -- our goal is to make every PC a virtual branch."

"As a leader in the development of banking technology in Canada, we are pleased to be on the ground floor of bringing a powerful new product to millions of Canadians from coast to coast," said John E. Cleghorn, Royal Bank chairman and chief executive officer. "We are excited about the added convenience Managing Your Money(R) software will bring to both our personal and business customers."

MECA will continue to operate independently under the ownership of the five banks and will continue to license Managing Your Money(R) software to financial institutions throughout the world. MECA will provide a version of its Managing Your Money(R) to Visa Interactive for use with its 5,000 member banks. In addition to these licensing agreements, MECA markets its products through more than 7,000 retail outlets and has more than 600,000 users.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Fleet Financial Group is a leading Northeast bank holding company and diversified financial services firm. After its pending merger with Shawmut National Corp., the company will rank as the nation's 10th largest banking institution with assets of over $80 billion. The new Fleet will have leading consumer market penetration and coverage throughout New England, Upstate New York, and Long Island with over 3 million household relationships. In addition, Fleet is a major financial services provider to both large and small businesses throughout the Northeast and is a leader in several national consumer businesses, including mortgage banking (ranked #3 with over $100 billion of servicing volume), consumer finance and student loan processing (the nation's largest 3rd party servicer of student loans). With the Northeast's high per capita income/wealth and "technology rich" business environment, Fleet's core banking geography has attractive market characteristics for the acceptance and growth of home banking.

First Bank System is a regional bank holding company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn., and serving 11 Midwestern and Rocky Mountain states. Including the operations of FirsTier Financial Inc., of which First Bank System will complete the acquisition in January 1996, the company serves 3.1 million retail customers through more than 360 locations and 2,800 ATMs. Throughout its 11-state service area, First Bank System has leading shars of the retail banking business in major markets. Included in the company's retail customer base are more than 950,000 household checking accounts and 300,000 high-transaction credit card customers.

Royal Bank of Canada is Canada's largest financial institution with 10 million clients, assets of US $ 130 billion, almost 1,700 branches and units in more than 30 countries, and more than 4,000 banking machines (ABM) -- one of the largest ABM networks in the world. In addition to its banking activities, Royal Bank of Canada provides investment banking and brokerage services through RBC Dominion Securities, trust and wealth management services through Royal Trust, and selected insurance products through RBC Insurance Holdings. In Canada, the bank has the largest market share of residential mortgages, consumer loans and deposits, institutional custody, private and institutional money management assets, and small and medium-sized business where its market share approaches 25 percent.

MECA Software, L.L.C., provides financial services firms with brandable, customizable software to offer their customers electronic access to both financial and non-financial programs. Managing Your Money(R), MECA's award-winning software, is the foundation on which banks and other financial institutions provide their customers with an effective personal financial planning management tool and remote access to financial services.

CONTACT: For: MECA

The Krantz Group Inc.

Melissa M. Krantz, 212/891-7235

or

For: Royal Bank

Dan Maceluch, 416/974-5506

or

For: Bank of America

Bob Wynne, 415/953-3836 or

Harvey Radin, 415/622-6320

or

For: First Bank System

Wendy Raway, 612/973-2429

or

For: NationsBank

Ellison Clary, 704/386-8633

or

For: Fleet Financial Group

James Mahoney, 617/346-3050