Killen & Associates Report Reaffirms MessagingDirect's Strategy for the Delivery of Bills and Statements Via Email.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 1, 2000

Passing of Electronic Signature Bill

Increases Ebilling & Estatement Momentum

A recent report from Killen & Associates, a leading analyst firm specializing in electronic billing presentment and electronic billing and statement payment (EBPP/ESP), indicates that the EBPP market will grow to $34 billion and $18 billion by 2005, respectively. The report further states that the popularity of sending bills via email will ultimately gain greater acceptance than other approaches, including billing via the Internet. This report follows closely on the heels of the signing of the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, which dictates that digital signatures are legally binding. MessagingDirect, a leader in electronic statement and bill delivery software solutions, is positioned to take full advantage of these trends in the market with its M-Bill and M-Statement technology.

"According to our research, a dramatic shift will take place in the electronic billing and statement presentment market during the next five years," said Michael Killen, president and CEO of Killen & Associates. "In 1998, delivery of bills/statements direct to the desktop accounted for about 10 percent of all eBills and statements issued; by 2005, the percent of these documents delivered to the desktop will grow to 40 percent; and, Web consolidation would decrease to 38 percent by 2005." Killen added that the ease of use of billing via email as well as significant cost savings over Internet bill presentment are other factors determining where this market is headed.

Killen's report entitled, "eMail-based Bill, Invoice and Statement Delivery: Meeting the New Needs of the Customers and Employees," which was released on July 28th, 2000, concluded that electronic billing will ultimately win over Web-based billing due to major challenges within the Web-based billing industry such as the need to contend with peak loading, redundancy and fail-over considerations as well as the high cost of Secure Socket Layer Web Links. Additionally, Web-based billing systems generally require the use of a separate Web server. Finally, Web users must sign up and log on to a system in order to view and pay their bills.

The email distribution of bank and brokerage statements, insurance claims, medical records, account statements, invoices and pay stubs will be sent with increasing frequency through email, making secure and authenticated transactions essential. MessagingDirect's product and company strategy have always focused on email distribution rather then Web presentment of bills and statements. With their industry-leading technology, MessagingDirect's customers can rest assured that they will be able to send and receive time-stamped, secure, digitally-signed documents, providing them with peace-of-mind that the enclosed information comes from a trusted party. To further protect the information, these emails are also encrypted with S/MIME technology, which guarantees unauthorized parties will not be able to view the enclosed information.

"We are steadfast in our belief that billing via email is not only more convenient for people, but it's significantly more cost effective for billers and this report proves that we've been right all along," said MessagingDirect CEO Don Pare. "Now, with the new electronic signature law passed in the U.S., it has become easier than ever to send and receive bills and statements that are legally binding via email."

Signing the new Electronic Signature Law, President Clinton predicted that this significant piece of legislation "will open up new frontiers of economic opportunity, while protecting the rights of private citizens." Clinton added that, "With the swipe of a smart card and the click of a mouse, (customers) will be able to finalize mortgages, sign insurance contracts or open brokerage accounts."

MessagingDirect leads the industry in secure electronic billing and statement presentment by delivering customers a solution that is:

--SECURE - emails are authenticated, digitally signed and encrypted using S/MIME technology to safeguard email from third parties that might be monitoring transactions.

--HIGHLY SCALABLE - capable of delivering up to 5 million individual electronic bills and statements per server, per day.

--EASY TO USE - customers are not required to use a new email client or add any plug-ins. The solution is more then an email notification or redirection to a URL, the email is the actual bill or statement, which enables customers to pay the bill with just one click of the mouse, as well as integrate with pre-existing payment systems.

--COST EFFECTIVE - a recent report from Killen & Associates indicated that savings to businesses range from a minimum of 68 cents to more then $2 for each transaction handled electronically rather than paper.

About Killen & Associates

Killen & Associates, Inc. is a leading market research company that focuses on the impact of the Internet, specializing in electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP), electronic statement presentment (ESP), and multi-channel e-business (MCEB). It is the undisputed thought leader and most trusted source of business intelligence in the EBPP, ESP, and MCEB space. Its products and service provide an extensive body of strong information and communication aides to enable global service enterprises--financial services, telecommunication, and utility companies--to develop a winning multi-channel e-business (MCEB) strategy and obtain a competitive advantage through advanced customer relationship management (CRM), generating e-commerce, and reducing costs. Killen & Associates has offices in Palo Alto, California, the United Kingdom and Zurich, Switzerland. Killen & Associates can found on the Web at http://www.killen.com

About MessagingDirect Ltd.

MessagingDirect Ltd. is a software development company that features world class, standards-based electronic document delivery solutions for seamless and secure delivery of bills, statements and other confidential documents right to the desktop. Using secure document delivery, MessagingDirect extends an organization's capability of conducting e-business to include their customers, employees, distributors, suppliers and consumers. MessagingDirect has offices in San Francisco, California, Edmonton, Canada and Richmond, United Kingdom. For additional information on MessagingDirect, please visit its Web site at http://www.messagingdirect.com.