PayPal Lets People Pay Each Other Anytime, Anywhere With Credit Cards, Turning Handheld Organizers Into Instant Payment Devices.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1999--

Innovative startup gets $4.5m venture funding from Nokia,

Deutsche Bank 

The next innovation in handheld technology is here. The free PayPal(TM) instant payment service will let users of small devices, such as the Palm(TM) organizers, mobile phones and two-way pagers, pay each other with their credit cards. PayPal is anticipated to be available in the fall.

Nokia Ventures, the venture capital arm of telecommunications giant Nokia, is the startup's lead investor, contributing $3 million of Confinity's $4.5 million first-round funding. Europe's largest financial institution, Deutsche Bank, is also backing the startup.

To officially launch Confinity and preview the PayPal service, a representative of Nokia Ventures demonstrated the product by using his handheld organizer to "beam" $3 million to Confinity CEO Peter Thiel.

"PayPal will change the way people think about money," said Thiel. "You will be able to pay friends and colleagues with credit cards wherever you are."

PayPal customers will no longer have to hunt for an ATM in order to reimburse a friend or split the bill over dinner. Keeping track of small debts or sharing the expenses of a ski trip will cease to be a chore. PayPal users will be able to make person-to-person transactions with their handheld devices anytime and anywhere.

Founded in late 1998, Confinity's team combines backgrounds in finance, encryption, telecommunications, and the Internet. The company aims to enable people around the world to access their money anytime and anywhere.

For more information and to sign up for PayPal, visit www.PayPal.com.

Note to Editors: PayPal is a trademark of Confinity, Inc. Palm is a trademark of 3Com Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective companies with which they are associated.