Visa U.S.A. Unveils Visa DirectExchange With Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems; Industry Leaders Come Together to Enable U-Commerce.

Business and Technology Editors

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 19, 2000

Visa U.S.A. announced today, with Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems, Visa DirectExchange(TM), the world's largest private financial payments network using Internet technologies. This network will make u-commerce, or universal commerce, a reality for all consumers in the U.S., enabling them to conduct commerce at any time, anywhere and by any means.

Visa's new network incorporates Sun's highly scalable, reliable and secure computing platform and Cisco's intelligent routing technologies to create one of the most powerful payments processing systems in the world. Visa DirectExchange will be capable of processing all U.S. issued Visa credit and debit cards, along with all other forms of electronic payment. It will process $60 million in payments an hour today, surpassing $1 trillion in payments annually. The network will be able to accommodate a volume of 10,000 messages per second with capabilities for exponential growth -- more than 100 billion transactions annually, which is more than double today's volume.

"Visa DirectExchange is the payments network for the new economy. Consumers in this new economy want more control over how they pay, and they want payment to be faster, safer, and more convenient," said Carl Pascarella, President and Chief Executive Officer of Visa U.S.A. "While we believe cards will continue to be the standard payment method for the foreseeable future, consumers increasingly will be paying with new technologies, such as their mobile phones and personal digital assistants. In anticipation of these needs, we've built our new payments system to provide banks the infrastructure to handle the unprecedented volume of Visa transactions these new payment technologies will demand."

Visa DirectExchange enables Visa U.S.A. Member Banks to quickly and easily launch new payments technologies that enable u-commerce, such as mobile commerce, smart cards, business-to-business e-commerce, person-to-person e-commerce and electronic check conversions, with high levels of security, unmatched speed, 100 percent reliability and mass customization capabilities. Visa DirectExchange also provides Members and merchants with easier access to existing and future payment services.

Visa DirectExchange has been in development for nearly two years, and is based on open technology standards, such as Internet Protocol (IP). The new network also features a single point of secure connectivity between endpoints, providing Member Banks and merchants with easier access to existing and emerging payment services. Visa DirectExchange will be available to Visa Member banks by late summer.

This network realizes Visa U.S.A.'s vision of integrating the benefits of open technology standards and the power of Internet technologies to ensure banks continue to play a central role in the payments industry. The groundbreaking project between Visa U.S.A., Sun Microsystems and Cisco was the vision of Scott Thompson, Visa U.S.A.'s Chief Technology Officer.

In order to ensure reliability for the new system, Visa DirectExchange is based on Sun Enterprise(tm) servers, StorEdge(tm) arrays, the Solaris(tm) Operating Environment, and the Java(tm) 2 Enterprise Edition platform. "With this announcement, Sun is dot-coming the largest and most reliable electronic payment system in the world," said Scott McNealy, Chief Executive Officer of Sun Microsystems. "Visa isn't just about credit cards anymore. The Sun platform will enable Visa DirectExchange to allow transaction processes to expand beyond credit cards to all forms of payment."

Visa U.S.A. chose Cisco Systems to provide the high availability for Visa DirectExchange. "Working together, Cisco and Sun have created a solution that will scale to meet Visa's changing customer requirements," said John Chambers, President and Chief Executive Officer of Cisco Systems, Inc. "As a result, personal and professional Internet based financial transactions will be revolutionized."

"This partnership enables Visa U.S.A. to shape the future of money by providing a flexible platform from which we can introduce continual innovations in payment," said Thompson. "We're now better positioned to help our Member banks thrive, while providing all of the security and convenience expected from the Visa brand."

As part of the development effort, Visa U.S.A. also worked with Inovant, the information technology and processing services subsidiary of Visa International, to manage and operate Visa DirectExchange.

Visa DirectExchange expands and modernizes the network aspects of VisaNet, and will continue to utilize VisaNet's payment processing engine. The VisaNet infrastructure was developed and put into operational use more than a decade before the emergence of Internet and Web-enabled technologies.

For more than 20 years, VisaNet has successfully supported the flawless processing of authorization, clearing and settlement transactions with remarkable performance and 100 percent reliability.

Visa DirectExchange will be implemented in regions beyond the U.S. based upon individual market and consumer demands.

About Sun Microsystems

Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer(TM) - has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW), to its position as a leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses. With $14.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

About Cisco Systems

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at the Cisco Press Room, www.cisco.com.

About Visa U.S.A.

Visa U.S.A. is the leading payment brand and the largest payments system in the United States, with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa U.S.A. plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 14,000 U.S. member financial institutions and their cardholders. There are more than 330 million Visa credit, commercial and check cards, which generate more than $720 billion in annual transaction volume. Visa-branded cards are accepted at over 17 million locations worldwide, including some 500,000 ATMs in the Visa/PLUS Global ATM Network.