America Online and Stamps.com Announce Distribution and Marketing Agreement for Innovative Postage Service Across AOL Brands

As part of the agreement, AOL members and Web-based visitors will receive exclusive Member Perks packages, including free postage and postage supplies.

Under the agreement, Stamps.com, formerly known as StampMaster, Inc., will offer AOL and CompuServe members, as well as visitors to AOL.COM and Digital City, free, highly secure postage software to enable AOL's millions of members and Web-based visitors to print a new form of postage directly onto envelopes, labels and business documents using ordinary laser or inkjet printers.

More cost-effective and convenient than stamps or traditional postage meters, Stamps.com's Internet Postage service will give small business, home and corporate users the ability to generate professional- looking first class, priority and express mail twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Stamps.com will be prominently featured in the online Postage Services Center anticipated to launch early next year, and will also be featured in the Software Download area of the AOL Computing Channel.

As part of the agreement, Stamps.com will sponsor an online educational area on AOL to inform interested AOL members and users about Internet Postage and U.S. Postal Service rules regarding its use. As one part of the distribution agreement, Stamps.com installation CDs will also be bundled and mailed, free of charge, with purchases made by AOL members in the AOL Store.

Stamps.com is currently approved by the U.S. Postal Service for Beta and market testing, and expects approval from the USPS for a national rollout in the first half of 1999. Currently, Stamps.com provides the only downloadable Internet Postage solution approved by the USPS for market testing, and does not require installation of a hardware device on each PC to achieve the acceptable level of security.

"Stamps.com provides a convenient and valuable alternative to traditional postage," said Bob Pittman, AOL's President and COO. "We think Stamps.com will be a terrific resource for our business- oriented members and visitors."

"We're excited to be able to offer some unique programs for AOL users," said John M. Payne, Stamps.com President and CEO. "Because our Postage Server(TM) architecture requires no hardware on the user's PC, we can provide a high value Internet Postage package at very low costs to AOL members and visitors."

About the U.S.P.S. Information Based Indicia Program

The Information Based Indicia Program (IBIP) is a regulated, multi-vendor program operated by the US Postal Service. All IBIP product offerings and distribution channels require submission and approval under the IBI Program, which operates within the USPS office of Metering Technology Management to assure the highest levels of security and operational integrity for all IBI systems.