Microsoft, MasterCard and Clarus Expand Efforts to Market And Deliver Web-Based Corporate Purchasing Solutions

NEW YORK, April 27, 1999 — Microsoft Corp., MasterCard International Inc. and Clarus Corp. announced today at The Gartner Group Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference & Exposition (iEC) support from leading financial institutions, suppliers and technology providers for the WebPurchasing™ program, a joint effort to deliver end-to-end, integrated Web-based corporate purchasing solutions to both buyers and suppliers.

Building on the plans announced on March 4 at the Microsoft® Commerce Solutions Briefing, Microsoft, MasterCard and Clarus are working with companies like The First National Bank of Chicago, a subsidiary of BANK ONE CORP., USWeb/CKS and Office Depot Inc. to market and deploy WebPurchasing solutions and services. WebPurchasing solutions are based on the Microsoft commerce platform, the Clarus E-Procurement corporate purchasing application and the MasterCard Corporate Purchasing Card.

Select MasterCard member financial institutions, including Cardservice International, The Bank of Montreal, The Fifth Third Bank, First Chicago, First of Omaha Merchant Processing, Harris Bank, Paymentech and Wells Fargo Bank plan to market WebPurchasing solutions and services to corporate customers and prospects and to integrate the solution into their respective MasterCard Corporate Purchasing Card programs.
“This cutting-edge solution enables businesses to make efficient purchasing decisions in a dynamic business environment,”
said J. Dirk Vos, head of Treasury Management Services at First Chicago.
“The WebPurchasing program is one more example of how we provide value-added solutions for our commercial bank customers.”

A growing list of suppliers, including BT OFFICE PRODUCTS and Office Depot support the WebPurchasing program through use of Microsoft Site Server 3.0 Commerce Edition, allowing for easy integration with corporate buyers’ Clarus E-Procurement systems.
“Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition offered a flexible solution for integrating our Web site with our existing business systems,”
said Beth VanStory, vice president, Office Depot Online.
“We are excited about the ability to attract customers who have selected the WebPurchasing solution for their company’s purchasing needs.”

Other suppliers that support the program through their e-commerce initiatives include Boise Cascade Office Products Corp., Chrome Data Corp., Contact East Inc., Corporate Express Inc., Cyrk Inc., Flowers Online Inc., RoweCom Inc. and US Office Products Co. Harbinger Corp. supports the program as well by providing outsourced catalog aggregation and data rationalization services.

As an incentive for new suppliers to create commerce Web sites, a WebPurchasing promotional offer is planned for suppliers through the MSN
™Sidewalk® online guide ( http://sidewalk.com/ ) to support and promote their e-commerce initiatives. MSN Sidewalk is an online guide designed to help consumers make great everyday decisions about what to buy or do in their area.

Members of Microsoft’s network of Microsoft Certified Solution Providers and global technology providers, as well as Clarus Professional Services and its alliance partners are trained and ready to deploy WebPurchasing solutions. These companies include ARIS Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., Eggrock Partners LLC, Integrated Information Systems Inc., Levi, Ray & Shoup Inc., Metamor, NDC Group Inc., Raymond James Consulting, Rainier Technology Inc., SARCOM Inc., Data Return Corp., Exodus Communications Inc. and USWeb/CKS.

About the WebPurchasing Program

The WebPurchasing program was created to make corporate purchasing easier, less expensive and more efficient by providing buyers and sellers with integrated, Web-based solutions and services for streamlined purchasing and payment reporting based on Microsoft platform technologies. Microsoft’s leading e-commerce platform consists of the Windows NT® Server operating system, Microsoft SQL Server
™
and Site Server Commerce Edition, which enables businesses to build and maintain cost-effective, highly manageable sites for online retailing, corporate purchasing and value chain trading.

Through the WebPurchasing program, corporate buyers can shop for goods and services easily and securely from their intranet using the Clarus E-Procurement application, a leading-edge Web-based solution for managing the procurement of all operational goods and services. Using Clarus E-Procurement, employees can find approved goods and services, conduct workflow and approval processes, and pay for purchases with their MasterCard Corporate Purchasing Card. The MasterCard Corporate Purchasing Card also captures line item, Level 3 purchase order data from Clarus E-Procurement and integrates it with the card reporting to assist employees with account reconciliation and general ledger mapping. For more information about the WebPurchasing program, please visit http://www.webpurchasing.net/ .

About the Companies

MasterCard International provides a comprehensive portfolio of payment brands worldwide. With 23,000 member financial institutions serving consumers in 220 countries and territories, MasterCard is an industry leader in quality and innovation. Nearly 700 million MasterCard, Maestro, Cirrus and Mondex cards are accepted at more than 16.2 million locations worldwide. In 1998, gross dollar volume exceeded $650 billion. MasterCard can be reached through its World Wide Web site at http://www.mastercard.com/ .

Atlanta-based Clarus Corp. ( http://www.claruscorp.com/ ; Nasdaq
“CLRS”
) is a pioneer and a leader in providing Web-based commerce applications that enable organizations to gain control of their operational resources – the non-production goods and services vital to every company’s operations. Clarus Commerce leverages Web technology to connect large populations of employees, management and suppliers with continuous planning, monitoring and control of resources, which can result in a dramatic impact on the bottom line. The company’s Web-based commerce solutions are being deployed at more than 20 sites for customers including MasterCard International, First Data Corp. and Hyatt Regency, with planned deployment to more than 100,000 employees.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Microsoft, MSN, Sidewalk and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
WebPurchasing is a trademark of MasterCard International Inc.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information on the WebPurchasing program:

Visit http://www.webpurchasing.net/ .

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, MasterCard and Clarus, please visit http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ , http://www.mastercard.com/ or http://www.claruscorp.com/ .

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