Over 10 Million Users Demonstrate Record Growth for MSN MoneyCentral

REDMOND, Wash., May 9, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that the award-winning MSN TM MoneyCentral TM online personal finance service at http://moneycentral.msn.com/ has experienced tremendous year-over-year growth, with unique visitors, page views and total minutes logged more than doubling since 1999. In addition, a new My Accounts feature and a strategic alliance with Briefing.com Inc. deepen the site’s functionality and further enhance its design as a one-stop, everyday Web resource that helps consumers manage their money and make smart financial decisions.

In March, MSN MoneyCentral reached a critical milestone, exceeding 10 million unique visitors, more than 400 million page views (source: Integrated Decision Support System) and more than 229,000,000 total minutes logged for the month (source: Media Metrix, March 2000, Digital Media Audience Ratings Report). According to the same sources, the site experienced 4.6 million unique visitors, 171 million page views and 108,000,000 minutes in March 1999.

“During the past year, the growth rate of MSN MoneyCentral has been really phenomenal,”
said Chris Jolley, product manager for MSN MoneyCentral at Microsoft.
“We are thrilled by its popularity, which has exceeded our optimistic expectations.”

Jolley credits much of the growth to the site’s expanding resources and tools. For instance, MSN MoneyCentral recently delivered important new functionality called My Accounts, which helps consumers save time by consolidating and managing their account information in a single location. With this feature, users now can check account balances and transaction details for checking, savings and credit card accounts, all in one location. They also can add account balances to their My MoneyCentral page for a complete snapshot of their entire financial picture.

Key industry alliances have also boosted the functionality available to users of MSN MoneyCentral and added to the site’s booming popularity. In addition to existing alliances with Corillian Corp., Hoover’s Inc., H & R Block, InsWeb Corp. and Lending Tree Inc., MSN MoneyCentral recently finalized a strategic alliance with Briefing.com, the leading provider of live market commentary on the Internet. Through Briefing.com, users of MSN MoneyCentral will have access to actionable, timely information that will help them make important financial decisions every day. Users will benefit from detailed stock market updates every half hour throughout the trading day, as well as timely reports on preopening and after-the-bell developments. They will also find frequently updated reports throughout the day on stocks that are
“in play”
and on breaking news and analyst comments that are moving the market.

“Briefing.com content is going to be a hugely valuable resource to our users,”
Jolley said.
“The relationship demonstrates the value that MSN MoneyCentral delivers to users every day as a single online location offering extensive, integrated information for both new and veteran investors.”

About MSN MoneyCentral

MSN MoneyCentral, located at http://moneycentral.msn.com/ , is a complete online

personal finance resource delivering leading financial tools and information in eight key areas: Investor, Saving & Spending, Banking & Bills, Family & College, Retirement & Wills, Taxes, Insurance, and Real Estate. The award-winning site offers consumers the ability to complete a wide range of everyday financial tasks, such as paying bills, tracking investments and staying informed on the latest financial news, in one convenient place online – any time, any place. MSN MoneyCentral helps enable people at all levels of experience to take control of and feel comfortable with their finances, helping them make smart financial decisions.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Related Posts