ATLANTA, April 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- InstaPay Systems, Inc. (OTCBB:IPYS) announced today that a customer of its Kryptosima subsidiary has begun using Kryptosima's technology in a production environment. Kryptosima has developed a patented system for delivering encrypted transactions over the Internet. This is the first and, to the Company's knowledge, only production system to enable Internet merchants to accept ATM card ("PIN debit") payments.
In October 2003, Gartner Research reported that 45% of all U.S. adults will be using E-Billing and payment Applications by 2005. According to the Census Bureau of the US Department of Commerce, total e-commerce sales for 2003 were estimated at $54.9 billion, an increase of 26.3 percent (plus or minus 3.9%) from 2002.
InstaPay will generate revenues by charging merchants a fixed fee per transaction for PIN debit transactions, unlike credit card processing companies who charge a percent of the transaction. Merchants may choose to lower overall transaction costs by offering PIN debit payment solutions to consumers. In February of this year, Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) began refusing MasterCard's signature debit card and instead will require those customers to enter their PIN number. According to Speer & Associates Inc., a leading payment consulting firm based in Atlanta, this may be evidence that, "the merchant community is exercising its right to move to a cheaper processing alternative."
"This is an important milestone for InstaPay/Kryptosima," stated Harry Hargens, President and CEO of InstaPay and Kryptosima. "Early this month, one of our license customers began using our technology to secure private label payment transactions performed over the Internet by their customers." He added, "The initial transaction volume in any new program is very modest, so the revenue we generate from this client in the next few months will be negligible. None-the-less, this event validates three important points for our business model. First, it demonstrates that companies will choose to use our technology and pay per-transaction license fees as we have proposed to all potential technology/patent license customers. Second, it validates that the new PIN pad we announced in March operates well in a production environment. And third, it shows that consumers will use hardware attached to their PC to facilitate secure transactions."
Hargens continued, "Initially, our primary focus in North America is on providing services directly to merchants, not establishing 'partners' through license agreements. However, one way to start generating revenue from markets outside North America as soon as possible may be to work with companies that license our patent and our software, so they can establish companies offering services to Internet merchants in their local market."
This is also a fresh validation of the applicability of the Company's technology in the eCommerce market. According to US commerce department statistics and other industry estimates, eCommerce reached almost $100 Billion in 2003 and continues to grow at double-digit rates. That figure covers only the USA. The worldwide figure is larger and also growing.
(See http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/current.html for current eCommerce statistics)
Hargens further commented, "Because of our patent, and the software package that we have developed to implement the concepts embodied in that patent, we believe that we are uniquely positioned to pursue a significant market share in the business of processing payments for this large and rapidly growing eCommerce market." (European patent EP1218865 can be viewed online at http://v3.espacenet.com/origdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=EP1218865&QPN=EP1218865)
Hargens concluded, "The Company is staying in very close contact with this customer during their initial roll-out of the technology, providing them with comprehensive tech-support to help guarantee a successful launch. We are seeing details of their operation, the global scale of some of the transactions, the ubiquity of the Internet, and the potential of our technology that is being demonstrated, which is nothing short of overwhelming. In some cases we are seeing a bank on one continent do secure transactions with a bank customer on a second continent, using a service provided by servers running our software on a third continent, supported by a customer service staff on a fourth continent. And, that customer service staff is accessing data on servers running our software using remote data-access tools we provided. And ALL of this is being accomplished via our system and standard Internet connectivity."
About InstaPay Systems Inc.
InstaPay's focus is on the implementation of new payment services, such as ATM card payments from home or office. The patented, easy to use Kryptosima system works with any desktop or laptop computer, enabling consumers to conduct secure transactions from any location without fear of identity theft. For additional information, visit www.instapaysystems.com and www.kryptosima.com
Forward-Looking Statements:
Statements about the company's future expectations, including future revenues and earnings, and all other statements in this press release other than historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and as that term is defined in the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change at any time, and the company's actual results could differ materially from expected results. The company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequently occurring events or circumstances.