DALLAS (October 5, 1999)... Brinkman Technologies' NextBill electronic bill presentment and payment system was honored this morning as one of the "Most Innovative New Products of the Year" during a ceremony on the campus of Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth. NextBill was selected as one of nine finalists to receive the honor among companies with products introduced in 1998-99, which are currently available and fill a market need not currently met by other products.

During his announcement of NextBill as one of the winners of the award, Ft. Worth Business Press editor Steve Roth said that NextBill eliminates the middleman that exists in traditional electronic bill pay services. He added that NextBill is less expensive for the biller and easier to access for the consumer.

NextBill follows the direct billing model, an electronic version of the traditional billing model of receiving a bill in the mail and returning a paper check. With this technology, a merchant sends billing statements directly to customers via e-mail. Customers make payment by clicking on a "Pay Bill" hyperlink to an online payment screen where payment options can be set. The payment is then processed using the Federal Reserve's ACH system.

In contrast, the predominant "consolidator" model, where billing information is routed to a third party processor for presentment, requires consumers to visit a bill presentment Web site to find their bills and make payment. Transaction fees are assessed to the billers and banks by the third-party processor for each payment processed. Billers using the NextBill system do not incur per-item transaction fees, significantly lowering the cost of the billing cycle.

"Technology should make our lives easier and businesses more efficient, therefore reducing costs to businesses and consumers," said BTI president, Mark Brinkman. "Unlike the consolidator model, NextBill allows businesses to keep their customer data private and avoid ongoing transaction fees that would eventually be passed on to the customer."

About Brinkman Technologies, Inc.

Brinkman Technologies, Inc. (BTI) was founded in 1984 in Carrollton, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. In 1986, BTI introduced PowerLine, the first PC-based, multi-tasking cash management system operating in a private network environment. BTI now offers a full suite of banking services for small banks to multi-bank service bureaus, including electronic bill presentment and payment, corporate cash management, home banking, Internet banking, fax reporting, and ACH. In January 1999, BTI became a pioneer in the direct model of electronic billing when it launched NextBill. Please visit www.banksystems.com or www.nextbill.com for more information. All BTI products are Y2K compliant.

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