ANNOUNCING THE WORLD’S FIRST NETWORK WALLET FOR E-COMMERCE
The First Software-Free Wallet for Internet Shopping
PALO ALTO, Calif. July 10, 1997 — BlueMoney Software Corporation, an
electronic commerce venture, today announced the world’s first Network
Wallet ™ technology to facilitate Internet shopping, allowing consumers
to store their payment preferences for frequent shopping online.
BlueMoney’s new technology has been launched under the “BlueMoney Wallet”
brand, and it operates as a free payment service to all people who use
the Internet for shopping.
“Prior technologies have posed real problems for the average consumer,”
said John Sweet, Chairman and CEO of the BlueMoney Software Corporation.
“But now it’s time for the Internet to start working for people, and the
BlueMoney Wallet is a step in that direction.”
The BlueMoney Wallet provides consumers with the most convenient online
payment process available today. After saving their payment preferences,
such as credit card numbers, shipping and billing addresses, people can
shop and make purchases with just the click of a mouse, saving them time,
and freeing them from repetitive typing and extensive “form navigation.”
“The BlueMoney Wallet offers consumers the best of both shopping worlds,”
said Mr. Sweet. “Like catalog shopping, it allows people to make purchases
from their homes or anywhere they have Internet access. And like store
shopping, it makes the payment process as simple as handing a credit card
to a cashier.”
Unlike all pre-existing wallet technologies, such as CyberCash, the
BlueMoney Wallet is the world’s first software-free electronic wallet. It
requires no software installation on the consumer’s personal computer.
This means that consumers are free to use their BlueMoney Wallets from any
computer with Internet access, even from the America Online browser.
Whether from home, work or school, consumers can use the BlueMoney Wallet
to shop at any time of day and from anywhere in the world.
Because it is software-free and operates as an Internet service, the
BlueMoney Wallet is the first and only portable electronic wallet.
Consumers can access their personal BlueMoney Wallets from any computer
with Internet access, whether from home or at work, using even Network
Computers and standard America Online modem accounts.
The BlueMoney Wallet is the first wallet available to standard AOL modem
users for Internet shopping. Until now, wallets would not work for AOL
users unless they installed special support software, or an alternate
TCP/IP network, in addition to their standard AOL modem session.
The BlueMoney Wallet is the first wallet available to Network Computers.
People can access their personal BlueMoney Wallets from any computer that
has Internet access and a standard Secure Sockets Layer (“SSL”) Web browser.
Businesses who wish to offer and utilize the BlueMoney Wallet from their
commercial Web sites can easily install the BlueMoney Merchant Server, a
proven software product for building commercial Web sites and improving
the payment systems on existing sites. The BlueMoney Merchant Server
includes secure, live, real-time credit card transaction capabilities via
the Internet; tools for automating inventory display; an electronic
shopping cart; an online cashier for managing orders; and free access to
the BlueMoney Wallet.
The BlueMoney Wallet encourages increased sales and repeat shopping on the
Web because it facilitates online shopping. In fact, merchants who have
installed the BlueMoney Merchant Server have witnessed a boom in sales.
“Since installing BlueMoney at our web site, our sales have tripled,” said
Erik Johnson of the EJ’s Sunglasses online store, one of the largest online
vendors of sunglass products. “Multiple-item orders have increased
tenfold,” said Eddie Warner at Nolo Press, the publisher of self-help law
books. “When you have a Web store that removes all obstacles to
purchasing, you have a successful business online,” said Kyle Amon of Cue
& Case Connection, the first billiards store to offer electronic
transactions over the Web.
“Our expectation now,” added Mr. Sweet, “is to create more successes like
these.”
# # #
BlueMoney Software Corporation is a privately held venture specializing in
secure credit card processing technology for Internet commerce. The
company was founded in May 1996 by John Sweet, President and CEO; Jeremey
Barrett, Chief Technology Officer; and Ben Kavanagh, Vice President of
Operations. The company is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.
BlueMoney, Network Wallet, BlueMoney Wallet, and the BlueMoney Merchant
Server are trademarks (TM) of the BlueMoney Software Corporation. All other
names mentioned are either trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective owners.
The BlueMoney Merchant Server is available for online download at
“www.bluemoney.com” and sells for $1,495 (purchase online now for $1,195
through July 31.) To activate a bank account for direct Internet payment
deposits, there is a one-time Gateway Activation fee of $295 per bank
account. The BlueMoney Wallet is offered as a free service to shoppers on
the Internet.