1822 S iNFORM Software GmbH's WAP brokerage solution

Dortmund/Frankfurt, 11/4/99. 1822 S iNFORM Software GmbH (Frankfurt) - a subsidiary of the Frankfurter Sparkasse and Informatik Kooperation GmbH - has developed a WAP brokerage solution together with Materna, the Dortmund-based software company. This will enable owners of WAP-capable mobile phones to buy and sell shares, check the status of their securities portfolio, call up charts and news, and much more. With the ability to address customers directly, the new solution also has promised as an alternative sales channel for banks and savings banks. Purchase options, the latest real estate offers, current interest rates etc. can be transmitted straight to the customer's mobile phone. In order to utilize this forward-looking service, subscribers require a WAP-capable (Wireless Application Protocol) mobile phone. These phones are on the point of being launched in the market. The technology is seen as the interface that will bridge the gap between today's mobile phone networks and the Internet. WAP-capable mobile phones are equipped with a WML browser. With this browser, all WML offerings on the Internet can also be displayed on a mobile phone. With this application solution, 1822 S iNFORM Software GmbH is one of the first vendors to present a WAP brokerage solution. Together with Dr. Materna GmbH, the company plans to present a market-ready solution at CeBIT'2000. "1822 direkt" - the Frankfurter Sparkasse's direct bank - will be one of the first users to implement the solution.

Enormous growth rates expected for WAP-capable mobile phones

According to professional surveys, the market for WAP-capable mobile phones is expected to go through a period of massive growth. The market research institute IBC forecasts 50 million Internet-capable mobile phones worldwide by the year 2001. In the D2 network alone, market analyses conducted by Mannesmann Mobilfunk AG predict around 1 million WAP users by the end of 2000. "And that", says Jochen Gag, managing director of 1822 S iNFORM Software GmbH, "is just the beginning. Manufacturers of mobile phones are working intensively on new transmission technologies that will support transmission speeds of up to 115 Kilobit/second. The standard transmission rate today is 9.6 Kbit/s". The new GPRS standard (General Packet Radio Service) will even support the transmission of graphics, pictures and videos, for example. This innovative technology also represents additional fields of application for financial services companies. For example, real estate offers can be enhanced with pictures and floor plans etc. All in all, the WAP brokerage solution represents a high-performance service, marketing and sales instrument with enormous development potential that will open entirely new fields of application for banks and savings banks. Next on 1822 S iNFORM's and Dr. Materna's list of innovations is the introduction of a GPRS brokerage application that will once again put the companies at the forefront of development and consolidate their position as technological pioneers. With this technology, it will be possible to seamlessly integrate today's WAP solutions with GPRS. For more information on this solution, visit: http://www.1822-s-inform.de

Contact:

Jochen Gag
Managing Director 1822 S iNFORM Software GmbH
Goethering 30
D-63067 Offenbach
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)69/82 97 49-10
Fax :+49 (0)69/82 97 49-49
E-Mail: [email protected]

Public relations representative:

Gisela Wallbruch
Managing Director and Partner of giw Gesellschaft
f�r Informationen aus der und f�r die Wirtschaft mbH
Kiefernhalde 23
D-45133 Essen-Bredeney
Germany
Tel.: +49 (0)2 01/4 27 45/46
Fax: +49 (0)2 01/42 51 52
E-Mail: [email protected]