Leading on-line financial institutions and mobile phone manufacturers form Mobey

Leading on-line financial institutions and mobile phone manufacturers form Mobey Forum to drive mobile financial services (Frankfurt, May 10, 2000) - Major financial institutions, together with the leading mobile phone manufacturers, today announced the creation of a global forum to encourage the use of mobile technology in financial services and to drive the adoption of open standards in this field. Called the Mobey Forum (pronounced Mo-Bay) to reflect the concepts of mobility, money and financial services, the new group will focus on services such as payment, remote banking and brokerage. The Mobey Forum brings together the substantial expertise of the world's leading on-line financial institutions and the leading companies in mobile Internet technologies such as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). The Forum's founding members are ABN AMRO Bank, Banco Santander Central Hispano, BNP Paribas, Barclays, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings, MeritaNordbanken, SEB-Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, UBS, Visa International, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia. Other financial institutions and mobile phone technology companies are also encouraged to join the Forum. "It is highly gratifying that the leading on-line financial institutions and mobile technology companies will work together to promote global standardisation enabling safe, wireless day-to-day shopping and banking business anywhere in the world", said Bo Harald, Executive Vice President of MeritaNordbanken and the Forum's first chairman, at the founders' meeting in Frankfurt. The Mobey Forum will actively liaise between various standardisation groups both in the mobile and financial industries. In addition, working groups within the Forum will contribute to achieve technical and security interoperability of the mobile financial services. Through active discussion and experience sharing as well as the promotion of best practices, the Mobey Forum will facilitate the worldwide creation of a financial service environment for mobile e-commerce. This environment will allow new sustainable mobile commerce business models. The leading mobile phone manufacturers, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia, acknowledge that the Mobey Forum will play a valuable part in the development of online wireless financial services. The recently announced mobile electronic transactions initiative (MeT) between the three leading phone manufacturers will support development in this crucial area of m- commerce. More information about Mobey Forum is found at: www.mobeyforum.org Notes to editors ABN AMRO Bank ABN AMRO has a presence in 76 countries and territories. Using its worldwide network the bank provides universal banking services consisting of commercial and investment banking products to corporate nationally and internationally operating clients as well as personal and private banking customers. Banco Santander Central Hispano Banco Santander Central Hispano is the parent bank of the leading financial and industrial group in Spain, Santander Central Hispano Group, which performs banking and financial activities both in Spain and abroad. The Bank was created in 1999 from the merger between Banco Central Hispano and Banco Santander. BSCH is one of the largest financial group by market capitalization in the Euro zone. As of December 31, 1999, it had 334 billion euros in managed funds and 256 billion in assets, with 24 million customers and operations in 38 countries, including the main international financial centers. In Europe, the Bank has forged strategic alliances with major European banks: Royal Bank of Scotland, Commerzbank, Société Générale and San Paolo-IMI. In Latin America, the Santander Central Hispano Group is the leading franchise, with a strong presence in twelve countries and nearly fourteen million customers. BNP Paribas BNP Paribas is France's largest listed banking group. It ranks first in France in terms of net income and fourth in Europe for stockholders' equity. It has the second-largest stock market capitalization of all euro- zone banks. The BNP Paribas merger is a major event in European banking history. The new Group has one of the most extensive international networks in the world, with offices in 83 countries organized around seven preeminent financial centers. It also has a real capacity for innovation and true expertise in new technologies and distribution channels. Thanks to the complementarity of its commercial and financial activities, BNP Paribas already stands out as a truly international player in the areas of corporate banking, capital markets, international private banking, and asset management. Barclays Bank Barclays PLC is one of the largest financial services groups in the UK and is engaged primarily in the banking and investment banking businesses. Barclays has been involved in banking for over 300 years and operates in over 60 countries world-wide employing 74,000 people. In 1999 the Barclays Group achieve pre tax profits of £2,460 million. For further information on Barclays visit the website at www.barclays.co.uk. Citigroup Citigroup (NYSE: C), the most global financial services company, provides some 100 million consumers, corporations, governments and institutions in over 100 countries with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage and asset management. The 1998 merger of Citicorp and Travelers Group brought together such brand names as Citibank, Travelers, Salomon Smith Barney, CitiFinancial and Primerica under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella. Additional information may be found at http://www.citigroup.com e-Citi is the business unit of Citigroup leading the company's mobile strategy and participation in the Mobey Forum. e-Citi was created to pioneer electronic financial services and e-commerce solutions to every customer segment, including large, mid and small-scale businesses, governments and consumers. Since its inception in 1997, e-Citi has applied the power of the Internet and new technologies and capabilities to create content, extend delivery channels and customize transactions for Citigroup customers around the world. Deutsche Bank With over EUR 839 billion in assets as of December 31, 1999 and more than 93,000 employees, Deutsche Bank offers its clients unparalleled financial services throughout the world in more than 60 countries. It ranks among the leaders in asset management, capital markets, corporate finance, custody, cash management and private banking. Deutsche Bank is divided into five major business units: Global Corporates and Institutions, Global Technology and Services, Asset Management, Corporates and Real Estate and Private and Retail Banking. Deutsche Bank provides a fully integrated investment and wholesale banking service to corporate clients from its main centers in London, Frankfurt, New York, Baltimore, Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong and Sydney, as well as its regional offices around the globe. The keys to the Bank's success remain constant: customer focus, the spirit of innovation, a broad range of product skills combined with technological power and financial strength delivered by highly skilled professionals. HSBC Holdings Headquartered in London, with over 5,000 offices in 80 countries and territories and assets of US$569 billion at 31 December 1999, the HSBC Group is one of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. MeritaNordbanken Nordic Baltic Holding (NBH) AB (publ) is the leading Financial Group in the Nordic and Baltic Sea Region with total assets of EUR 194 billion and a world leader in Internet banking with 1.4 million e-customers. NBH owns MeritaNordbanken Plc and Unidanmark A/S with i. a. Merita Bank, Nordbanken, Unibank, Tryg-Baltica, Vesta, Merita Life and Livia. Six business areas serve 8.5 million private and 500 000 corporate and institutional customers through 1 100 bank branches, 125 insurance service centres, telephone and e-banking services and own operations in 18 countries outside the Home Region. NBH is now publicly listed in Stockholm, Helsinki and Copenhagen. For further information, please visit www.meritanordbanken.com and www.unidanmark.dk SEB - Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken The SEB Group is one of the largest financial groups in the Nordic area, with SEK 930 billion in assets under management. SEB offers a broad range of banking, savings and insurance services. The Group is represented in some 20 countries and has about 2.5 million customers and 20 000 employees (incl. BfG). SEB has acquired BfG, the fifth largest private commercial bank in Germany with 1 million customers, 5 300 employees and 177 branch offices. SEB will launch an Internet brokerage in Germany during the third quarter 2000. SEB Group has 570 000 e-customers, whereof 410 000 in Sweden and is a world leader when it comes to the share of Internet customers of the total stock of customers, a little over 25 per cent. SEB launched an e-bank in Denmark in April this year- based on the Pan-European model. SEB will launch mobile banking after summer this year. SEB:s vision is to be the leading e-centric, customer driven provider of financial services in Europe. Please visit www.seb.net,and www.seb.se UBS Headquartered in Switzerland, UBS is one of the world's leading financial services groups. UBS Group consists of three main businesses: UBS Switzerland, UBS Asset Management and UBS Warburg. UBS ranks among the top 10 banks worldwide by market capitalisation and is number 1 in Switzerland; with a market capitalization of approximately CHF 92.6 bn (USD 58.2 bn), UBS is among the three largest companies listed on the Swiss stock exchange. UBS is one of the largest global asset managers world-wide (CHF 1,744 billion as of 31 December 1999) and enjoys the largest market share of retail banking in Switzerland. Visa International As the "World's Best Way to Pay," Visa is the world's leading payment brand and the largest payment system worldwide with more volume than all other major payment cards combined. Visa plays a pivotal role in advancing new payment products and technologies to benefit its 21,000 member financial institutions and their cardholders. Visa has more than 80 smart card programs in 35 countries and on the Internet, with 23 million Visa chip cards, including 8 million Visa Cash cards. Visa is pioneering SET Secure Electronic Transaction programs to enable and advance Internet commerce. There are over 970 million Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink, PLUS and Visa Cash cards, which generate more than US$1.5 trillion in annual volume. Visa-branded cards are accepted at over 18 million worldwide locations, including at more than 550,000 ATMs in the Visa Global ATM Network. Visa's Internet address is www.visa.com. Ericsson Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with the freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: www.ericsson.se/pressroom Motorola, Inc. Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1999 were $33.1 billion. Nokia Nokia is paving the way to the Mobile Information Society with its innovative products and solutions. The company is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, Nokia's net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 56 000 people. Contact information: ABN-Amro Bank Véronique Schyns tel: +31 20 383 4483 fax: +31 20 629 5486 Banco Santander Central Hispano Myriam Gomez (mgoperez@grupo.bsch.es) tel. +34915581098 fax:+34915213387 BNP Paribas Dominique Rault (dominique.rault@bnpgroup.com) Barclays Bank Jo Wright (jo.wright@barclays.co.uk) tel: +44 20 7 977 4298 fax: +44 20 7 977 4665 Citigroup Hilary Condit (hilary.condit@citicorp.com) tel: +1 212 559 5423 Deutsche Bank Klaus Thoma (klaus.thoma@db.com) tel.: +49 / 69 / 910-33405 fax: +49 / 69 / 910-33422 HSBC Adrian Russell (adrianrussell@hsbc.com) tel: +44 20 7260 8211 fax: +44 20 7260 8215 MeritaNordbanken Liisa Laine (liisa.laine@merita.fi) tel: +358 9 165 42655, mobile +358 50 66839 MeritaNordbanken Lauri Peltola (lauri.peltola@merita.fi) tel: +358 9 165 42324, mobile +358 50 324 1445 MeritaNordbanken Erik Evrén (erik.evren@nb.se) tel: +46 8 614 86 11, mobile +46 709 46 53 89 SE Banken Anders Bons (anders.bons@sebank.se) tel. +46 8 692 76 27, mobile +46 70 763 59 61 fax: +46 8 692 76 30 UBS Public Relations Malzgasse 30, CH-4002 Basel tel. +41-61-288 65 95 Unidanmark Jens Bekke (jbekk@unibank.dk) Tel. +45 33 33 3968, mobile +45 20 66 39 68 Visa EU Sally Locke (lockes@visa.com) tel: +44 207 795 5303 Ericsson Viveka Leksell (viveka.leksell@edt.ericsson.se) tel: + 46 8 422 21 80, mobile + 46 70 66 16 986 fax + 46 8 422 21 90 Motorola Patrick Hamilton (patrick.hamilton@motorola.com) tel. +44 1256 790 481, mobile +44 7715 175 043 fax: +44 1256 790 660 Nokia Maarit Oikarinen (maarit.oikarinen@nokia.com) tel. +358 40 5217844 ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/10/20000510BIT00400/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/05/10/20000510BIT00400/bit0002.pdf