State of Mississippi Implements Fleet's PayMode Service for Electronic Payments and Remittance Processing

Public Sector Adopts Electronic Payment Solutions as Method to Reduce Costs and Streamline Accounts Payable Management

BOSTON, MA and JACKSON, MS — December 18, 2002 — FleetBoston Financial Corporation, provider of PayMode®, the only bank-neutral, electronic payment solution enabling secure, information-rich, business-to-business and government-to-business transactions, announced today that the State of Mississippi has implemented PayMode, and has begun making electronic payments to its suppliers, vendors and service providers. The State of Mississippi chose PayMode because of its proven ability to reduce operational costs, improve efficiency and provide more detailed remittance information to state vendors.

The State of Mississippi, in an effort to cut costs across state agencies, needed a solution allowing a more consistent approach to the management and transmission of remittance information, thereby reducing the number of vendor issues that must be handled offline. Fleet’s PayMode initiates and securely transmits payments, along with detailed, digital remittance information, improving suppliers’ ability to receive, post and reconcile receivables while providing a significant ongoing cost savings. Additionally, PayMode’s rich remittance capabilities will be critical as the state begins to comply with the requirements of the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Contact: Ann McCormick , 207-771-3769,   ann_f_mccormick@fleet.com