BitPass Announces General Availability of Micropayment System; Payments Innovator Completes Successful Production Beta Program

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2003--BitPass, Inc., today announced general availability of its innovative micropayment system. BitPass targets the millions of businesses and entrepreneurs who, until now, were held back by the lack of appropriate payment and access control systems specifically designed for the sale of digital content and services. Removing these barriers to revenue generation allows for the creation of new online business models that were not possible before.

With no upfront or fixed monthly fees, artists, bands, and authors can register with BitPass and immediately begin selling their music, documents, and video content directly from their respective web sites. The BitPass system also revenue-enables businesses selling web-based services such as distance learning, classified ads, and proprietary searches for unique content.

“Our goal -- our whole reason for being -- has been to enable diversity on the Internet”

"Our goal -- our whole reason for being -- has been to enable diversity on the Internet," said Kurt Huang, CEO of BitPass. "Our technology has now given that diversity a revenue model."

"Participating in the BitPass beta program over the past two months has increased income from audio on my web site from $250 for all of 2002 to more than $1500 in a single month," said David Lawrence, radio host for Online Tonight! "BitPass and their technology have made a significant contribution to enabling revenue for 'the rest of us'."

In addition to payment processing and access control, the BitPass system allows content providers to control pricing and to create time- and usage-based access parameters for items, whether sold individually or in bundles. BitPass "earners" can begin selling their content in as little as 30 minutes using a self-provisioning, no-charge setup process.

During the five-month beta program, BitPass received thousands of requests to use the BitPass system for selling online content. Addressing this pent-up demand is the first priority for the company.

With general availability, the company anticipates rapid growth in the number of businesses and sites selling with BitPass, creating a virtually unlimited range of previously unavailable low-cost content and services. These new offerings are expected to rapidly expand the number of buyers willing to complete the one-time, one-minute setup for purchasing BitPass-enabled content with a single-click. Currently serving customers in over one hundred countries, BitPass expects to process in excess of one million transactions by the end of its first full year of operation.

Scott McCloud, comic artist and author of a number of books on comics and their role in our culture, is an early BitPass adopter using the system to sell his art online. "My choice of the BitPass micropayment system is the culmination of a search that took me several years," said McCloud. "No other system available combines low transaction costs with such tremendous ease of use for both buyer and seller."

About BitPass

BitPass, Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California, provides a micropayment system for online content and services. Founded in 2002, the company is privately funded by Garage Technology Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital, and Amicus Capital. The system allows users to make purchases through a virtual prepaid debit card funded through trusted third parties, including PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. BitPass is working with a wide variety of businesses that create and provide a broad array of content and services, including music, comics, film, photography, and database access. Contact BitPass at 650-354-1844 or www.bitpass.com.

About David Lawrence

The Emmy-award winning and Clio-nominated David Lawrence hosts three syndicated network radio programs, reaching nearly 8 million listeners each week. An accomplished voice-over artist, actor, author, speaker and musician, Lawrence is based in Los Angeles. For more information, call 818-326-7700, or visit www.thedavidlawrenceshow.com.

About Scott McCloud

Scott McCloud has written and drawn comics since 1984. Since the publication of Understanding Comics in 1993, he has also written and lectured extensively on the evolution of media in digital environments at computer conferences and corporations, web design firms, academic gatherings, and events devoted to games, narrative, film, cultural studies and, of course, comics. For more information visit www.scottmccloud.com.

All company and product names referenced are the trademarks of their respective owners.