FXCHANGE goes national offering the first discount foreign exchange service.

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 29, 1996--Sonnet Financial today announced the nationwide introduction of FXCHANGE, the first fully automated "discount" foreign exchange service.

Concurrent with the national launch, Sonnet Financial has opened offices in New York and Dallas.

FXCHANGE is the first cross-border payment system to provide companies with discounted foreign exchange wire transfers. It also offers the industry's only bank independent on-line service of its type. The service provides dramatic cost saving for companies in two ways: by providing clients with near interbank foreign exchange rates and by charging a low fixed fee.

FXCHANGE's software and on-line capabilities provide many additional advantages beyond significant cost savings. These include improved control, better audit and tracking mechanisms, on-line confirmation, ability to work with existing accounts as well as increased convenience and ease of use.

Until now, the execution of cross-border payments for businesses has primarily been the province of large money center banks and trading firms. These providers purchase currency on the wholesale or "interbank" market at one price and sell it to customers at another price. Banks calibrate this price differential -- a sum known as the "spread" -- based on the client relationship, the market conditions, the time of day, the size of the transaction, the sophistication of the person calling and the bank's current position in the currency markets. FXCHANGE reduces the cost of transactions by eliminating this "mark up" and providing all clients close to or exactly the same rate banks charge each other -- the interbank rate.

Sonnet Financial has now completed nearly two years of regional testing of FXCHANGE. Based on extensive and successful testing of software and procedures and the positive response from clients, Sonnet has expanded operations nationwide and opened offices in New York and Texas in addition to California. "Our expanding coverage will now allow companies from a wide range of industries to have a choice they have never had before, and experience the clear advantages of discount foreign exchange," said Gady Nemirovsky, president and founder of Sonnet Financial. "This service is ideal for treasurers, controllers, CFOs and VPs of finance, who want to stop worrying about the rates they are getting on international payments."

The response from initial clients has been overwhelmingly positive. "We have really saved a lot of money with FXCHANGE. In the first six months alone, we saved over $42,000 compared with sending the same wires through our bank," said Sandra Molnar, accounting manager of Unicon International, a leading inspector of shipping containers. She adds, "With FXCHANGE, I can send a wire right from my computer, without getting up from my desk. No forms, no faxes, no callbacks. I figure I save at least 15 minutes on each wire and the software works great."

Sonnet Financial Inc. was founded in 1992 to provide on-line foreign exchange services for the international business community. The company's flagship product, FXCHANGE is the first discount foreign exchange service offered to companies nationwide. Sonnet Financial's headquarters are in San Mateo with offices in New York and Dallas. Fore more information on FXCHANGE, visit Sonnet's Web site: http://sonnet_financial.com.

CONTACT: Trimedia

Julia Shaw, 415/368-8819