Official Payments Signs Eight New Local Clients in Texas, Adding $1.75 Billion in Potential Market Opportunity

Personal Property & Real Estate Taxes Payable Via Internet & Telephone

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 2, 2001-- Official Payments Corporation (www.officialpayments.com; Nasdaq: OPAY - news) announced today that the City of Coppell, Collin County, Hays County, Midland County, Lubbock Central Appraisal District, Midland Central Appraisal District, and Round Rock Independent District, all within the state of Texas, have signed service agreements with the company.

These agreements enable citizens to pay personal property and real estate tax obligations over the Internet by visiting www.officialpayments.com, or via telephone by calling toll-free 1-800-2PAY-TAX. The programs will commence within the next two months.

Combined, these local authorities collected over $1.75 billion in personal property and real estate taxes last year. Tax bills will be distributed October 10, 2001 and are due on or before February 1, 2002. American Express, Discover Card, MasterCard and Visa are the cards accepted by the programs.

Official Payments has increased its Texas client base in 2001 by 312% over the prior year, resulting in an increase in market revenue potential of over $5 billion or 260%. Collins County, which includes part of the City of Dallas, contains more than 190,000 parcels and collects over $850 million in personal property and real estate taxes annually. The other seven clients each have annual revenue market potentials of over $60 million.

``We are making significant progress in our business development within the great state of Texas,'' said Thomas R. Evans, Chairman & CEO of Official Payments Corp. ``Leading Texas communities are signing with Official Payments at a steady rate because we offer unique technical expertise and a proven track record in the emerging government payments market. By offering our systems, these communities are giving their citizens a enhanced level of service,'' added Mr. Evans. Two of the company's established Texas clients, Bandera County and Brazoria County, were recently recognized by the state's Comptroller of Public Accounts, Local Government Assistance Section, as providing ``Best Practices'' for their electronic payments systems.

Official Payments has similar agreements with over 900 government entities within 49 states across the country. The company has contacts with the Internal Revenue Service, 18 state governments, and the District of Columbia to collect taxes, fees, and fines by credit card over the Internet and telephone.

Official Payments charges taxpayers a convenience fee for processing these credit card transactions. The fee schedule can be found on the Internet at www.officialpayments.com. For example, a taxpayer who owed $2,300 in property taxes and charged their taxes would find a total of $2,368 on their credit card statement: $2,300 for the tax bill and $68 for the convenience fee. Taxpayers using credit cards with bonus rewards programs can, depending on their card's program, earn rewards, points, and cash-back on airline frequent flyer miles for paying their taxes.

About Official Payments Corporation
Official Payments Corporation (Nasdaq: OPAY - news) is the leading provider of electronic payment options to government entities. The company's principal business is enabling consumers to pay their government taxes, fees, fines, and utility bills by credit card, via Internet and telephone. The company is unequaled in market penetration and national footprint. Official Payments has agreements to collect and process credit card payments with the Internal Revenue Service, 18 state governments, the District of Columbia, and over 900 county and municipal governments in 49 states across the United States. In 2000, Official Payments collected and processed over $925 million in federal, state and local government payments.

Official Payments was founded in the San Francisco Bay area in 1996. Thomas R. Evans, the former President & CEO of the Internet company GeoCities, became Chairman & CEO of Official Payments in the summer of 1999. Mr. Evans brought Official Payments public in November of 1999, raising $80 million in its IPO on the NASDAQ national market. The company's success in new client acquisition, increasing business with its existing clients and in building consumer awareness can be attributed to the combination of an enormous market opportunity with a highly skilled and experienced management and staff, aggressive sales and marketing, and a core competency in developing and implementing leading-edge technical systems.

Source: Official Payments Corporation