MINNEAPOLIS (September 18, 2001) -- U.S. Bank, a leading financial services company, announced today the launch of a business to consumer e-billing strategic alliance with Pitney Bowes, Inc., (NYSE: PBI), the leading provider of mail and document management services. U.S. Bank will leverage Pitney Bowes' Digital Document Delivery (D3TM) solution to offer its corporate customers the ability to present bills and other documents to their consumers and small business customers, receive payments and provide customer service via the Internet.

Pitney Bowes docSense's Digital Document Delivery (D3TM) solution empowers companies to streamline billing, payment processing and customer service. It is designed to effectively work with existing print files and high volumes of data, making the electronic billing system efficient and cost effective.

"This electronic billing solution will allow our corporate billing customers to reduce billing costs. On average, a traditional bill can cost 60 cents to $1.50 per bill. An electronic bill costs only 30 to 50 cents," said Jeff Jones, senior vice president of treasury management for U.S. Bank. "We are pleased to expand our treasury management services to our commercial billing customers. Pitney Bowes docSense is a veteran e-billing vendor and has outstanding technology in the digital document delivery industry.

"We are the biller's advocate in the fast-changing world of e-commerce," said Jessica Cheney, vice president and product manager for U.S. Bank. "We understand the premium that businesses place on customer relationships. Through this strategic partnership with docSense, we simplify the billing process for them and make sure it's secure, timely and accurate."

"We provide a range of services to companies that want a coherent strategy for transitioning from paper to web-based communications, easily, successfully and without disruption to business operations," said Karl Schumacher, president of Pitney Bowes docSense. "We're very proud that U.S. Bank selected Pitney Bowes docSense. We look forward to working with U.S. Bank to build even stronger relationships with their commercial customers."

About Pitney Bowes and docsense:
Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) is a $4 billion global provider of integrated mail, messaging and document management solutions headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. The company serves over two million businesses of all sizes in more than 130 countries through dealer and direct operations. Pitney Bowes docSense is the global premier solutions provider for the creation and distribution of efficient and effective documents in paper and digital form. For more information on docSense, please visit www.pbdmt.com.

Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with assets in excess of $165 billion, is the 8th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,282 banking offices and 4,937 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of Firstar Bank and U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com and Firstar Bank at firstar.com.

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