Paytrust Acquiring PayMyBills.com

Electronic billing and payment (EBP) company Paytrust Inc. is acquiring competitor PayMyBills.com in an all-stock deal that
will unite two of the most visible contenders in the growing online consumer
bill delivery and payment market.

Both companies are privately held and financial specifics of the acquisition
were not disclosed. Both companies allow consumers to receive, review, pay
and organize all of their bills online. Completion of the merger is expected
within a month, the companies said.

Both co-founders of Paytrust, Edward G. McLaughlin, chief executive officer,
and Flint Lane, chairman and president, will retain their current positions
in the combined organization.

PayMyBills.com will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Paytrust.
PayMyBills.com co-founder and CEO John Tedesco will become chief strategy
officer and take responsibility for corporate strategic direction.

PayMyBills.com co-founder Jeff Grass will continue with his role in business
development, while PayMyBills.com president and COO Jaynie Miller Studenmund
will run West Coast operations for Paytrust.

Paytrust has opened three additional board seats that have been designated
for PayMyBills.com investors E*TRADE, idealab! and FTVentures.

“We’ll be adding a significant customer base, strong business development
relationships, and some of the best talent in the business from marketing, to
development, to project management,” said McLaughlin, Paytrust’s CEO.

The two companies already have teamed to deliver private label services for
partners including American Express, E*TRADE, GE Financial Network, NextCard
and OnMoney/Ameritrade.

“PayMyBills.com and Paytrust have tremendous operational and cultural
synergies, from the caliber of our talent to the industry-leading
technology,” said Tedesco, CEO of PayMyBills.com.

“By combining our
operations, both companies achieve the mission we individually set out to
accomplish — to occupy the leadership position in delivering complete bill
management services to consumers.”

A spokeswoman for Paytrust said there essentially is no competition in this
niche. However both CheckFree and billserv.com, among others, market apps
to sites that want to offer electronic billing to their visitors.