QuickStart Technologies Helps Mondex USA Define Scope of ReadiMondex Retail Software

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- QuickStart Technologies, a major contributor to the development of Microsoft(R) ActiveStore(TM) and the No. 1 resource for ActiveStore solutions and services, has helped Mondex USA define the scope of ReadiMondex. ReadiMondex, Mondex USA's turnkey software making Mondex deployment quick and inexpensive, is the first electronic cash/smart card application to run within the ActiveStore environment.

QuickStart provided ActiveStore training and project consultation during Mondex USA's development of the ReadiMondex Software Development Kit (SDK), which will give retailers the ability to easily and inexpensively integrate core functions into their businesses. Mondex USA, which is commercially developing Mondex electronic cash for the U.S. marketplace, leveraged QuickStart's ActiveStore expertise to build ReadiMondex for the ActiveStore retail environment.

"We are very excited to be on the leading edge with new ActiveStore developments," said Costa Hasapopoulos, QuickStart's vice president of consulting services. "The growing popularity of smart cards and the flexibility of ActiveStore will allow retailers to bring a new and effective method of customer interaction into their business process."

The ActiveStore framework, developed by Microsoft with technical resources from QuickStart Technologies, allows developers to combine multiple third-party components into a single solution, creating a best-of-breed, task-centric retail interface for the Windows NT(R) operating system. With the Mondex SDK, companies using ActiveStore will now be able to deploy Mondex in their businesses, bringing a new level of functionality and greater versatility to their retail applications.

"Mondex USA built ReadiMondex to help retailers and others deploy Mondex quickly and easily," said Jim Rudd, chief technology officer of Mondex USA. "Now, in harmony with the movement of retailers toward a Windows NT and ActiveStore solution, we have worked with QuickStart to define a Mondex solution for retailers using this emerging retail technology framework."

Mondex is electronic cash on a reloadable and highly secure microprocessor chip embedded in a plastic card the size of a credit or ATM card. Mondex can be used for small-dollar purchases on the Internet or in the physical world. In the future, the operating system that Mondex uses will allow multiple applications, such as loyalty programs and digital certificates, to reside alongside electronic cash on the same chip. To learn more, visit the company's Web site at www.mondex.com.

Along with its solutions development and consulting services, QuickStart offers training courses, which will introduce participants to the ActiveStore platform and teach them how to integrate different independent software vendor (ISV) components within the framework. Currently, QuickStart has contributed a team of 20 developers to the largest ActiveStore effort in the United States. The project, which will replace three legacy systems for international retailers, will be rolled out in the upcoming months.

About QuickStart Technologies Inc.

Honored as the international winner of Microsoft's 1996 "Excellence in Education" Award and featured as one of the nation's fastest-growing private companies by the 13th annual Inc. 500 list, QuickStart Technologies Inc. provides Microsoft- and Novell(R)-specific consulting and education to customers like Hewlett-Packard(R), IBM(R), Northrop, Applied Materials, Pacificare(R), PepsiCo, the U.S. Air Force and Navy and, of course, Microsoft. With an average growth rate of 80 percent per year, QuickStart acquired Evernet Education Services in July 1998 and offers consulting and education services at the customer sites or in one of the nine QuickStart California offices. Five offices are located in Sacramento, Santa Clara, Woodland Hills, Newport Beach and San Diego, and four offices serve San Francisco and Los Angeles.

For more information about QuickStart Technologies Inc., contact Brendan Neary, QuickStart Technologies, 1500 Quail Street, 3rd Floor, Newport Beach, CA 92660. Telephone: (949) 757-3327; Fax: (949) 476-7576. Or, visit the QuickStart Web site at: http://www.quickstart.com.

SOURCE QuickStart Technologies

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/CONTACT: Deborah Jones, media relations specialist of Strategies, A Marketing Communications Corporation, 714-957-8880, ext. 113, Fax: 714-957-1373, deborah@strategiesadpr.com/

/Web site: http://www.mondex.com/

/Web site: http://www.quickstart.com/

CO: QuickStart Technologies; Mondex USA ST: California IN: CPR SU:

CC-DK -- LAM043 -- 1678 09/14/98 08:06 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com