Business Editors, High Tech Writers

    STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 9, 1999--

Study of U.S. Households Reveals Consumers Want Bills, Bank Statements

Through the Mail; Believe Mail is More Secure

An amazing 92.9% of the surveyed U.S. households with e-mail access said that they prefer regular or postal mail to e-mail when receiving bills, bank statements or other financial reports at home. This is a major finding of a survey that focused on U.S. consumer preferences between traditional mail and e-mail. The study was commissioned by Pitney Bowes Inc.(NYSE: PBI).

This preference becomes more understandable when you add the finding that over eighty percent (80.3%) of the audience considers regular mail more secure than e-mail. Eight percent (8.0%) thought there was no difference, and only 10% of the households surveyed felt that e-mail was more secure.

But consumer preference for hard copy mail is not limited to financial documents. When asked how they like to receive new product announcements or offers from companies they do business with, more than three quarters (76.5%) of U.S. consumers reported that regular mail was again their method of choice, while only 19% preferred e-mail. And, interestingly, this preference increased in conjunction with the income of the household.

In addition, a surprising 69% of the respondents reflected the desire to receive letters, messages and other documents by hard-copy mail. Only 21.6% of the households preferred e-mail for these messages, and 8.4% had no preference. And again, higher income households were more inclined to prefer regular mail.

"There's a messaging revolution going on in America," said Kevin Weiss, Vice President, Marketing, Pitney Bowes Mailing Systems. "Message volumes keep climbing; and when compared to e-mail, regular mail is winning the vote of American households. Mail is universal, it does not require special training or hardware, it is private and personal, and it is the easiest and most effective marketing tool that businesses can use when communicating with consumers."

The Pitney Bowes survey was conducted by International Communications Research (ICR) in March 1999 among 1,013 random U.S. households. The study determined that 34% of those surveyed have access to e-mail at home; the statistics included in this release are based on that 34%.

Pitney Bowes is a $4.22 billion premier provider of informed mail and messaging management. For more information about the company, please visit our web site at: www.pitneybowes.com.

     --30--et/ny*

     CONTACT: Scott Tangney
              212/684-6300
                or               
              Jim Berkovich
              203/351-7514
     
     KEYWORD: CONNECTICUT
     INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET COMED
PUBLISHING