JUNE 26, 2001

RC Knox & Company, Retail Decisions,
Creative Risk Management Solutions
Form eFraud Alliance

BRIDGEPORT, CONN.
RC Knox & Company, the insurance agency subsidiary of People’s Bank (Nasdaq: PBCT), today announced the formation of the eFraud Alliance and the eTailer Fraud Solution Insurance Policy (eFSIP) to protect online businesses from the risk of catastrophic credit card fraud losses.

The eFraud Alliance is a collaboration between RC Knox & Company, one of the country’s top 100 insurance agencies;Retail Decisions Inc. (ReD), a card-based transactions services business that provides fraud prevention to the finance, telecommunications, retail and e-commerce sectors;and Creative Risk Management Solutions (CRMS), a specialist in credit card fraud insurance.

“Online credit card fraud is a significant risk to etailers and a barrier to online retail growth,” said W. Bruce Murray Jr., vice president, RC Knox & Company, which will be marketing the new product.

“Currently, many etailers suffer the loss of revenue from Internet credit card fraud and must pay additional chargeback fees assessed by their credit card processors. The eTailer Fraud Solution Policy integrates fraud detection technology with an insurance and risk management product, a combination no other insurer or agency offers,” Murray said.

The eFSIP requires the use of Retail Decisions’ fraud prevention and detection solutions to provide online merchants the ability to monitor online transactions, spot fraudulent transactions in real time, and take steps to minimize fraud losses.

“We are delighted that our Risk Management capabilities have been recognized to develop this partnership,” said Carl Clump, CEO of Retail Decisions. “eTailers face a new and increasing wave of fraud, perpetrated online by web-savvy and organized criminals, and it is essential that they protect themselves. This alliance offers an enormous step forward for etailers who wish to protect their online payments.”

The eFSIP also includes catastrophic fraud insurance coverage – which has flexible deductibles and limits – that protects the capital of online merchants while allowing them to sell products in a more secure environment.

“The combination of this insurance policy with the ReD’s comprehensive fraud detection solution will provide protection from losses sustained from the use of credit card account numbers with the intent to deceive. It features flexible deductibles and limits to protect our customers’ capital while allowing them to sell products in a more secure environment,” said Thomas P. Mulligan, president, Creative Risk Management Solutions L.L.C.

RC Knox & Company (www.rcknox.com), based in Hartford, the insurance subsidiary of People’s Bank, is known for its expertise in commercial and personal property and casualty insurance;life, health and employee benefits;and bonding, risk management and pension services. Beardsley Brown & Bassett, a division of RC Knox located in Bridgeport, is an expert in the full range of commercial and employee benefits insurance products. An insurance subsidiary of People’s Bank, Knox was founded in 1893 and is one of the nation’s 100 largest insurance agencies. Beardsley, Brown & Bassett was established in 1884.

People’s (peoples.com) is a diversified financial services company providing commercial, consumer, insurance and investment services. Founded in 1842, it is the largest state-chartered bank in Connecticut with managed assets of $14 billion, 143 branches and 220 ATMs. People’s is a leader in consumer and commercial banking, residential lending, insurance sales and supermarket banking and is the nation’s 16th-leading issuer of MasterCard and Visa credit cards. People’s subsidiaries offer brokerage services, asset management, equipment financing and leasing, and insurance services.

Retail Decisions (ReD) (www.redplc.com) is a card-based transactions services business that provides fraud prevention to the finance, telecommunications, retail and e-commerce sectors. Using risk management and analysis tools, ReD is able to predict and prevent payment card fraud. ReD PRISM, a new division of Retail Decision plc, is a leading provider of intelligent decision-support solutions for the financial services and e-commerce industries. ReD PRISM’s client/server products incorporate innovative pattern-recognition technologies ideally suited for data-intensive, real-time decision applications.

Creative Risk Management Solutions (www.creativeriskms.com) is an insurance agency with over 50 years credit card experience and specializes in marketing fraud insurance to the credit card industry. Its goal is to provide options of creative risk management that will result in safety for our customers’ credit card operations. Using a combination of insurance and active risk management, the company makes a difference in the credit card industry.