FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

-- WITH 50 DAYS IN PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD L.A. HEARING SCHEDULED --

The Treasury Department today announced the third regional public hearing on the new Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT �) proposal on Thursday, October 30 in Baltimore, Maryland. The public comment period on this proposal will last for 50 more days and include public hearings in Baltimore, Maryland and the newly scheduled hearing in Los Angeles, California on Tuesday, December 9. The Baltimore hearing will convene Thursday, October 30, at 9:00 a.m., at the Baltimore Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, 502 South Sharp Street.

� Requests to attend or present oral comments at the hearing should be directed to Martha Thomas-Mitchell at (202)874-6757.

� Requests to present oral comments must be accompanied by an outline of topics to be discussed. Three business days prior to the hearing, presenters are requested to submit, in writing, the text of the comments to be made.

� Presentations will be limited to approximately 10 minutes or less. Treasury reserves the right to impose further time or other restrictions on all presentations.

In September, the Treasury Department announced its proposal to implement a new law that requires that all Federal payments, except tax refunds, be made electronically beginning January 2, 1999. This new initiative, mandated by Congress in the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996, will significantly improve the way millions of Americans who are entitled to government payments obtain their funds. The Department hopes to receive extensive input from recipients and other affected entities on the proposed rule.

More information about the rule and the schedule of public hearings is available to the public on Treasury抯 website at http://www.fms.treas.gov/eft.