Tokyo, Japan and Maidenhead, U.K., March 30, 1999 -- Hitachi, Ltd. today 
announced that it has received an order from the major French financial corporation, 
Credit Mutuel, for a Mondex transaction system as the first step for setting up a 
commercial service.  Hitachi is fully cooperating with Credit Mutuel, providing 
assistance with the progress and expansion of Mondex and MULTOS services.

This will mark the first introduction of Mondex into continental Europe, and it will 
also be the first Mondex system denominated in the Euro.  Credit Mutuel's order with 
Hitachi for a Mondex transaction handling server for its banks and for two sets of 
related application programs will be the basis of its Mondex system.  The OBS (One 
Box Solution for Mondex) will be linked to the bank system's host computer and will 
make it possible to transfer Mondex value between the bank and clients (ATMs, POS 
terminals, telephones, etc.), and to check and update account balances.
Credit Mutuel is a powerful financial organization that, in France, ranks second in 
terms of the number of cardholders and first in the number of member stores.  France 
is one of the world's leading countries in commercial application of smart cards and 
systems.  

Last October, Credit Mutuel purchased franchise rights to Mondex in France.  The 
rights were purchased from Mondex International Limited in the U.K., as part of a 
move by Credit Mutuel to provide Mondex services to its customers.  Credit Mutuel 
and Mondex International are calling on other financial institutions within the EU to 
participate in Mondex.

In line with Credit Mutuel's plan, the ATMs and POS machines that have been in use 
will become client terminals providing cardholders with services such as Mondex 
withdrawals and transfers.  Moreover, a newly developed authorization gateway 
system will make it possible to connect to the existing online banking networks, 
making the services available to the customers of all member banks.

In June 1999, Credit Mutuel will initiate its commercial Mondex service when it starts 
to issue some 5,000 cards containing MULTOS (Multi-Application Operating System). 
 MULTOS is viewed as the prospective standard OS for future smart cards.  By 
September, the company plans to have expanded the service to some 50,000 
cardholders.  In the second half of 2000, Credit Mutuel also plans to issue several 
million cards in two cities in France.  There are also plans to use the Internet Open 
Trading Protocol (IOTP) to provide a tie-in with an Internet service.

Hitachi has a large fund of high-level security technology and extensive business 
experience in Mondex related areas such as semiconductor chips, terminals and 
systems, and  Hitachi has delivered Mondex systems for ongoing projects at a number 
of locations around the world.  Hitachi is also one of the founding members and a very 
active participant in the MULTOS Consortium, formed by leading international 
corporations to promote the development and commercial application of MULTOS as 
the standard operating system for smart cards, which are becoming more and more 
widespread.  For more information on Hitachi's Mondex and MULTOS related 
business, visit the company's World Wide Web site at 
http://www.hitachi.co.jp/Div/nfs/index-E.html.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global 
electronics companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 
8,417 billion yen ($63.8 billion*).  The company manufactures and markets a wide 
range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and 
power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit 
Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.  
* At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the dollar.