Leading Financial Institution Expands Marketing Of Pioneering driversshield.com Auto Services Program
14 November 2000
Leading Financial Institution Expands Marketing Of Pioneering driversshield.com Auto Services ProgramTwo-Year Exclusive Agreement Signed, a Million Members Expected Within Twelve Months PLAINVIEW, N.Y., Nov. 14 driversshield.com Corp., reported today that one of its largest clients has signed a two-year agreement to market the Company's pioneering auto discounts and services program. The client, a leading financial institution, already offers the driversshield.com ADS auto discounts and services program to its customers, along with credit cards and other financial products, and its marketing success has been a major factor in the rapid growth of the ADS subsidiary. The ADS unit and driversshield.com FS, the largest of the Company's three businesses, are both solidly profitable. As a result, the Company earned approximately $200,000 for the year's first nine months on sales of $10.5 million, in contrast to a loss of nearly $550,000 in the 1999 period, a swing of nearly $750,000. driversshield.com ADS wholesales the discounts and services program to leading financial and membership organizations, which provide or resell it to their customers or members as a complete benefits package, or as a customer appreciation program. The client, which requested that its name not be used, has a current enrollment of nearly 700,000 members in its private label version of the driversshield.com program, which offers drivers a unique array of auto-related discounts and services, including roadside assistance, an auto advice hotline, and a lifetime warranty on collision repairs. Membership is expected to exceed one million drivers within a year. "We're delighted with this strong reaffirmation and endorsement," said Barry Siegel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of driversshield.com Corp. "This client is a powerful force in the marketplace and offers the public a wide variety of exceptional quality products and services. We have an excellent; mutually beneficial relationship. On the basis of past performance, we believe the expanded effort this client is planning will increase its enrollment in the program to a million drivers before the end of 2001. That would be a strong boost for us." driversshield.com Corp., formerly First Priority Group, Inc., changed its name to reflect the current thrust and Internet focus of its three businesses. driversshield.com FS is the Company's original business, formerly called National Fleet Service. It provides auto "managed care" claims management services for self-insured corporate and municipal vehicle fleets, including collision repairs, subrogation and salvage. The newest business, driversshield.com CRM, provides cost-saving collision repair and customer relationship management services for insurance companies through Web-based technology. Siegel noted that the initial insurance client was pleased with the results of a pilot program and is planning to extend the drivershield.com CRM service to the company's other offices in coming months. Since its founding in 1983, the Company has built a national reputation for efficient, cost-saving management of collision claims for self-insured corporate and municipal vehicle fleets. Clients include Coca-Cola, Time Warner, IBM, Hershey Foods and many other prominent corporations. Through its affinity auto club programs, the Company has established relationships with many prestigious financial organizations, credit card issuers and web sites, including Assurant Group (part of the Fortis group), Aon, Protective Life, Priceline.com and others. This announcement contains "forward looking statements." Words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect" and other similar expressions as they relate to the Company and its management are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Although the Company and its management believe that the statements contained in this announcement are reasonable, it can give no assurances that such statements will prove correct. Factors that could affect the occurrence of events or results discussed herein are included with those mentioned in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.