Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 21, 2000

Sonoma Financial Corp./VictorMaxx Technologies Inc. (OTCBB:VMAX) today issued a statement regarding the current NASD investigation of Josephtal &Co Inc., a New York-based stockbroker and investment banking firm.

Josephtal &Co. was charged by NASD Regulations Inc. and was the underwriter of VictorMaxx Technologies' IPO in May of 1996. VictorMaxx was a virtual-reality firm when it began trading publicly and subsequently was delisted in October of 1996.

The VictorMaxx shell was purchased by Sonoma Financial in 1998 and the company has been focused on its current business strategies since new management took over at that time. Sonoma Financial/VictorMaxx Technologies, and its current management have not been implicated in the NASD investigation.

Frank Anthony Contaldo, Sonoma's president and chief executive officer stated: &uot;The parties in this case have had no dealings with the current management of VMAX. The VMAX merger was a method of taking Sonoma Financial public.

&uot;Sonoma's business practices are dominant in every area of our operations and this investigation should not substantially affect our subsidiaries in any way. We will be determining the impacts, if any, of this situation and reporting to shareholders those findings that may affect the company.&uot;

Sonoma Financial Corp. is a financial services company that owns and operates a chain of stores devoted to providing low documentation short-term consumer loans. The company intends to become the national leader in the &uot;payday loan&uot; market by strategically opening new stores, penetrating new markets and by chain acquisition.

Sonoma Financial is currently the only publicly traded company with a sole focus on &uot;payday advances.&uot; Ace (Nasdaq:AACE) and First Cash Financial Services (Nasdaq:FCFS), have proven the viability of the concept in other markets, but are not specifically focused in this area.

A complete investor package is available at http://www.e-relations.com/vmax.

Safe Harbor Disclaimer:

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements regarding the company's expected performance for future periods, and actual results for such periods may materially differ. Such forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, risks of changing market conditions in the overall economy and the industry, consumer demand, additional financing requirements, the opening of new stores, the success of the company's acquisition strategy and other uncertainties detailed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.