December 21, 1998
  DST Systems, Inc. and USCS International, Inc. Announce Completion of Merger

DST Systems,  Inc. (DST) and USCS International,  Inc. (USCS) announce that they
have completed the merger of USCS with a wholly owned subsidiary of DST. Earlier
today the  shareholders  of each of DST and USCS approved the merger.  Under the
terms of the agreement,  USCS becomes a wholly owned  subsidiary of DST and each
USCS  shareowner  will receive 0.62 shares of DST common stock for each share of
USCS common  stock.  DST will issue  approximately  13.8  million  shares in the
transaction. The merger will be accounted for as a pooling of interests.

This merger  represents a significant  expansion of DST's presence in the output
processing and customer management software and services industries.  DST is now
a  leading  provider  of  services  in three  growing  industries,  mutual  fund
shareowner  processing,  customer  management  services,  and output processing.
USCS, through its CableData,  Inc. subsidiary, is a leading provider of customer
management  software  to  the  cable  television  and  convergence   industries,
currently servicing approximately 40 million subscribers worldwide. DST, through
its DBS Systems Corporation subsidiary,  provides subscriber management services
to DirecTV.  USCS' subsidiary,  International  Billing Services,  Inc., provides
bill  presentation  services to a variety of  communications  and other  service
providers.  DST's subsidiary,  Output Technologies,  Inc., provides a variety of
output related services to a diversified  group of industries,  primarily in the
financial services sector.

The  combined  entity has  approximately  $1.1 billion in annual  revenues,  has
approximately  $1.1  billion in  stockholders'  equity  and has 8,000  employees
worldwide.

George L. Argyros,  a USCS major  stockholder  and Director and James C. Castle,
Chairman and Chief  Executive  Officer of USCS,  have been  appointed to the DST
Board of Directors.

The  shareholders  of DST also approved  increasing  the number of shares of DST
common  stock  authorized  for  issuance  under  DST's  1995  Stock  Option  and
Performance Award Plan from 6,000,000 shares to 9,000,000 shares.

The information and comments above include forward-looking statements respecting
DST and USCS and their businesses and the results of the transaction  described.
Such  information  and  comments are based on DST's and USCS' views as of today,
and actual  results could differ.  There could be a number of factors  affecting
actual future  results,  including those set forth in Form 8-K/A dated April 13,
1998 and S-4  Registration  Statement  effective  November 20, 1998 filed by DST
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and those set forth by USCS in
the Form S-1 filed with the SEC and  declared  effective  by the SEC on June 20,
1996, and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 1998 filed with the SEC.
All  such  factors  should  be  considered  in  evaluating  any  forward-looking
comments.

DST Systems, Inc.
333 West 11th Street
Kansas City, MO 64105-1594

NYSE & CSE Symbol: DST
Contact:
Thomas A. McDonnell (816) 435-8684
President and Chief Executive Officer
Kenneth V. Hager (816) 435-8603
Vice President and Chief Financial Officer