FICS Powers Fleet's Corporate Internet Banking Offering

Business Wire, Oct 26, 1999

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 26, 1999--

At the Treasury Management Association's (TMA) annual conference today, FICS announced that Fleet will implement its industry leading Corporate Internet Banking (CIB) solution.

Through CIB, Fleet will offer a full range of corporate electronic banking products to all of its customers, from New England's smallest businesses to the world's largest corporations. Delivering advanced corporate banking services via the Internet will enable Fleet to strengthen customer relationships, generate revenue and gain competitive advantage.

"After an extensive evaluation, it was clear that FICS offered a superior corporate Internet banking solution," said Mike Curran, executive vice president of the bank's Global Services Division. "We are confident that FICS' CIB solution will successfully serve as the foundation of our corporate electronic banking infrastructure and we plan to roll out new products and services on this platform throughout 2000."

"We're very excited to be working with Fleet and feel that this success further demonstrates our ability to deliver the solutions strategic financial institutions need to remain competitive in today's market," said Fred Dumas, president of FICS America. "By leveraging our expertise in the corporate banking industry, Fleet will maximize its ability to attract and retain customers and generate revenue."

CIB is a customizable and innovative browser-based product for corporate cash management. CIB provides a bank's business clients with broad-ranging banking functionality for transaction initiation, balance and transaction reporting, customer messaging, custody and trade finance within a browser environment. Based on Java and CORBA objects, and leveraging FICS' many years of experience developing Windows-based corporate banking products, CIB is designed to integrate flexibly with corporate intranets, and to support distributed computing on multiple platforms. The product is available in numerous configurations (`thin', `fat' and `hybrid' clients), is multilingual, manages multiple currencies and complies with multiple messaging protocols. CIB allows banks to deliver functionality based on the Internet business model as opposed to the PC business model. In addition, the product holds the SWIFT Ready Gold label, the highest standard of SWIFT certification.

About FICS

FICS was established in 1989 and concentrates on two core activities: Electronic Services Delivery (ESD) and Financial Reporting Systems (FRS). The company's Electronic Services Delivery products provide solutions for electronic banking, both retail and corporate, running on Windows and via the Internet, as well as solutions for electronic commerce and electronic funds. FICS' ESD activities are based on a number of products, including the FICS Electronic Services Delivery Server. This server supports all forms of electronic banking, from conventional electronic delivery systems to Internet, telephone, fax, PDA and mobile telephone services. FRS offers banks, insurance companies, pension funds, mutual investment funds and brokers an international solution for legal, financial and management reporting.

Since it was first established, FICS has grown to more than 650 employees, with subsidiaries in 11 countries, including Belgium (head office), Luxembourg, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, South Africa, Portugal, the United States, Australia and Singapore. FICS has more than 600 clients worldwide, including ABN AMRO, BankBoston, BNP, CIBC, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Firstar, and Arab National Bank.

On May 17, 1999, FICS, together with Edify Corporation (Nasdaq: EDFY) and VerticalOne, announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Security First Technologies of Atlanta, Georgia (Nasdaq: SONE). The new S1 Corporation will be the dominant provider of electronic banking solutions to financial institutions worldwide.

About Fleet

Fleet is a $185 billion diversified financial services company and the eighth largest bank holding company in the U.S. The company's lines of business include commercial and consumer banking, institutional and investment banking, cash management, trade services, export finance, mortgage banking, commercial finance, asset-based lending, commercial real estate lending, equipment leasing, government banking, investment management services, private equity investments, credit cards, discount brokerage services, student loan processing, and full-service banking in Latin America. Through 5,750 outlets, Fleet serves approximately 20 million customers. Fleet is headquartered in Boston and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FLT).