ING DIRECT USA Goes Live with Sanchez' e-PROFILE for U.S. Direct Bank Market Initiative

Business Wire, Oct 10, 2000

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

MALVERN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2000

Dutch Financial Services Giant Targets New York Metro &

Philadelphia-Wilmington, Del. Markets

e-PROFILE(TM) Inc., a vertical services provider (VSP) for the financial services industry and a majority-owned subsidiary of Sanchez Computer Associates Inc. (Nasdaq(R): SCAI), today announced it is processing the phone and Internet bank accounts for ING DIRECT USA, the Wilmington, Del.-based direct bank initiative of ING Group, the multinational Dutch financial services company.

Through call center and Web servicing capabilities, ING DIRECT USA markets a money market demand account with attractive, high-yielding rates, an innovative line of credit product and competitively priced certificates of deposit (CDs). Transactions associated with these accounts are remotely processed and replicated at e-PROFILE's bank operations and data center located in suburban Pittsburgh, Pa.

In addition to account processing, e-PROFILE provides disaster recovery services for Web and interactive phone systems.

The bank markets its products to consumers in the New York City metropolitan area and in the greater Philadelphia/Wilmington region. e-PROFILE processes ING DIRECT USA's bank accounts using Sanchez' PROFILE(R)/Anyware, the enterprise bank transaction processor and integrated systems architecture for e-finance. ING Group and Sanchez signed a global license agreement for PROFILE products in 1997.

"The e-PROFILE outsource option provides ING DIRECT with a proven, quality processing platform geared for direct banking," said Kees Van Rossem, ING DIRECT USA chief information officer (CIO). "The United States is a very competitive market for financial services. We believe e-PROFILE's processing option will help us to compete more effectively in this marketplace."

"With e-PROFILE providing the account processing and replication, ING DIRECT USA has a competitive advantage. The institution can marshal more resources toward aggressively marketing its products to consumers," said Greg Derkacht, president and chief operating officer of e-PROFILE.

The recent debut of ING DIRECT USA's bank is ING Group's second direct bank launch in North America. ING DIRECT Canada was the first ING Group direct bank to implement an e-banking solution using PROFILE products. ING DIRECT Canada was implemented in the spring of 1997, and is one of the most successful direct banks in that country with more than 300,000 customers and approximately $3.0 billion in assets.

In addition, ING DIRECT has rolled out direct banks using the PROFILE products in Spain and France. ING Group's latest European direct bank implementation is underway with Sanchez in Italy.

About Sanchez & e-PROFILE

Sanchez is a market leader in providing enterprise banking software and a flexible financial services systems architecture for institutions worldwide. The company maintains its corporate headquarters in Malvern, Pa. Sanchez directs its international operations out of its headquarters in Chester, U.K.

Additionally, the company maintains offices in Old Greenwich, Conn.; London, U.K.; Warsaw, Poland and Singapore. The company's principal product is the PROFILE(R) enterprise application suite for financial services. The integrated suite of software products has an open, scalable, and real-time architecture that is channel independent.

The suite includes PROFILE/Anyware, a highly flexible, multi-currency, multi-language, customer-centric, enterprise banking application and transaction processor for deposit and loan processing; PROFILE/Xpress, a transactional customer management system and financial product distribution application that provides real time integration connecting all an institution's delivery channels to its internal and external product processing factories; PROFILE/Xpress AE, an optional manager of real-time authorizations for batch-based, off-line processes; PROFILE/WebConsumer, a Web-based, Internet front-end processor for retail and commercial banking applications; PROFILE for Windows, a native Windows(R) client application for customer service and teller functions; PROFILE/Application Tools, a set of six packaged tools to assist with developing client-side code for various applications intended to interface with PROFILE; and PROFILE/FMS (Financial Management System), a multi-company, multi-currency, cost center-based accounting system.

Sanchez also offers e-PROFILE(TM), a vertical services provider (VSP) for the financial services industry that provides integrated end-to-end operations and technology solutions that enable top-tier financial services companies to offer on-line financial services to their customers. e-PROFILE maintains an operations center outside of Pittsburgh, Pa.

e-PROFILE is a majority-owned subsidiary of Sanchez. For more information, visit Sanchez on the Web at http://www.sanchez.com or send e-mail to profile@sanchez.com. Sanchez is a Safeguard Scientifics Inc. (NYSE: SFE) partnership company.