Expand Networks Leads the Way in Preparing Small to Medium Banks Prepare for Check 21

Business Wire, Oct 27, 2004

ROSELAND, N.J. -- Application Acceleration Technology Guarantee Performance of Check Imaging Applicants, Eliminating the Need and Cost for WAN Infrastructure Upgrades

Expand Networks, a leading provider of Application Traffic Management Solutions for the branch office, today announced that it will play a crucial roll in helping small to medium size banks across the US become "check-imaging ready" when the federal law for Check 21 goes into effect on the 28th of October.

Check 21 was passed by the United States Federal Government so that banks can electronically handle checks, eliminating the transportation of checks and resulting in faster and more efficient check processing. However, in order for Check 21 to work, small to medium size banks with slow connections will require a significant increase in the strength of their wide area network (WAN), due to the high number of image replacement documents which will undoubtedly congest the WAN pipe causing slow applications and delays in customer service.

To solve this problem, Expand Networks is playing a major role in educating small to medium financial institutions that typically run branch offices on low speed 56 to 128 Kbps WAN connections, about the necessity of optimizing their network to compete with larger and more technologically advanced banks.

"Check 21 will definitely affect every bank at some point," says Paul Westendorf, Systems Services Manager of PCS. "It is important that banks are prepared for this evolution in banking and fully understand the impact it will have on the WAN connecting remote branch offices. With each image file consuming 12 Kbps or more of bandwidth, the WAN could be a shop-stopper for Check 21 if banks do not address congestion and latency issues which impede the transfer of imaging applications."

The law, effective October 28, 2004, will ultimately affect low speed networked banks the most, forcing the issue of an efficient and reliable network. As part of being Check 21 compliant, a bank must be able to send/receive messages, deal with exceptions that occur in the process, send/receive checks and return check images back to customers. All these steps will require significant network resources which many banks lack. Expand Accelerators, will optimize the WAN as well as accelerate the Check-imaging applications traversing the network so that these critical operations can be carried out smoothly and quickly.

"Expand Accelerators will help facilitate the Check 21 process," says Pedro Colaco, Vice President of Marketing at Expand Networks. "The IRDs, image-replacement documents, which banks will send across the network are much larger than the typical data files; slow networked banks will need to make the WAN more reliable in order to compete with other banks, amplify the performance of applications and boost customer service and satisfaction."

About Precision Computer Systems

Located in Sioux Falls, S.D., Precision Computer Systems (PCS), is a leading supplier of core banking products. Vision(TM), the company's flagship system, is complemented by a full line of optional modules including Internet banking, document management and imaging, platform, positive pay and marketing applications. PCS provides both in-house and managed resource solutions to community banks ranging from de novos to multi-billion institutions. A reputation for software service and reliability contribute to the company's 99 percent annual client retention rate. Part of the Fiserv family of companies, PCS is a subsidiary of Information Technology, Inc. (ITI). PCS can be found on the Internet at www.pcsbanking.com.

About Expand Networks

Expand Networks is a leading provider of Application Traffic Management solutions for the branch office. The company's Accelerators take Application Traffic Management to the next level by employing a modular and intelligent application architecture that eliminates complexities associated with traditional traffic management solutions. The Accelerators automatically adapt to changes in traffic, remove WAN inefficiencies and maximize the performance of distributed enterprise applications. The Accelerators combine many unique features including next-generation WAN compression, application-specific acceleration, Layer 7 QoS and sophisticated monitoring and reporting. Expand has shipped over 20,000 Accelerator devices to more than 1,000 customers including Motorola, Continental Airlines and the United States Department of Defense. Expand Networks is headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey with offices in Australia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Singapore, South Africa, United Kingdom and throughout the United States. To learn more, visit www.expand.com or call 1 (888) 892-1250.

Expand Networks, Accelerator System 9000, Accelerator Server, Accelerator 6800 Series, Accelerator 4800 Series, Accelerator 4000 Series, Accelerator 1800 Series, HTTPS Accelerator Series and ExpandView are trademarks of Expand Networks. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.