Liberty Enterprises Credits Business Objects for New Business Intelligence Service

Business Wire, Oct 6, 2004

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Liberty's Strategic Advisor Service Uses a Business Objects Extranet to Help Credit Unions and Banks Make More Informed Business Decisions

Faced with mounting competitive pressure, credit unions and regional financial services institutions must manage their businesses with increasing efficiency. That's why Liberty Enterprises, a leading provider of technology solutions and marketing services to credit unions, selected Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code:FR0004026250-BOB) to power Strategic Advisor, the first extranet-based business intelligence service that enables credit unions and banks to track, understand, and manage their business performance over the Internet. With access to business intelligence software from Business Objects, financial services institutions can improve performance in four key areas, strategic planning, sales tracking, lending programs, and marketing campaigns. Liberty combines access to Business Objects reports and analyses with data management and consulting services, creating a unique and highly cost-effective business offering.

The extranet capabilities of Business Objects allow Liberty, which serves approximately 5,500 credit unions and 200 community banks, to offer Strategic Advisor without requiring clients to maintain their own hardware or install any special software. Financial institutions provide accounting, sales, and account holder data to Liberty, which also receives data from the processing providers its clients use for mortgages, credit cards, and insurance. Liberty then integrates this data with data from external sources, such as demographic and geographic coding, and uses Business Objects to make reports and analyses available via a standard web browser. Strategic Advisor customers can also use Business Objects to design custom reports and charts, create targeted mailing lists, and export data into other applications.

"With Business Objects, we have been able to turn our vision of an extranet-based business service into reality," said Sue Schabert, director of strategic information at Liberty Enterprises. "Strategic Advisor's aggregated services are easy to access, easy to learn and use, and extremely cost-effective for our target market. The system is generating new revenue and creating a distinct competitive advantage for Liberty and our customers."

"Liberty Enterprises has demonstrated the great potential of a Business Objects extranet to create new business opportunities," said Chris Caren, vice president of corporate marketing at Business Objects. "Business Objects pioneered the extranet market in 1998, and today we are the clear leader in business intelligence extranet deployments, with thousands of extranet customers worldwide. Liberty is yet another example of the innovative ways organizations are applying extranet technology to improve their performance, and the performance of their customers, partners, and suppliers."

About Liberty Enterprises

Liberty, founded in 1985, is the credit union movement's leading provider of payment systems, marketing services and technology solutions. A family- and employee-owned company, Liberty provides financial institutions with card services, checks, financial supplies, database marketing and creative services. Cavion Plus, formed through the merger of Liberty Internet Services and CUNA Network Services, provides Website, e-transaction, connectivity and security services to more than 1,300 credit unions. MyDAS, Inc. offers award-winning training, education and marketing programs to financial institutions. Liberty Enterprises partners with more than 5,400 credit unions. More information about Liberty is available at www.libertysite.com.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance.

In December 2003, Business Objects completed the acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the leader in enterprise reporting. The combined product line includes software for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytic applications, and data integration. In addition, Business Objects offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.

Business Objects has more than 26,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (ISIN:FR0004026250-BOB). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and http://www.businessobjects.com.