Leading Secured Loan Provider Achieves Massive Cost Reductions and Greater Financial Security with the Ultimus BPM Suite; FirstPlus Financial Group Automates Refund and Property Second Charge Processes Through Business Process Management

Business Wire, May 15, 2006

CARY, N.C. -- Ultimus, the leading provider of Business Process Management (BPM) and Workflow Automation software and services that enable the shortest time to value, today announced that FirstPlus Financial Group PLC has chosen to deploy its software to improve the efficiency and visibility of key processes. The software enables FirstPlus to process and track refund requests and ensures the collection of key information necessary for securing second mortgages.

FirstPlus is a leading secured loan provider based in Cardiff, Wales. The firm has gained a number of awards and professional accreditations for excellence in leadership, process and policy management including the European Quality Award (SME category) in 2005, CBI recognition for the 5th year running in 2005 and 12th position in the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work for Poll in 2006. Ultimus has helped the company take its processes another step forward by streamlining and helping to improve customer satisfaction, employee productivity and financial security.

The Ultimus BPM Suite delivers strong ROI through a programming-free process modeling and development environment, flexible integration, workflow capabilities, powerful management tools and easy to use Web interfaces for process participants. Using Ultimus, FirstPlus has been able to automate its refund check workflow, resulting in significantly improved operational efficiency.

Before deploying Ultimus, all contact between the Customer Care and Finance departments was carried out by phone or email. FirstPlus experienced numerous problems with the management of refund requests between departments resulting in a spike in calls to customer care. The Ultimus BPM Suite has enabled FirstPlus to benefit from a more structured process, improved turnaround time, and significant cost reductions. Additionally, Ultimus provides an audit trail that will help FirstPlus to continue to improve its processes going forward.

FirstPlus also uses the Ultimus BPM Suite to enhance its second charge processes. With Ultimus in place, FirstPlus is able to manage the collection of customer documentation necessary for placing a second charge on a property more efficiently and therefore offer a quicker service for the customer.

"We continually seek ways to optimize our internal processes," said Jonathan Jones, Ultimus project manager at FirstPlus Financial Group PLC. "With Ultimus in place, our processes are guaranteed to perform as efficiently as possible. This results in a better organized and more profitable business for us and better service for our customers."

"FirstPlus prides itself in maintaining the highest standards for its operations and customer service," said Steve Allen, Managing Director of Ultimus UK & Ireland. "We are very pleased that the company is realizing the benefits of having Ultimus in place and how BPM is able to take FirstPlus' standards of excellence to the next level."

About Ultimus

A pioneer in human-centric Business Process Management, workflow automation and faster time to value, Ultimus is a global software company that enables enterprises worldwide to increase their profits by modelling, automating, managing and optimizing every business process. Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, the company has business operations throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Ultimus has more than 1,600 customers, including First Plus Financial, STASYS, Unilever, Citizens Bank, McKesson, HBOC, Microsoft, Newell Rubbermaid, Sony and Siemens. Additional information about Ultimus can be obtained by visiting the Ultimus Web site at http://www.ultimus.com, or emailing to info_emea@ultimus.com.