American Savings Bank Gains Competitive Edge With IBM ThinkVantage Technologies

IBM today announced that American Savings Bank has deployed more than 1,500 IBM ThinkPad notebooks and ThinkCentre desktops equipped with ThinkVantage Technologies, providing employees robust tools to increase productivity and deliver superior customer service.

In the highly competitive and fast-paced financial services market, customer service helps determine loyalty. By deploying IBM ThinkCentre desktops in all 65 branches and providing its sales force and executives with IBM ThinkPad notebooks, the bank's employees have quick and secure access to information anytime, anywhere, helping them remain productive and effectively meet customer demands.

"IBM ThinkVantage Technologies allow us to get back to our core business of serving customers, by making IT a seamless element in our operations," said Craig Lee, Chief Information Officer, American Savings Bank. "These tools provide us a competitive advantage by enabling more efficient processes that translate into better service, lower costs and more advanced security for valuable company data."

Utilizing IBM ThinkVantage Technologies including Rescue and Recovery, System Migration Assistant, Software Delivery Assistant and others, American Savings Bank will help decrease IT management costs by placing tools at employees' fingertips that make it easier for them to use PCs and access, share and recover information. By establishing an infrastructure that IT technicians can consistently build upon, rather than periodically reconstruct, the bank helps maintain and support its PCs with less downtime, fewer resources and lower total lifecycle costs.

About American Savings Bank

American Savings Bank celebrates its 80th anniversary as Hawaii's third-largest financial institution. With $6.8 billion in assets, it has the second-largest branch network in the state, with 65 branches and nearly 170 automated teller machines. American Savings Bank provides a full range of financial products and services, including commercial banking and consumer deposits and loans. The American Savings Bank Financial Services Group also offers investment and insurance services. For more information on American Savings Bank, visit www.asbhawaii.com.

About IBM ThinkPad

IBM ThinkPad notebook PCs have won more than 1,000 industry awards. Soon to join the Lenovo Group, IBM ThinkPad notebook and ThinkCentre desktop personal computers utilizing IBM ThinkVantage Technologies are available through a combined worldwide distribution and sales network spanning 160 countries. For more information, see www.ibm.com/thinkpad.

Notes

IBM, ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, and ThinkVantage Technologies are trademarks or registered trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation.

Contact: Christine West IBM Media Relations 919-543-2015 cbwest@us.ibm.com