24-hour financial company: UBS Ag

Global Finance, Summer 2001

INTERNET BANKING AND E-FINANCE BS is one of the world's leading financial firms, serving a global client base of approximately 7.7 million customers. In Switzerland UBS is the market leader in corporate and retail banking. UBS business groups include UBS Switzerland, with 4 million individual and corporate clients; UBS Asset Management, offering services and products to institutional and retail clients around the world; and UBS Warburg, providing investment banking and wealth management for corporate and institutional clients. The acquisition of PaineWebber in 2000 added to the private client base in the United States.

UBS offers its e-banking services through www.ubs.com/e/ebanking.-- html, including services and investment products for private clients as part of a multichannel strategy. The company's Internet strategy is focused on brokerage activities. UBS is moving from e-commerce to m-commerce with the offering of online financial information systems through WAP portals. It provides e-banking for corporate clients and external asset managers. UBS's goal is to become a 24-hour financial services company with the use of WAP-, TV, and telephone-banking facilities.

E-banking's penetration of UBS Switzerland's customer base continues to increase, with 555,ooo e-banking transactions at the end of December 2000, up from 534,000 at the end of September 2000; 22% of all payment orders now are transacted online.

With a "client e-supporter" Internet chat facility to be launched in mid-2001, customers can enter questions directly on a Web site and receive answers immediately.

As part of UBS Warburg's Investment Banking On-Line, clients have online access to research reports and primary equity and equity-linked transactions. Investors can view analyst presentations and virtual road shows, and download offering information.

CONSUMER E-SERVICES

The UBS domestic e-banking strategy is focused on developing a full-- service online bank for Swiss retail clients while offering new services and improving existing services for global private banking clients. The range of products offered includes current account information, payment services, brokerage, and mutual funds. E-banking services include domestic e-banking and international e-banking. A stock market package for investors is available, as well as WAP service. Economic and investment research is also available. Account information, including foreign and domestic payment transactions, is accessible, as well as file transfers, payment services, current stock quotes, and order information.

According to a survey conducted by Fortis Bank in November 2000, UBS's Internet clients-737,ooo-were 9% of its total clients.

Brokerage and trading are available through UBS e-banking. Clients with assets over $5,76o are automatically exempt from the account maintenance charge. Secure WAP trading has been added, as well as after-hours trading on the Swiss exchange. Real-time trading execution is available for major exchanges including AMEX, Nasdaq, NYSE, London, Milan, Paris, Xetra in Germany, and Zurich. UBS also offers options trading and a variety of search instruments, stock filters, and research publications.

PaineWebber's US client base of 2.7 million is serviced through PaineWebber Online Services and, according to Fortis Bank, reaches 312,ooo households and represents $226 billion in assets.

CORPORATE E-SERVICES

The business e-banking platform offers institutional and corporate clients access to UBS services, allowing for more efficient handling of transactions and back-office administration. Internet product offerings focus on debt issuance, IPOs, equity research, and execution of equity, treasury, and debt instruments.

Direct communication between accounting and cash management applications is available for UBS corporate clients. Clients may call up account information from UBS at any interval and transfer it to their own applications. These functions are available 24 hours a day.

Foreign and domestic payments may be scheduled up to 30 days in advance of the execution date. Data entry is done offline, and only once, eliminating the chance of error, saving time, and permitting cost reduction.

82B EXCHANGES

UBS was the first financial institution in Switzerland to offer business clients a complete electronic cycle between billers, creditors, and their banks. This electronic bill presentment and payment system (EBPP) was based on PayNet software developed by various Swiss financial institutions, including UBS and Credit Suisse, and done in collaboration with EuroPay. The service allows clients to send their bills to PayNet electronically, direct from the order processing stage. Payments are automatically forwarded to recipients after processing and checking.

The PayNet-based service is integrated into the bank's own IT platform. UBS is currently working on solutions enabling private clients to process their bills directly via e-banking without any new data entry, eliminating the need to enter data such as amounts and references for payment authorization.