from Yahoo
Tuesday September 7, 9:21 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
USABancShares.com Enters Hardware Agreement with Systemax, Inc.
PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 7, 1999--USABancShares.com (NASDAQ:''USAB'') today announced that it has entered into an agreement with computer hardware manufacturer Systemax, Inc. (NYSE:''SYX''), through which the company will provide exclusive banking services to customers who purchase PC's manufactured by Systemax.
Under the terms of the agreement, the initial 150,000 units are expected to ship over approximately three months, and additional shipments may be added to the program.
''We believe that there are many creative ways to generate site traffic and grow our customer base, and serving as a PC desktop icon is an important one,'' said Ken Tepper, President and CEO of USABancShares.com. ''This is the point of sale for many online consumers, and it will remain a priority for us in terms of future expansion; while conventional advertising is always important... banner ads or billboards can't compare to the power of the desktop,'' he concluded.
''USABancShares.com will provide our customers with the kind of banking services and online experience they're looking for. They've got the right idea for introducing new users to online banking, which we feel is one of the most important and growing areas of internet commerce,'' stated Richard Leeds, CEO of Systemax.
Systemax, Inc. (www.systemax.com) has developed an integrated system of branded e-commerce web sites, direct mail catalogs and relationship marketing to sell private label and name brand PC hardware, related computer products, and industrial products to businesses in North America and Europe. With more than 1.5 billion in sales, Systemax is a fortune 1000 company.
USABancShares.com's featured on-line account, ''energyONE'', is designed to establish a new banking standard. With 5% interest checking and minimum balance requirement of a single dollar, the bank has relied upon on-line economies of sale in offering rates that were previously reserved for high net worth depositors. energyONE checking and savings accounts are free of all service charges and are available at www.usabancshares.com.
The company is actively evaluating other hardware partnerships, and as well expects to soon launch a series of co-branded sites with ISP providers which will offer their customers sign up incentives in connection with both online banking and brokerage accounts.
With regard to the ongoing trademark dispute with U.S. Bancorp, Inc., Corporate Counsel for USABancShares.com, Maureen Steady, commented, ''It seems in the best interest of all concerned that we resolve our differences now and move forward with respective priorities, and I would expect a resolution to be reached in this regard shortly.''
Forward Looking Statements:
Some of the statements contained in this press release discuss future expectations, contain preliminary unaudited results of operations and financial condition and state other ''forward looking'' information. Those statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements.
The forward-looking information is based on various factors and was derived using numerous assumptions. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ from projections include, for example: general economic conditions, including their impact on capital expenditures; business conditions in the financial services industry; the regulatory environment; rapidly changing technology and evolving banking industry standards; competitive factors, including increased competition with community, regional and national financial institutions; new services and products offered by competitors; and price pressures |
