Friday October 1, 7:01 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Fundtech Ltd. Announces Acquisition of Sterling Commerce's Commercial Cash Management Business
Fundtech Now Has Largest Corporate Internet Cash Management Customer Base in U.S.
JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1999-- Fundtech Ltd. (NASDAQ:FNDT - news), a leading provider of e-payments and Internet banking solutions, announced today that it has signed an agreement to purchase the cash management business of Sterling Commerce, Inc. (NYSE: SE - news). With this acquisition, Fundtech will gain the COMMERCE:Banker(TM) and COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet(TM) solutions, which together have an installed base of more than 400 bank customers with tens of thousands of corporate end users.
This acquisition represents the attainment of at least three strategic objectives for Fundtech:
the expansion of Fundtech's current ACCESS Banking© cash management business, giving Fundtech the largest corporate Internet cash management client base in the U.S.
the broadening of Fundtech's cash management offerings to all segments of the banking market.
the opportunity for Fundtech to incorporate industry leading ACH Internet technology into its own product offerings.
Fundtech intends to support and enhance the COMMERCE:Banker and COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet products. Fundtech will eventually modify the names of these products to reflect the branding of its own cash management product family. The Sterling Commerce customer support, product management, software development and sales teams will join Fundtech and will continue to operate from their current Dallas location, reporting to Fundtech's Electronic Banking Division in Atlanta, Georgia.
``We are very pleased to be adding Sterling's cash management clients, products and employees to our Electronic Banking Division,' said Reuven Ben-Menachem, Fundtech's Chairman and CEO. ``The combined entity provides us with an Internet solution for every tier of banks. By integrating our electronic payment and cash management technology, we will enable banks to provide their commercial customers with Straight-Through-Processing of all e-payment and e-banking transactions. Combined with the Internet technology, this will allow banks to participate more directly in their clients' e-commerce transactions. Further, we expect this new client base to give us significant cross-selling opportunities for our e-payments products into the cash management customer banks.'
``We are happy to have reached an agreement with Fundtech for its acquisition of our cash management business,' said David Pond, Group Senior Vice President at Sterling Commerce. ``This transaction supports Sterling Commerce's strategy of focusing closely on its core competencies, including E-business process integration, E-community management, E-business communication infrastructure and E-sourcing. Fundtech is an ideal buyer because of its leadership position in both e-payments and cash management, and we believe this transaction will strengthen our ongoing cooperation in the marketplace.'
Previous to this agreement, Fundtech and Sterling Commerce were parties to a joint marketing relationship involving Sterling Commerce's cash management and Fundtech's funds transfer products.
About Fundtech
Fundtech is a leading provider of software solutions that facilitate e-commerce and e-banking by enabling businesses and their banks to electronically manage cash, process payments and transfer funds. The Company's client/server and Internet software products automate the process of transferring funds among corporations, banks and clearance systems and enable businesses to manage global cash positions efficiently and in real-time.
About Sterling Commerce
Sterling Commerce is a worldwide leader in providing E-business integration solutions for the Global 5000 and their commerce communities. The company is one of 40 companies included in the Dow Jones Internet Services Index and one of 100 companies included in the USA Today Internet 100 Stock Index. The company provides solutions to address E-business process integration, E-community management, E-business communication infrastructure and E-sourcing.
About COMMERCE:Banker
COMMERCE: Banker(TM) is a fully integrated, PC-based corporate cash management system that allows banks to offer their commercial customers the benefits of automated banking without the expense of a dedicated system. COMMERCE: Banker includes balance reporting, account reconciliation, check writing, stop payments, electronic mail and foreign exchange capabilities, with optional modules for ACH origination, wire transfer initiation, EDI remittance receipt and discount foreign exchange. The system features comprehensive security, a user-friendly menu-driven interface, scheduled processing, and flexible data export.
About COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet
COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet is a Web-based banking solution that allows a bank's commercial customers to perform all their daily cash management operations from their home, office or anywhere they can access a browser. COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet features account balance, transaction detail, ACH origination, wire transfer, check payments, cash concentration and account reconciliation capabilities. COMMERCE:Banker for the Internet works seamlessly with the COMMERCE:Banker suite of products, allowing banks to offer a complete cash management system using the same production platform. This single platform solution substantially minimizes bank costs, while offering the widest range of access options to a bank's business customers - Web, Windows and DOS.
Certain statements contained herein, including statements regarding the development of the Company's services, markets, product functionality and future demand for the Company's products services and other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such forward-looking statements include risks and uncertainties; consequently, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied thereby. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, variability of quarterly operating results, dependence on key personnel, ability to effectively manage growth, risks associated with rapid technological advances, risks associated with possible acquisitions, any integration of those acquisitions into the company's present business, risks associated with the Company's strategic partnerships, various project associated risks, including internet projects, substantial competition, risks associated with intellectual property rights, risks associated with international operations and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's filings and reports.
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Contact:
Fundtech Corp.
Michael Carus, 201/946-1100
or
Sterling Commerce
David Kishler, 614/793-4020
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