Sierra(r) solution suite gains market share at financial institutions of all sizes

Alogent Corp., a leading provider of enterprise deposit automation technologies for global financial institutions and processors, announced it has reached an important company milestone by signing its 1,000th customer. This company milestone coincides with the important industry milestone of 1,000 days having passed since the October 28, 2004 effective date of The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (Check 21).

Alogent identified Everett, Wash.-based Frontier Bank as its 1,000th customer. The bank has selected Alogent's Sierra Xpedite(r) Remote Deposit(tm) solution to provide business customers with a cost-effective and convenient method of making deposits without taking paper checks to the bank.

Ross Maynard, EVP at Frontier Bank, believes the bank and its customers will be served well by the Alogent solution. "We are proud to be the 1000th customer. Using the Alogent solution helps us in our mission to be recognized as a premier provider of financial services within the communities we serve. Alogent's solution not only automates and streamlines the deposit workflow, it allows us to deliver the latest available technology to our customers and save them time, cost and effort in the process."

Beyond Frontier Bank, sales for Alogent's Sierra(r) software platform for banks and credit unions have grown to record levels, and are projected to continue throughout 2007 and beyond. In the 1,000 days since October 2004, the company has lead the industry in Check 21 distributed capture solutions with a combination of over 70,000 seats sold for branch, ATM, and remote deposit automation.

"Our strategic corporate goals are squarely focused on innovation as represented by our real-time deposit automation and straight through check processing solutions," said Brian Geisel, founder and CEO of Alogent Corporation. "This innovation - combined with clear benefits enabled by Check 21 - are key components in driving a rapid migration to electronic payment processing. It's exciting to see our corporate mission translate into payments transformation driving significant cost reduction, geographic expansion, and deposit growth for our customers."

As Check 21 took effect in the fall of 2004, opinions and predictions varied widely around the law's future  implications. Despite availability of image-enabled systems, many financial institutions that had been using traditional methods for processing paper checks were ready to reduce the risk of being affected by  transportation issues, such as those caused by 9/11. Electronic clearing options enabled by Check 21 were soon developed and went into live production, expediting the transition to paperless processing that continues today.

In June 2004, Corporate One was one of the first financial institutions to implement remote deposit automation as part of its nationwide effort to provide value-added services to credit unions. "Alogent's technology allows us to reduce costs and processing time, and to offer image-enabled technologies that appeal to our members," said Lee Butke, president and CEO of Corporate One. "Even more compelling is our ability to eliminate the geographical constraints around offering service to credit unions anywhere in the country."

The developments in the first 1,000 days of Check 21 have solidified the business case for real-time deposit automation. As noted by BearingPoint, the four pillars of reengineering in response to Check 21 include: enhancements to the customer experience, new revenue opportunities, cost reductions and risk management.

"As a proven leader in the deposit automation space, we remain dedicated to driving continued innovation and customer satisfaction for our first customer, our 1,000th, and every customer in between," said Paul Citarella, Alogent's executive vice president. "In forming partnerships with financial institutions, we learn their operational challenges in depth. This practice is extremely valuable in formulating our product vision, and we will continue with it for our next 1,000 customers and beyond," he said.

About Alogent
Founded in 1995, Alogent Corporation is a leading global provider of enterprise-wide deposit automation technologies that enable financial institutions and processors to leverage the conversion of paper to electronic processing. The company's Sierra suite of solutions automates deposit processes at every point of presentment (including branches, ATMs, merchants, corporations and cash vaults), while optimizing electronic data and image processing and settlement. As the deposit automation market leader, Alogent's platform processes billions of payments annually, with more than 70,000 seats sold to date. The company counts KeyCorp, Lloyds TSB and SunTrust among its 1,000 financial institution customers. For more information, visit http://www.alogent.com/ or call 888.333.6030.