win-win for century savings bank with selection of cocc for technology partnership

AVON, Conn., February 19, 2008 – COCC, the region’s leading provider of next generation technology services for financial institutions, today announced that Century Savings Bank has selected the company for a long term technology partnership. The $241M bank headquartered in Vineland, New Jersey will expand its product line, increase efficiency, and gain additional control over its technology future as a result of today’s announcement.

“Our decision to partner with COCC is a true win-win,” said David J. Hemple, Century Savings Bank’s President and CEO. “We are getting the best technology delivered by the most responsive firm in the business. COCC’s cooperative ownership structure is the key ingredient behind the company’s long-standing record of quality service ratings from its customer-owners. We are definitely looking forward to our core system conversion.”

Established in 1865, Century Savings Bank is the second oldest mutual savings bank in New Jersey. Until recently, Century Savings has operated as a traditional savings bank headquartered in Bridgton and increasing market share through acquisitions of neighboring institutions.

When Mr. Hemple took the reins two years ago, management decided to grow the bank by adding commercial products, new branch locations and a fresh branding concept: Community Banking Plus. The new branding reminds the community of Century Savings Bank’s commitment to service demonstrated by aggressive pricing, responsive service and active participation in community causes. Last year, the bank moved its headquarters to Vineland, New Jersey where Hemple sees additional opportunities for growth.

“Our strategic plan now focuses on expanding our product line and extending our service footprint in New Jersey’s fastest growing counties — Cumberland and Gloucester — right in our backyard,” said Hemple. “We have established a good name as a savings institution in the area. When our market sees that we provide commercial services as well, I am confident that we will achieve our growth goals.”

Key to serving the bank’s new retail and commercial customers is product flexibility. “Our quest for a new technology partner centered around gaining the ability to adapt our products to specific customer needs and avoid the ‘boilerplate’ approach to banking that we see so often today,” said Hemple, “Our committee did an excellent job evaluating the major technology vendors, and COCC was a standout. Their open platform is built for flexibility from the ground up, starting with its Oracle database and working all through its 21^st century screen and application design.”

COCC’s flexible loan and deposit processing will give the bank greater leverage when attracting and retaining customers, particularly in the commercial area where competition has become more intense. Newer technologies to be installed during the conversion, such as online cash management and Remote Deposit Capture, will help complete the bank’s ‘basket’ of commercial product offerings.

Behind the scenes, Hemple said that COCC’s state-of-the-art communications, security and reporting are “tremendous.” The conversion will add the latest, multi-layer security systems to the bank’s email, networks, and Internet access — all managed round-the-clock by COCC. Hemple expects these services to significantly cut the overhead involved in maintaining the bank’s infrastructure and provide ready answers for regulatory examiners. A new financial management system (Oracle Financials) will provide new insight into the bank’s performance, including branch and product accounting.

More important than the gains in product and efficiency is the cooperative relationship with COCC. “Having been involved with technology cooperatives in the past, I know how effective the cooperative ownership structure can be,” said Hemple. “All of the customer owners have a commitment to developing close relationships with everyone at COCC so we can chart our future together.”