Flight from Paper

eSTATEMENTS SWEEP COCC CLIENTS - 17% SIGN UP IN 6 MONTHS

AVON, Conn. April 6, 2006 — COCC, a leading provider of next generation technology services for financial institutions, today announced that 17% of its clients have committed to installing the company’s e-Statement system. Introduced a mere six months ago, this technology has achieved remarkable traction in the community bank market space.

“Growing acceptance of the Internet and image technologies plus strong cost savings is simplifying the sales of these products at community-based institutions,” said COCC’s Director of Strategic Products, Linda Stahl. “We also find that Internet statements are more secure than paper because they reduce opportunities for check fraud and statement theft.”

End customers have responded strongly to the eStatement product as well. One COCC client, First County Bank of Stamford, Conn., signed up 10 percent of its 7,000 home banking customers in just two months with minimal advertising.

Tom Bartram, President of the $966M bank, said that eStatements were an easy decision for the bank. “eStatements increase customer convenience while keeping our printing and postage costs down.”

Windsor Federal Savings of Windsor, Conn. enjoys a similar success with eStatements. William Lidestri, Senior Vice President at the $259M bank, says “almost 50% of new business banking clients that enroll in online banking select eStatements at the time of enrollment. eStatements are one more arrow in our quiver when making the sales presentation to a potential business banking client. This is the perfect solution if the prospect is sensitive to the time that it takes to receive a mailed statement after the monthly cycle date.” 

Lidestri sees magnified cost benefits to the bank when business customers convert to eStatements because business accounts generally have more account activity resulting in more statement pages and often increased postage.

“Administratively, the conversion to eStatements works like a dream,” Lidestri adds. “The customer clicks on a button on the main page in the online banking service and then a “User Agreement” appears.  If the customer “Accepts” the agreement, all of their statement accounts enrolled in online banking are converted to electronic statements and the paper statements are turned off.  The conversion is immediate and 100% automated.  The bank’s role is focused on educating the customer and stimulating the adoption of both online banking and eStatements.” 

So far, eStatements are a big bank product offered by institutions with national reach. Regional and community banks have been left by the wayside due to the cost and complexity of implementing eStatement technology. COCC’s service bureau product, made possible by the company’s open core architecture, provides a low cost entry point for institutions looking to reduce statement mailing costs and leapfrog their competition with a more convenient method for customers to access their account information.

The COCC product provides full 128 bit SSL encryption and “pull” technology that requires the account holder to request the eStatement after receiving an email notification that their statement is ready. Customers can view up to 16 months of statements online.   Average savings are close to $.40 per statement.

The eStatement product enables customers to sort their checking account information without changing figures. Marketing messages can be included in the electronic statements, and the bank can retrieve all statements electronically through its secure network connected to COCC. All undeliverable statements are reported to the institution.

“By themselves, eStatements won’t bring a financial institution to COCC,” said Stahl. “But they sweeten any check or core processing deal. Coupled with the company’s image exchange product – which has captured 12% of its client base – eStatements deliver concrete benefits of the latest banking technologies.”

Stahl expects further eStatement sales as regulators step up their pressure on community banks and credit unions to reduce the risks associated with paper-based statements.