COCC ALLIES WITH GREEN-TECH TO PROVIDE PC DISPOSAL SERVICE

AVON, Conn., Feb. 4, 2004 – COCC, a leading provider of technology for community financial institutions, today announced its agreement with Green-Tech Assets, Inc. of Cumberland, Rhode Island to dispose of retired electronic assets, such as personal computers and printers. The new service helps protect financial institutions against legal and environmental claims made possible by recent banking and privacy legislation.

“We are pleased to offer our clients a complete solution to their PC disposal needs,” said Brent Biernat, COCC’s Assistant Vice President for Network Services. “We were looking for a partner who recognized the full breadth of security and privacy issues involved in discarding personal computers. Green-Tech knows this business inside and out so it can protect clients against public or private liability arising from disposal of technology assets.”

The Graham, Leach, Bliley Act, HIPAA, and Sarbanes-Oxley Act require a verifiable paper trail that traces liability insurance, legal and insurance support, and transfer of ownership to the final discarding party. Without these items, a financial institution can be fined as much as $15,000 per incident and $25,000 per day until the situation is resolved.

Green-Tech Assets provides a comprehensive solution for “end-of-life” technology disposition to protect companies against legal and environmental dilemmas through a verifiable paper trail, transfer of ownership, liability insurance, and legal and insurance support.  

James L. Keck, II, Green-Tech Assets Vice President Business Development, explained that his company uses a unique risk management approach to help financial institutions meet regulatory requirements and avoid litigation. “Through our integrated legal, financial, and insurance protection platform, we guarantee that the institution’s technology equipment disposal complies with all state and federal regulations and indemnifies the institution against potential lawsuits,” said Keck.

In addition, Green-Tech protects any confidential data found on the PC and employs the Department of Defense processes to eliminate all traces of data prior to disposition. All software is completely erased from the machine and the institution is indemnified against unlawful use of the software and unlawful transfer of licenses. The institution also receives a detailed listing of all equipment received and disposed of, including certificates of destruction, disposal or recycling.

“Our model itself is proprietary, and to our knowledge, we’re the only one in the United States with that model,” said Keck. “We have a zero landfill policy, while our platform is a legal and insurance platform, which acts like a firewall against liability and also protects client reputation.”

COCC will provide the Green-Tech PC disposal service to any financial institution within its nine state market area. Green-Tech will coordinate the scheduling, transportation and disposition of assets based on the institution’s requirements.

“The Green-Tech solution is an excellent fit with COCC’s strategy of providing all the answers to a financial institution’s technology needs,” added COCC’s Biernat. “Green-Tech goes beyond removing hardware — the company also guarantees that it will assume all legal and environmental responsibility, then publishes a squeaky-clean audit report. That’s next generation service!”