Community Bank in Utah Streamlines Operations to Offer Customers Big-Bank Services

With “All-in-One” IBM iSeries System as Its IT Hub, Bank of Utah Rolled Out New Services Such as Online Delivery of Imaged Checks and Real-Time Internet Banking

ARMONK, NY -- Nov 16, 2005 -- Today IBM announces that the Bank of Utah has reported improved operational excellence by installing a new IBM iSeries system to better manage distribution channels and deliver important new products to its customers while making daily processes more efficient.

In this case, Utah’s largest full service community bank recently replaced its Unisys server and moved to a turnkey IBM iSeries system. With 48,000 accounts and $600 million in assets, the bank has not only seen operational costs shaved by an estimated half-million dollars over five years, but more importantly, was able to create a more powerful customer experience by giving consumers a new range of products and services.

With the new IBM iSeries system at the hub of its infrastructure, Bank of Utah quickly rolled out online delivery of imaged checks and real-time internet banking complete with wire transfer. New consumer products such as overdraft protection are also being quickly and efficiently introduced. By working with its longtime business partner, Information Technology, Inc. (ITI), the bank’s migration from a legacy Unisys platform to an IBM POWER5-based iSeries system went virtually unnoticed by users and customers. ITI began offering iSeries applications last year in order to deliver better solutions to its financial services customers.

“The new IBM/ITI solution has proven to be cost-effective, reliable and better for our customers. Now, daily banking processes run significantly faster and we are already seeing the total cost of ownership benefits of the new server,” says Douglas DeFries, EVP - CFO, Bank of Utah. “This complete system enables us to focus on things other than the IT network, like our customers and future growth.”

This IBM banking customer benefited immediately from the new system. Prior to the upgrade, the nightly batch processing jobs took over eight hours and now takes less than an hour. Additionally, monthly and quarterly statement processing went from 18 hours to less than four hours with system backup time reduced from nearly four hours to just 10 - 20 minutes.

“For community banks especially, a centralized, all-in-one iSeries system delivers a big impact on allowing bankers to reduce transaction, people and deployment costs while allowing its staff to spend more time serving customers and less time operating IT networks,” said Mark Greene, vice president, IBM Financial Services.

ABOUT BANK OF UTAH
Bank of Utah, founded in Ogden in 1952, has total assets of $600 million. Bank of Utah is headquartered in Ogden and operates full service banking offices in Weber, Davis, Cache, Box Elder, and Salt Lake counties. As the largest full service community bank in Utah, Bank of Utah is committed to providing a comprehensive array of financial services to its customers.

ABOUT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Serving more U.S. banks and savings institutions than any other software and services vendor, Information Technology, Inc. (ITI) offers several core solutions, including the Premier and PCS Vision suites, as well as a broad range of supporting products and services. Founded in 1976, ITI works closely with some of the best-known technology companies in the world, and has grown to incorporate businesses and offices nationwide, including its Premier, Precision Computer Systems (PCS), Branch Automation, eSolutions, Digital Solutions, Decision Metrics and Professional Services operating units. A subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc., ITI can be found on the Internet at www.itiwnet.com.

About the IBM eServer iSeries
The IBM iSeries system is a tightly integrated system including hardware, middleware, storage and security. iSeries systems can run i5/OS, Windows (via an IXA or IXS), Linux and AIX operating environments simultaneously so clients can reinvest those savings to grow their business. Business partners and solutions providers of all sizes drive iSeries server success by building, selling and deploying over 6,400 of the world’s most popular business applications for their clients on the iSeries platform.

ABOUT IBM
IBM is the world’s largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. Drawing on resources from across IBM and key IBM Business Partners, IBM offers a wide range of services, solutions and technologies that enable customers, large and small, to take full advantage of the new era of e-business. For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

###

The following are either trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States or other countries or both: IBM, the IBM e-business logo, eServer, iSeries.

All others are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Statements concerning IBM’s future development plans and schedules are made for planning purposes only, and are subject to change or withdrawal without notice.

Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Contact Information

Kathleen McGraw

IBM Media Relations

IBM

Contact via E-mail