Alogent Announces Strategic Alliance With Diebold To Automate ATM Check Deposits; Image-Based Deposit Automation at ATM Facilitates Straight Through Check Processing for Check 21.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 17, 2003

Alogent, a provider of payment transaction processing solutions for global financial institutions, remittance and payment processors, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Diebold, Incorporated to integrate its Sierra Xpedite(R) and Sierra(R) Xchange(TM) products with Diebold image enabled ATMs. Diebold will provide this next generation open solution to the financial institution marketplace.

"The introduction of our extensible deposit automation capability to ATMs through this alliance is an important step in executing on our vision to automate the payment and deposit process at all points of payment," said Alogent founder and CEO Brian Geisel. "The combination of Sierra Xpedite embedded in Diebold ATMs, transmitting images and other information to Sierra Xchange, our unified payments gateway,is an excellent example of our Straight Through Check Processing(TM) paradigm. This solution accelerates transactions and automates back office processes, so that validated ATM transaction data and images update bank systems all day long. The ROI opportunity for financial institutions is tremendous."

The capture and use of check images at the ATM to ensure that transactions are valid and balanced provides significant improvements in operational efficiency, cost reduction, and fraud prevention. The Alogent technology enables Diebold to offer real-time proof of deposit. It also eliminates the difficult and labor-intensive envelope and paper-based deposit processes used with most ATMs today. The fact that check images and related information captured throughout the day are used for transaction processing allows reduced financial risk along with extended funds availability for ATM deposits because financial institutions are no longer dependent on the physical transport of paper. Reduced transportation costs may also be realized through the reduction in the number of trips needed to collect paper items, thus allowing for the cost effective extension of full service ATMs to off-premise locations. Additionally, real-time validation and balancing of transactions at the ATM using images significantly reduces the potential for fraud and the possibility of customer introduced errors.

"The alliance with Alogent facilitates taking self service to the next level," said Thomas W. Swidarski, vice president, Strategic Development and Global Marketing at Diebold. "Consumers will see benefits in real-time proof of deposit and improved funds availability. Financial institutions will benefit from streamlined processes, lower costs, and reduced risk. It also positions financial institutions to embrace a post Check 21 world where paper items are largely truncated."

The Alogent technology can be used with Diebold's Opteva(TM) advanced-function ATMs, as well as the popular ix Series(R) machines.

Sierra Xpedite captures, validates, and automatically balances transactions at the ATM using check images and MICR data, facilitating real-time proof of deposit. The images and related information are transmitted to Sierra Xchange, which consolidates transactions across multiple ATMs, and applies image-based workflows to ensure transaction quality and integrity. Thus, "ready to post" transaction information can be made available to any external system in an open format for further processing. Sierra Xchange also routes transactions to endpoints based on business rules. Images and transaction information can be routed to a bank's current item processing system, host system, image archive, or used to create image replacement documents (IRDs). The products can also accommodate matching, encoding, and automated reconciliation of all or some checks in today's "paper to follow" world.

"When ATMs were first introduced, the hope was that these machines would largely replace tellers. The fact is that ATMs are primarily cash dispensers and have not historically handled deposits well. The combination of image-based deposit automation at the ATM, and straight through check processing enables ATMs to finally live up to their promise," said Alenka Grealish, manager of the banking group at Celent Communications. "It also enables banks to have common deposit technologies across the enterprise including branches and ATMs. Banks need to implement systems at the point of deposit that can handle paper, data, and image in any proportion, thereby allowing them to adapt to a changing mix as they move toward full truncation."

The Alogent products have proven themselves in deployments at leading global financial institutions. Sierra Xpedite and Sierra Xchange have been successfully implemented in the enterprise integration of the branch network with central item processing at Lloyds TSB, including over 2,000 branches. Sierra Xpedite will be implemented across 500 branches at Barclays Bank plc and at 270 branches at World Savings Bank. Alogent also recently signed an agreement to implement Sierra Xpedite and Sierra Xchange across 1,800 branches at one of the top 10 banks in the United States.

The new solution is being demonstrated live in the Diebold booth on a Diebold Opteva(TM) 720 advanced-function ATM at BAI's Retail Delivery 2003 in New Orleans, November 19-20.

About Alogent

Alogent is a financial services technology company with proven global success in providing payment processing solutions that enable banks, billers and outsource processors to reduce costs, accelerate timelines and improve quality in check and item processing.

Alogent's solutions help banks adapt to Check 21, check truncation and paper-to-electronic transformation. They include solutions for deposit automation, image based centralized item processing, image exchange and the unique Straight Through Check Processing(TM).

Alogent products process over a billion transactions a year in the U.S., and the company provides the platform that processes 70 percent of all checks written in the UK. Alogent's solutions are being deployed to the largest deposit automation implementations in the world. Alogent brings proven credibility and leadership to help global customers address mission-critical challenges. For more information about Alogent's solutions, visit www.alogent.com.

For more information about Alogent in the USA, write 4005 Windward Plaza, Second Floor, Alpharetta, GA 30005; phone [phone]; toll free 888.333.6030; fax [phone] or email [e-mail]. For sales in the UK, phone [phone]; fax: [phone] or email [e-mail].

About Diebold, Incorporated

Diebold, Incorporated is a global leader in providing integrated self-service delivery systems, security and services. Diebold employs more than 13,000 associates with representation in more than 88 countries worldwide and is headquartered in North Canton, Ohio, USA. Diebold reported revenue of $1.9 billion in 2002 and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DBD. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.diebold.com or www.dieboldopteva.com.