Bank of the West Chooses SQN and Hyland Software to Reduce Fraud, Improve Service Levels.

California's Fifth Largest Bank to Use Single, Integrated System for Signature Verification

LAS VEGAS -- SQN Banking Systems, a leading provider of fraud detection and process improvement products for the financial industry, and Hyland Software Inc., developer of OnBase[R] enterprise content management (ECM) software, announced that Bank of the West has chosen the companies' integrated fraud detection solution to protect customers against fraud, reduce costs and improve service levels. Bank of the West is California's fifth largest bank, with 680 banking locations and more than $54 billion in assets.

SQN's SENTRY: Signature helps financial institutions mitigate fraud by displaying captured electronic signatures and photo IDs at the teller station. Hyland Software's OnBase serves as the content repository for the customer signature cards so they can be easily stored and retrieved. Implementation of the two solutions is expected to be complete by the first quarter of 2007.

"We wanted to have one imaging system that would accommodate the entire bank," said Diane Chandler, section manager for Bank of the West. "OnBase's ECM software stores the entire signature card, which we can then use in conjunction with SQN's browser based application to retrieve signature card information online. This makes our signature verification processes more efficient by enabling us to access signature card images throughout the entire bank, including both in the back office and at the branches." The signature cards and related data were extracted from the former ECM solution and imported into OnBase so that users of browser-based SENTRY: Signature system could retrieve the entire signature card image from the OnBase system. Currently, Bank of the West is using two different versions of SENTRY: Signature -- a browser based and a FaxBack version. Former Commercial Federal Bank branches, which Bank of the West acquired a year ago, and some Bank of the West branches located near converted Commercial Federal states have online access to SQN, while legacy Bank of the West branches have the FaxBack version, which is more of a manual process that cannot be viewed online.

"The browser system is extremely easy to use," said Chandler. "If a person is looking at a signature and he or she would like to see the full card, he or she can retrieve it from OnBase. Once you bring the image up, you can magnify it to see the image better. Plus, you can print the entire card out if you need to."

SENTRY: Signature provides fast online signature display for teller and back office personnel at banks of all sizes. The signatures can be used for a wide variety of applications, such as branch display, exception item processing, and automated signature comparison, helping to facilitate the payment decision process and quickly detect fraud.

"By incorporating both our SQN technology and Hyland Software's OnBase solution we have created a signature verification and storage system that is much more efficient for Bank of the West," said Joe Uhland, president of SQN Banking Systems. "Bank of the West's streamlined approach will result in reduced incidents of fraud by making signature verification accessible to all branches."

OnBase is an ECM software suite with applications that include document imaging, workflow, electronic document management, COLD/ERM and records management. OnBase allows banks to manage all digital content, including scanned paper documents, e-mails, faxes, print streams, application files, e-forms, Web content and multimedia files.

"Our integration with SQN's SENTRY: Signature application allows Bank of the West to simplify and speed business processes both on the front end and back end, which result in reduced costs and improved service levels," said Jason King director of financial services for Hyland Software. "In addition to signature cards, Bank of the West can use OnBase to store and manage any type of content in virtually all areas of the bank across the enterprise to further increase efficiencies."

About SQN Banking Systems

For more than 20 years, SQN Banking Systems has provided integrated fraud detection and process improvement products for the financial industry, meeting the needs of financial institutions of all sizes. The SENTRY suite of products includes software to streamline exception item processing, check and deposit fraud detection, image-survivable security features, signature comparison and display, and safe deposit automation. More than 500 SQN customers have improved their earnings and reduced check fraud losses by as much as 84 percent with SENTRY. For more information, visit SQN's Web site at www.sqnbankingsystems.com.

About Hyland Software Inc.

Established in 1991, Hyland Software Inc. is the developer of OnBase, a rapidly deployable suite of enterprise content management (ECM) software applications. OnBase is a modular suite of ECM applications that includes document imaging, workflow, electronic document management, COLD/ERM and records management. OnBase allows organizations to manage all digital content, including scanned paper documents, e-mails, faxes, print streams, application files, e-forms, Web content and multimedia files. OnBase is used by businesses and government agencies around the world to reduce the time and cost of performing important business functions and address the need for regulatory compliance through the management, control and sharing of digital content with employees, business partners, customers and other constituencies. For more information about OnBase, please contact an authorized OnBase solution provider or visit www.onbase.com.