Exhibit 99.2
FUNDTECH ANNOUNCES E-COMMERCE STRATEGY
COMPANY WILL PARTNER TO LEVERAGE CORE TECHNOLOGY
TEL AVIV, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 4, 2000--Fundtech Ltd. (NASDAQ: FNDT),
a leading provider of e-payments and Internet banking solutions, today announced
a set of initiatives aimed at enabling banks to play a key role in the growth of
global e-commerce. These ] initiatives are expected to expand the Company's
available market and enhance shareholder value by leveraging core technology to
create new applications.
Speaking today at a meeting with investors in Tel Aviv, Reuven Ben-Menachem,
Chairman and CEO of Fundtech, said, "We are gratified that our initial strategy
of aggressively investing in producing e-payment and e-banking platforms for
banks of all sizes is clearly beginning to pay off. Our pipeline of new business
opportunities continues to expand, including some very large deals involving our
core products. A key reason banks are interested in working with us is our
vision and our commitment to creating solutions to address future needs. Our
customers are anticipating huge increases in transaction volumes and facing
demands for even more services to support their corporate customers' e-commerce
activities. These banks are looking to us for leadership, and we are responding
with strategies to develop solutions quickly in order to sustain our first-mover
advantage."
STRATEGIC INITIATIVES
In order to bring new e-commerce solutions to market as rapidly as possible, the
Company is actively discussing strategic investments in new ventures for new
product development. Fundtech plans to collaborate with other companies to offer
these new products and services under its traditional license agreements and as
an application service provider (ASP). Currently, discussions are focused on
solutions that will:
o create wireless access to the banking system anywhere, anytime
for both businesses and consumers;
o extend real-time processing capabilities to include both
high-value transactions and low-value transactions; and
o integrate the entire payment and settlement process with other
elements of the transaction by linking banks with aggregators,
hubs, independent trading exchanges and other market
participants.
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The range of possible partners includes bank customers, other technology
companies, systems integrators and leading B2B exchanges. The Company expects to
make some specific announcements in connection with these initiatives by the end
of the year.
Michael Carus, Fundtech's Chief Operating Officer and CFO said, "By
collaborating with other leading players with relevant and complementary
expertise, we will be able to introduce complete solutions quickly without
unduly burdening either our management structure or our balance sheet. While the
growth in global e-commerce creates an enhanced opportunity, we are still on the
front end of our growth curve in our core products. We will continue our
aggressive internal development work to enhance these products in order to
expand our lead."
BANK-CENTRIC STRATEGY
E-commerce, particularly business-to-business, is enormously complex with many
components and processes involved. In order for electronic commerce to realize
its full promise, the dozens of components that comprise a typical offline
transaction must be enabled in real time via the Internet. As the vital link
between businesses and the global payments infrastructure for decades, banks are
uniquely positioned to integrate payment-related activities with other aspects
of the transaction and provide value-added information to help corporations
manage their businesses more effectively.
"Numerous vendors both within and outside the banking industry are announcing
plans for B2B e-commerce payment products," noted Mr. Ben-Menachem. "Our
intimate knowledge of the existing global payments infrastructure, which is
centered around banks, convinces us that our decision to focus on a bank-centric
strategy is the right one. In addition, our existing capabilities and domain
expertise provide a strong foundation from which to continue our first-mover
advantage. For example, we are the only vendor that offers a real-time,
end-to-end solution that seamlessly integrates e-banking and e-payments.
"We have successfully implemented a global expansion strategy, and we are able
to address the entire spectrum of wholesale bank customers by virtue of our
proven ability to move up-market to serve the largest banks anywhere in the
world. We are the acknowledged technology leader, having devoted substantial
resources to new software development while many of our competitors chose merely
to add on to existing systems. This means we are extremely well-positioned to
provide the solutions that banks need in any economy, old or new, to reduce
risk, improve operating efficiency and deliver value-added services to their
customers."
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ABOUT FUNDTECH
Fundtech (www.fundtech.com) is a leading provider of software solutions and
services that facilitate e-payment and e-banking by enabling businesses and
their banks to electronically manage cash, process payments and transfer funds.
The company's client-server and Internet software products automate the process
of transferring funds among corporations, banks and clearance systems and enable
businesses to manage global cash positions efficiently and in real-time. Its
solutions have been sold to more than 650 financial institutions around the
globe.
Certain statements contained herein, including statements regarding the
development of the company's services, markets, product functionality and year
2000 compliance and future demand for the company's product services and other
statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking
statements. Such statements include risks and uncertainties: consequently,
actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied thereby.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are
not limited to, variability of quarterly operating results, dependence on key
personnel, ability to effectively manage growth, risks associated with rapid
technological advances and possible acquisitions, any integration of those
acquisitions into the company's present business, risk associated with the
company's strategic partnerships, various project associated risks, including
Internet projects, substantial competition, risks associated with intellectual
operations and other risk factors listed from time to time in the company's
filing reports.
CONTACT: KCSA Public Relations Worldwide
Ed Sweeney or Amy Silveira
212/896-1265 or 212/896-1224
[email protected] or [email protected]
or
Monday, September 4 Holiday Contact:
KCSA Public Relations Worldwide
Henry P. Feintuch
914/238-1585
914/548-6924 (cell)
or
Fundtech Ltd.
Claudia Gatlin or Michael Carus
201/946-1100
[email protected] or [email protected]
