Three savings banks sign 6-year contracts with EDB

Three savings banks sign 6-year contracts with EDB

(Oslo, 16 March 2004) Fana Sparebank, Sparebanken Volda Ørsta and Voss Sparebank have signed contracts with EDB Business Partner for IT solutions and operating services for their banking activities. The agreements run for six years from 2005 to 2010, and represent total business volume of around NOK 100 million.

Fana Sparebank, Sparebanken Volda Ørsta and Voss Sparebank are cancelling their current agreements to sign separate contracts with EDB for IT solutions and operating services.

The contracts will come into commercial effect from the date the banks are no longer bound by their corresponding agreements and commitments with Terra-Gruppen.

"We are very satisfied with our collaboration with EDB. We want to have a long-term customer relationship to provide the basis for our on-going banking operations using EDB's solutions portfolio. The new contracts give each bank greater scope for product development to meet its own requirements, as well as delivering a significant reduction in costs. As customers of EDB we benefit from economies of scale and collaboration on development that will strengthen our competitive situation", explain Nils Martin Axe, Managing Director of Fana Sparebank, Harald Indresøvde, Managing Director of Sparebanken Volda Ørsta and Kjell Jostein Bø, Managing Director of Voss Sparebank.

EDB Bank & Finance will supply a complete systems portfolio and infrastructure for the banks' core activities. This will include lending, deposits, accounting and reporting, payment services, customer dialogue and information distribution, Internet banking and branch office systems for account administration and sales, as well as integration with the banks' other systems. Operating services will be supplied by EDB IT Operations.

"This is a very pleasing development for EDB, and confirms that we offer competitive functionality and pricing for independent savings banks. The three banks will each be able to develop their own products based on standard solutions, and this will help them to strengthen their own brand and local presence", comments Ole Urdahl, Executive Vice President - EDB Bank & Finance.

Any enquiries may be addressed to:

Ole Urdahl, Executive Vice President - EDB Bank & Finance. Tel: + 47 22 52 82 60
Reidar Gjærum, Executive Vice President - Corporate Communications and Marketing, EDB Business Partner. Tel: +47 908 55 101

EDB Business Partner is one of the leading suppliers of IT operations and software in the Nordic region. We provide industry-leading total solutions in the areas of banking and finance, telecommunications and IT operations. Our objective is to contribute to our customers' value creation by offering productivity-enhancing IT solutions combined with flexible and reliable operating solutions with unique economies of scale. EDB Business Partner has some 2,500 employees and reported turnover of NOK 4.3 billion in 2003. We are represented in Norway, Sweden, the USA, England, France, Spain and Switzerland. EDB Business Partner ASA is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code EDBASA.