EDB wins major contract to supply SWIFT services

(Oslo, 12 May 2004) EDB Business Partner ASA has signed a contract to supply its new SWIFT-Service Connect service to a Norwegian bank. The contract runs for five years and represents business volume of around NOK 45 million over its five-year term. EDB won this contract following its authorisation as a service bureau for SWIFT.

SWIFT-Service Connect ensures that banks and other financial institutions can exchange financial instructions with their international partners at all times. This type of service is very dependent on maintaining high levels of operational stability and security at all stages, and therefore places particularly exacting demands on the supplier.
 
This new service from EDB is based on more open and flexible communication platforms than previous systems used in this area. The development of this new service and EDB's authorisation as a SWIFT service bureau have created significant market potential for EDB's sales of business-critical services in this area.
 
SWIFT Service Connect is supplied by EDB IT Operations, and this new service meets the high standards for security, reliability and integrity that SWIFT demands for this type of transaction processing. EDB IT Operations is fully committed to following the guidelines set by the SWIFT organisation and meeting its quality standards.
 
"This new contract demonstrates EDB's ability to develop and implement attractive solutions for major banks and other financial institutions. Operating this kind of business-critical service demands a high level of customer confidence in EDB", comments John-Arne Haugerud, Executive Vice President - EDB IT Operations.
 
Any enquiries may be addressed to:
John-Arne Haugerud, Executive Vice President IT Operations: +47 901 15 337
Reidar Gjærum, Executive Vice President - Corporate Communications, +47 908 55 101

SWIFT, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, is an industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to over 7,500 financial institutions in 201 countries. The SWIFT community includes banks, broker/dealers and investment managers, as well as their market infrastructures in payments, securities, treasury and trade.

EDB Business Partner is one of the leading suppliers of IT operations and software in the Nordic region. The company provides industry-leading total solutions in the areas of banking and finance, telecommunications and IT operations. EDB's objective is to contribute to its 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. EDB is represented in Norway, Sweden, the USA, England, Spain and Switzerland. EDB Business Partner ASA is listed on Oslo Børs with the ticker code EDBASA.