ATLANTA, Feb. 3, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Washington Trust Bank, the oldest and largest privately owned commercial bank in the Northwest, has expanded its relationship with John H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH) to include HarlandImpact(SM), a marketing solution that combines business intelligence with the checkbook to improve marketing performance. HarlandImpact leverages Harland's Stratics(TM) predictive models and digital print technology to drive intelligence-based targeted messages to accountholders.
HarlandImpact provides an innovative and highly effective means to boost marketing performance by inserting intelligence-driven marketing messages into the accountholder's check order. Targeted messages are developed by combining a financial institution's marketing data with Stratics, Harland's proprietary predictive behavioral models. The messages are then inserted into the end-user's check order using Harland's digital print technology, the most advanced in the industry.
"We see HarlandImpact as a way to cross-sell our products and services through more channels," said Mary Ellen Holland, marketing research manager for Washington Trust. "By using the checkbook to market our products and services, Washington Trust can improve its cross and up-sell results, while strengthening relationships with both retail and small business customers."
Washington Trust Bank uses several Harland products and services in addition to HarlandImpact including Direct Marketing, Touche(R) Customer Relationship Management Solution, Decision Pro(TM) consumer credit underwriting and Laser Pro(R) lending compliance solution.
"We focus on helping financial institutions sell more of their products and services and on promoting awareness of our clients' brands, and HarlandImpact enhances our ability to do both," said Steve Albright, vice president of marketing and general manager of checks and forms for Harland Printed Products, a division of Harland. "We have already demonstrated that HarlandImpact can impact other areas of a financial institution's operations. For example, it has a proven ability to increase balances on existing accounts."
Washington Trust Bank joins an expanding list of clients using HarlandImpact to drive additional sales of products and services and enhance customer relationships. With six financial institutions on board and ten additional clients scheduled for implementation in the first quarter of 2005, HarlandImpact is proving an effective way for financial institutions to improve accountholder penetration and grow revenue.
About Washington Trust Bank
Washington Trust Bank is the oldest and largest independently owned full-service commercial bank in the Northwest, serving the region since 1902. A wholly owned subsidiary of W. T. B. Financial Corporation, Washington Trust Bank has assets of over $2.4 billion. The Bank is based in Spokane and currently has 36 locations, including 32 branches in Washington and Idaho -- plus Commercial and Private Banking offices in Seattle, Bellevue and Portland and a Builder's Services Loan Office in American Forks, Utah.
About Harland
Atlanta-based John H. Harland Company (NYSE:JH) (http://www.harland.net) is a leading provider of software and printed products to the financial and educational markets. Harland Financial Solutions, Inc. (http://www.harlandfinancialsolutions.com), a wholly owned subsidiary, supplies software and services, including customer relationship management, deposit and loan origination, core systems and mortgage services to thousands of financial institutions of all sizes. Harland's printed products offerings include checks, direct marketing and financial forms. Scantron Corporation (http://www.scantron.com), a wholly owned subsidiary, is a leading provider of both paper and electronic-based services and systems for the collection, management and interpretation of data to the financial, commercial and educational markets.
This press release contains statements, which may constitute "forward-looking statements." These statements include statements regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of John H. Harland Company and members of its respective management, as well as the assumptions on which such statements are based. Prospective investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties and that actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Reference is made to the Risk Factors and Cautionary Statements in Harland's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filed under the Securities Exchange Act.