ALLTEL to Provide Data Processing for DaimlerChrysler Services; Agreement Provides Loan and Lease Processing for Caribbean/Latin American Operations

    LITTLE ROCK, Ark.--Feb. 14, 2002--ALLTEL will deploy its automotive finance system outside of the United States for the first time under an agreement to support DaimlerChrysler Services' Caribbean automotive financing operations. The integrated loan and lease system provides DaimlerChrysler Services with a high-volume, low-cost system that will create greater efficiencies within the lending process.
    ALLTEL will provide its automotive finance software through an application service provider (ASP) delivery model for DaimlerChrysler. Financial terms of the five-year agreement were not disclosed.
    "Our agreement with ALLTEL represents an ongoing commitment to a strategic business partnership," said Gerhard Peter Gross, managing director with DaimlerChrysler Services Caribbean SA. "ALLTEL's automotive finance offering provides our organization with the ability to meet the demands of our customers today and in the future."
    Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, DaimlerChrysler Services Caribbean provides financing for DaimlerChrysler Group products to automotive dealers and retail consumers. Doing business as Chrysler Credit and Mercedes-Benz Credit, it also finances commercial vehicles for DaimlerChrysler Group brands such as Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star.
    "In the United States the automobile finance portfolio of consumer loans and leases is projected to exceed the $800 billion mark by 2005, globally the number could easily reach $2 trillion," said Christine Pratt, senior analyst for consumer credit with TowerGroup. "Now, with DaimlerChrysler Services as a client, ALLTEL's ASP offering will process loans and leases for one of the industry's largest players."
    ALLTEL now has relationships with four of the top five captive automotive finance companies, which account for almost 70 percent of the total outstanding balances in this market.
    "ALLTEL's history of outsourcing success is based on a model of ALLTEL managing an organization's information technology needs, while the organization focuses on growing its business," said Jim Milligan, president of ALLTEL Information Services' financial services organization. "We will continue to expand our offerings to meet the information technology needs of the automotive finance market."
    DaimlerChrysler Services Caribbean is a company of DaimlerChrysler Services AG, Berlin, the financial services company of DaimlerChrysler. DaimlerChrysler Services offers financing and leasing products for all passenger car and commercial vehicle brands of DaimlerChrysler, fleet management solutions and develops innovative mobility services. With a managed portfolio of around EUR 127 billion and around 10,000 employees, DaimlerChrysler Services is one of the leading financial services companies worldwide.
    Forty-seven of the top 50 U.S. banks rely on ALLTEL's products and services. ALLTEL provides loan servicing automation for more than 20 million mortgage loans, with balances exceeding $2 trillion. Additionally, more than 34 percent of the total dollar volume of outstanding U.S. consumer loans, including mortgages, is processed on ALLTEL Information Services' software applications.
    ALLTEL, with more than 10 million communications customers and $7.6 billion in annual revenues, is a leader in the communications and information services industries. ALLTEL has communications customers in 24 states and provides information services to telecommunications, financial and mortgage clients in more than 50 countries.