Spescom Software Helps First National Motor Finance to Stay in the Fast Lane
SAN DIEGO--July 10, 2002--Spescom Software, Inc. (OTC BB: ALTS), previously Altris Software Inc., a leading provider of integrated document, configuration and records management (iDCR) solutions, today announced that First National Motor Finance (FNMF), a member of the Abbey National Group, has successfully implemented an IT system utilizing Spescom's eB solution to significantly reduce the time it takes to process requests for motor vehicle finance.Spescom's eB iDCR solution sits at the heart of the new system providing the vault technology that captures, stores and retrieves information related to the finance request.
The provision of motor vehicle finance, is a highly competitive business where the ability to respond quickly is key to winning business. Typically motor dealers will approach more than one finance organization on behalf of a customer wishing to purchase a vehicle. Generally the first finance house to respond wins the business.
Carl Mostert, CEO of Spescom Software, stated, "We are pleased that First National Motor Finance (FNMF) has chosen a system containing Spescom's eB suite to replace its relatively slow, labor intensive paper and microfiche based system. The new system will reduce the amount of necessary data input and decrease the incidence of keyboarding errors through the use of Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR), as well as allow for concurrent processing of applications and faster retrieval of documents. By teaming with Spescom, FNMF will increase its competitive edge and reduce overheads."
In a two-stage implementation, FNMF first replaced paper and microfilm with scanned documents to drive the following results:
| - | reduce response time to the initial financing request from 3-4 hours to 10-15 minutes |
| - | reduce long processing backlogs |
| - | enable instant desktop retrieval of documents which previously took 1 to 3 weeks |
The recently completed second stage has streamlined the process even further through the use of automated data capture, resulting in:
| - | further reductions in the number of people required to input and fund |
| - | a further reduction in response time to just 5 minutes |
| - | improvements in the consistency of response through automating 90% of underwriting decisions |
| - | minimizing the number of contacts with the motor dealer |
Commenting on the system, Mark Scott, Project Leader at FNMF, said, "Smart processing will give us a competitive edge in the world of vehicle finance. It is our aim to automate as much of the process involved in receiving an application for vehicle finance and processing it through underwriting and funding. Spescom Software's eB iDCR software suite is a key part of that process."
First National Motor Finance is a member of the Abbey National Group and one of the UK's leading finance houses. The Retail Finance division of First National has been supplying point of sale finance to the retail market for over forty years. The company works with retailers to provide over two million customers with the financial deal that is right for them.
Abbey National plc is the UK's sixth largest banking group as measured by assets and the country's second largest mortgage lender. Abbey National plc and its subsidiaries offer a comprehensive range of personal financial services, including savings and investments, mortgages, banking, pensions, unit trusts, life and general insurance products, as well as secured and unsecured lending, to over 16 million customers in the United Kingdom. In addition, Abbey National's wholesale banking arm (Abbey National Treasury Services plc) is a leading participant in the international financial markets.
About Spescom eB
eB is a registered trademark of Spescom Software Inc. eB comprises an extensive set of software components that together form the foundation for an extremely flexible and powerful information management platform. eB's components include: document management; records management; item management; change management; configuration management and workflow components. These components are tightly integrated with CAD, GIS, office and email applications to capture and view information. The full functionality of eB is available via a set of API's that enable the rapid definition and deployment of customer specific solutions and integration with other line-of-business applications including ERP, CRM, SCM, maintenance management and project management products.
About Spescom Software, Inc.
Spescom Software (OTCBB:ALTS - News) delivers enterprise eBusiness solutions that provide rapid access to accurate information in context to assets, products and processes, resulting in improved customer satisfaction, productivity and safety. It achieves this through a tightly integrated suite of document, configuration and records management technologies that not only allows it to capture and securely store information, but also organizes and structures this information to place it in context.
Key customers include Continental Airlines, AmerenUE, Entergy, City of Winston-Salem, Britannia Airways, Eastern Municipal Water District, Sempra, Northeast Utilities, London Underground, Mack Trucks, Railtrack, Ocean Energy, and many others.
About Spescom Limited
Spescom Limited is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) company with operations in USA, UK and South Africa. The group is active in two main areas of the world ITC market, namely offering product and solutions to connect to the networked economy, and the provision of software solutions to manage information and knowledge.
Spescom holds the controlling interest in USA based, Spescom Software Inc., a NASDAQ, OTCBB listed company, and the developers of the award winning eB software suite.
Except for historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this release include forward-looking statements that are dependent on certain risks and uncertainties, including such factors, among others, as market acceptance, market demand, pricing, changing regulatory environment, the effect of the company's accounting policies, potential seasonality and other risk factors detailed in the company's SEC filings.