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For Immediate Release
Monday, June 12, 2000
Contact: Stacy Miles
V-Tek Systems Corporation
909-396-5355; smiles@v-tek.com
Diamond Bar, California --- V-Tek Systems
Corporation announced today that they have
completed the development and implementation
of a Web-based suite of student loan applications
for Bank of America.
The bank, one of the nation's largest educational
lenders, awarded V-Tek the contract to develop
the product set in April of this year with
a implementation target of June 5, 2000. Cheri
DeBlasio,
V-Tek Executive Vice President, said the aggressive
schedule was dictated by the seasonal nature
of the student lending business. "Seventy
percent of all student loans are originated
during the months of July, August and September,"
she explained. "The bank felt it was critical
to their marketing efforts to implement the
system in time to capture the peak volumes.
Making the June date was part of the deal."
The Internet service, dubbed "Apply On-line"
by the bank, allows student and parents to
apply for any of the bank student loans products
via Web application forms. Apply On-line has
forms for the Federal Stafford and PLUS loans,
as well as, the bank's two private loans,
Maximizer and BAGEL. Borrowers are stepped
through the application process through the
use of help pages and Java script messages.
At the end of the process the applicant can
print out an Adobe Acrobat version of their
application. In the case of a Stafford loan,
the software will query the bank's origination
system to determine whether the borrower already
has a Master Promissory Note on file and therefore
does not need to apply again. In the future,
the bank will offer the ability for borrowers
to receive instant credit approval for PLUS
and private loans and the capability for Financial
Aid Administrators to certify their students
Bank of America loans via the Web.
Kathy Cannon, Senior Vice President of Education
Lending for Bank of America, says that these
kind of Web self-service capabilities are
essential to not only enhance internal productivity,
but to remain competitive from a customer
service point-of-view. "In today's world of
the Internet, the schools expect it, the borrowers
expect it and our competitors are either working
on it or delivering it," she said. "The Web
products and services will be the cornerstone
of much of our future strategic planning."
In the past several years, student loan providers
have seen their profit margins decreased by
both government regulations and intense competition.
Again Ms. Cannon, "To remain viable, lenders
need to control operating costs and still
offer the highest levels of customer service.
Web-based products and services give us the
tools to do just that."
V-Tek Systems Corporation, headquartered in
Diamond Bar, CA, is a software development
and system integration company with extensive
expertise in Web-based business applications,
Internet communications, client/server technology,
UNIX and NT operating systems and Oracle data
base software. V-Tek provides software solutions
and services to many of the nation's largest
financial institutions and colleges and universities.
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