GENEVA, Switzerland, 28 October 2009, Temenos (SIX: TEMN), the global provider of integrated core banking systems, today announced that Bank of Georgia (BOG) (LSE: BGEO), the leading Georgian bank which delivers retail, corporate and private banking services to more than 700,000 customers across 140 branches, has selected TEMENOS T24 (T24) to consolidate its operations. The deal, signed in September 2009, is in line with the Bank’s strategic objective of increasing technological enhancements to improve operational efficiency and customer service. Additionally, the system will enable BOG to capture cross-border synergies, as it aims to centralise its IT operations across Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine.

I am delighted that the bank continues to exploit its strong capital and liquidity position, which has enabled us to invest in a leading core banking system. I strongly believe that the new system will improve our competitiveness and take our business to the next level, as the bank moves from a local platform to an internationally acclaimed system. We felt Temenos best met our complete spectrum of operational requirements. The pre-configured nature of T24 Model Bank will dramatically reduce the level of coding in configuring new products, generating an estimated 60% reduction in time to market. Furthermore, we have estimated that the single customer view delivered through T24 will generate approximately 20% increase in call rate per call centre employee, giving a faster, more efficient service. Accurate, holistic information will enable our staff to seize more cross selling opportunities and we anticipate approximately 30% improvement in telesales performance”, comments Irakli Gilauri, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Georgia.

The bank opted for T24 Model Bank for Universal Banking over offerings from international competitors to integrate its operations on a single platform and to address all requirements across its three business domain areas from one central point. As a fully integrated system, T24’s functional breadth will enable the bank to simplify and streamline its infrastructure and lower maintenance costs.

With T24, BOG aims to make a wide range of improvements across its treasury, corporate and retail banking and wealth management business divisions, The high levels of straight through processing incorporated in T24 will automate a wide range of processes, including Nostro reconciliation and treasury operations confirmation, whilst eliminating data entry for BOG’s wealth management CRM system. This will lessen the need for resources and further drive down costs, as well as reduce development time for new products across all business areas, including cash management services for its corporate client base. T24’s open architecture will provide BOG with the freedom to implement the system on a hardware platform that best matches its strategic technical preferences.

Keith Stonell, Regional Director Northern Europe and CIS, Temenos comments, ‘This win reinforces the increasing trend among leading domestic banks to invest in globally recognised core banking platforms to cement their competitive positions with agile, customer focused strategies. We are delighted to be providing Bank of Georgia with a highly flexible, advanced system that will enable it to differentiate the business through rapid execution of new, market driven offerings across its entire business.”

About Bank of Georgia
Bank of Georgia is the leading Georgian bank offering a broad range of corporate and investment banking, retail banking, wealth management and insurance services to its customers in Georgia, Ukraine and Belarus. Bank of Georgia is the largest bank in Georgia by assets, loans, deposits and equity, with 33.7% market share by total assets (all data according to the National Bank of Georgia as of 31 July 2009). The Bank has 140 branches and over 880,000 retail and more than 146,000 corporate current accounts in Georgia.

About Temenos
Founded in 1993 and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX: TEMN), Temenos Group AG is a global provider of banking software systems in the Retail, Corporate & Correspondent, Universal, Private, Islamic and Microfinance & Community banking markets. Headquartered in Geneva with 51 offices worldwide, Temenos serves over 700 customers in more than 120 countries. Temenos’ software products provide advanced technology and rich functionality, incorporating best practice processes that leverage Temenos’ experience in over 600 implementations around the globe. Temenos’ advanced and automated implementation approach, provided by its strong Client Services organisation, ensures efficient and low-risk core banking platform migrations. Temenos annually invests around 20% in R&D, significantly more than its peers, into a single fully packaged upgradeable software release, which ensures all Temenos customers benefit from modern technology and support indefinitely.

About Temenos T24
T24 Model Bank is packaged core banking software which includes banking best practices based on Temenos’ extensive worldwide experience across the Retail, Corporate, Universal, Private Wealth, Islamic and Microfinance and Community banking sectors. Its highly automated approach delivers short implementations, guarantees lower cost of ownership with rapid and measurable ROI. T24 allows banks to replace a large number of disparate legacy systems, thereby streamlining their operations. Banks around the world use T24 to rapidly deliver innovative, market-driven products and services tailored to meet the changing needs of their customers. T24 enables banks to deliver growth, while managing risk and cost, and ensuring that they remain ahead of the competition with the most efficient and economical business model in the market.