Fundtech, a provider in global corporate banking solutions, today announced the results of a survey it conducted among its European clients, which uncovered some strong opinions about the affects of SEPA on banks, as well their vision of future strategy related to mobile banking and EIPP.

Among the results, 63 percent of participants felt the impact of SEPA would be considerable on their organization’s profits. Additionally, 44 percent predicted it would take longer than five years to replace the lost revenue resulting from the SEPA pricing mandates. Thirteen percent said they will never be able to recover the lost revenue.

On a more positive note, 61 percent of bankers surveyed see electronic invoice presentment and payments (EIPP) as both a revenue and cost saving opportunity. Survey participants see significant growth in the adoption of EIPP over the next three years. Thirty-eight percent say between a quarter and half of their customers will adopt the service, while 15 percent believe that over 50 percent will adopt it.

There were also comments on mobile banking. Bankers see mobile banking as a long-term play. Thirty-four percent say it will take three to five years for mobile banking to be a meaningful contributor to their company’s bottom line and 38 percent say that it will be longer than five years. Twenty-two percent forecast it will never be a meaningful contributor.

Commenting on the findings, George Ravich, Fundtech chief marketing officer said: ”The results come from a broad spectrum of banks throughout Europe, and as such, provide insights into the industry’s current thinking. Clearly the participants forecast revenue challenges with SEPA that may never be reconciled, but they also see short-term opportunity with the growth of EIPP.“

The study was conducted during Fundtech’s International Client Forum held in London in February. Fifty-seven banking executives participated in the anonymous survey.

Additional findings are as follows:

* Forty-one percent predicted that the SEPA Direct Debit deadline will be delayed past November 2009. Only five percent said there was ”no way“ the deadline would be extended.
* The vast majority, 82 percent, say they will maintain the same staffing levels in preparation of SEPA Direct Debits.
* Seventy eight percent have already purchased or built their solution for SEPA Credit Transfers, and 83 percent for SEPA Direct Debits.
* Standards for new SOA (Service Oriented Architecture) technology are becoming common. Twenty-three percent of the banks said that they currently do have standards which mandate that all new applications must use SOA; 23 percent are developing this standard.
* Bankers report that their STP (Straight Through Processing) rates are high: 59 percent say they have better than 70 percent STP rates, and 13 percent say they have a 90 percent or better rate.

Fundtech was founded in 1993, and is a leading provider of software and services to banks of all sizes around the world. Payments systems include wire transfers, ACH origination, cross-border payments and remittance. Cash management systems are designed for large corporate through small business clients. Fundtech is a leader in SWIFT services, operating one of the world’s largest SWIFT service bureaus in the world. We offer an extensive line of financial supply chain applications including electronic invoice presentment and supply trade financing. And we are the leading provider of CLS systems to the world’s largest banks. More than 1,000 clients throughout the world rely on Fundtech solutions to improve operational efficiency and provide greater competitiveness through innovative business-to-business services.

Forward Looking Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe-harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may include, but are not limited to, projections of revenues, income or loss, capital expenditures, plans for growth and future operations, competition and regulation. Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which cannot be predicted or quantified. When used in this Release, the words, “estimates,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “plans,” “intends,” and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Future events and actual results could differ materially from those set forth in, contemplated by or underlying the forward-looking statements. The factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed or identified from time to time in Fundtech’s public filings, including its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2007, including general economic and market conditions, changes in regulations and taxes and changes in competition in pricing environment. Undo reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which are applicable only as of the date hereof. Fundtech undertakes no obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date of this Release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.