Amman, Jordan, 22nd of December, 2004 - On behalf of all Banks, The Central Bank of Jordan signed the Electronic Cheque Clearing contract with ProgressSoft Corporation, starting a distinctive new era of electronic payments and services.

The contract was signed by Dr. Umayya Toukan the governor of Central Bank of Jordan and by Mr. Michael Wakileh, Chief Executive Officer of ProgressSoft Corporation, making Jordan the second country to adopt such a solution worldwide. Consequently, the Jordanian Banking body will be entitled to superior upgrade to its current cheque clearing routine. This upgrade will leverage the level of services provided by the banks and expedite the clearing process to its extremes.

The Central Bank has chosen a partner that possesses the solution, the technical and business expertise for a project of such magnitude. ProgressSoft's Electronic Image-Based Cheque Clearing Solution dubbed as PS-ECC will be the backbone of the entire cheque clearing process in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

As of this moment the Jordanian banks will be engaged in a smooth transition from a manual to a fully automated & electronic cheque clearing process, starting with professional business process reengineering, customization, deployment, systems integration, staff training, acceptance and ongoing support plans, all conducted and supervised by certified professionals and project managers.

According to Mr. Wakileh, PS-ECC is considered as a successful triumph making Jordan the second country worldwide to apply such a solution. He added that ProgressSoft partnership with HP to market the product reflects its highest standards of quality and innovation.

Dr. Toukan clarified that this solution complies with the national payments system and has all the characteristics that fulfill the cheque clearing with all currencies, explaining that the system is expected to increase the volume of cheque payments and reduce cheque theft and fraud. Dr. Toukan added that PS-ECC is expected to reduce the clearing period from days to few minutes, thus increasing the efficiency of payments through cheques and money liquidity. According to Dr. Toukan, more than 700 working banks' branches will benefit from this solution, where an estimation of 22 thousand cheques are cleared manually each day with a total value that exceeds hundreds of millions of JDs.    

PS-ECC comprises a long list of benefits and advantages for banks, their clients and the country as a whole. By the time PS-ECC goes live, account holders will have their cheques cashed rapidly enabling them to manage their funds more efficiently and banks will reduce costs and generate revenues. On a wider level, PS-ECC will help boost the national economy and raise the GDP according to international studies.

ProgressSoft has become the new household name in the banking industry, drawing new trends and establishing new paths banks never taken before. The solution was the world's first to be introduced in international banking and financial exhibitions and conferences causing a stir among banking delegates and executives.

Jordan placed itself two steps ahead adopting this advanced solution, opening a world of new services and opportunities, by digitizing the exhausting and cumbersome process of manual cheque clearing. 

Since 1989, ProgressSoft Corporation, granted as Jordan's first software development company,  has been the leader in Imaging solutions and was recognized as a major technology provider. In 1999, ProgressSoft pioneered the Electronic Cheque Clearing Solution PS-ECC, gaining the honor of being the first company to obtain such a solution world-wide. Since the 16th of February 2003, PS-ECC has been running countrywide in the State of Qatar, making Qatar the world's first country to start a new era of superior banking technology.

-Ends-

For more information about the company please visit: www.progressoft.com/, www.progressoft.info/  

Sandra Ghawi
Marketing Executive
sandra.ghawi@progressoft.com
Dir Tel: +962-6-5623 000 Ext: 211
Mobile: +962-79-5028985 

ProgressSoft Corporation
87 Queen Rania Street,
P.O.Box: 802-Jubeha
Amman 11941, Jordan
Tel: ++962-6-5623 000
Fax: ++962-6-5690 564
URL: www.progressoft.com

© Press Release 2004