Press Release
Andera's New Accounts Online Enables Seamless, Simple, Online Enrollment in Health Savings Accounts
PROVIDENCE, RI - January 18, 2006 - Associated Banc-Corp, a diversified multibank holding company with $21 billion in total assets and more than 300 branches across the midwest, announced that it has launched Andera's New Accounts Online for real-time opening of Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) through Associated Online, its Internet banking portal.
Passed in December 2003 as part of the Medicare reform law, HSAs have been widely hailed as a major benefit for individuals and businesses. With rapidly increasing customer demand for HSAs, banks and credit unions are seeking out ways to capitalize on the market.
"In rolling out HSAs to the marketplace, we are looking to proactively reach out to consumers and offer them a new solution that fits their individual needs," said Sara Junio, director of deposit products at Associated Banc-Corp. "We designed our HSA program with convenience in mind, which made instant online enrollment through Andera a natural extension of our strategy. By offering online enrollment in our HSA product, we are streamlining productivity at the bank, saving our customers valuable time, and reducing inefficiencies and slippage associated with an offline, paper-based enrollment process."
Completely compliant with HSA guidelines and regulations, Andera's New Accounts Online allows financial institutions like Associated Banc-Corp to realize tremendous market opportunities with offering health savings accounts directly to consumers. The platform is fully integrated with Associated Banc-Corp's core deposit system, and allows customers to instantly open health savings accounts through a simple, easy-to-use online interface.
"We believe HSAs will present significant opportunities for financial institutions in the coming years, and that Associated Banc-Corp is on the front end of a significant trend," said Charles Kroll, President of Andera. "Associated had a clear vision of where they were going, and we were thrilled to be part of the solution."
In addition to HSAs, Associated Banc-Corp is also offering instant online account opening and funding through Andera for other deposit products. The result is a streamlined new account opening process, expanded customer relationships and a significant source of new deposits.
"Associated Bank was impressed that Andera's platform was flexible enough to allow us to meet our strategic approach to HSAs while at the same time expanding our capabilities to easily open and fund new deposit accounts online," said Leonard Rowe, Associated's director of eBusiness. "As we continue to proactively enhance and expand the products and services available to our customers through the Internet, we feel confident that Andera's online sales tools will become an increasingly critical and cost effective component of our overall commitment to exceed customer expectations"
About Andera
Andera is the leader in online customer acquisition technologies for retail financial institutions. Dedicated to helping banks and credit unions use the Web as a tool for sales and growth, Andera offers a suite of integrated products and services for automated online account opening, funding and cross-selling. Andera is headquartered in Providence, R.I. and can be found on the Internet at www.andera.com.
About Associated Banc-Corp
Associated Banc-Corp offers a full range of traditional banking services and a variety of other financial products and services, with the No. 1 branch distribution position in most of its key markets. Associated has been named a Mergent Dividend Achiever based on its 34-year history of dividend increases, is a member of the Forbes Global 2000, and has been a leading Small Business Administration lender for many years. More information about Associated Banc-Corp is available at www.AssociatedBank.com.
