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Carretek Awarded Three-Year Offshoring Contract to Transform
Selected Operations Functions for US-Based Company
Client savings of 40 percent to 50 percent expected in reduced
per-item costs
Arrangement includes unique processes and technology to guard
customer privacy and comply with processing deadlines
DALLAS, TEXAS (August 19, 2004) — Carretek LLC, a transformational
business processing outsourcer for transaction processing, jointly
owned by Carreker Corporation (a leading provider of technology
and consulting solutions for the financial services industry:
Nasdaq CANI) and Majesco Software Inc. (a subsidiary of Mastek
Limited, a leading global outsourcing company: National Stock
Exchange, India: MASTEK), announced today that Carretek has been
awarded a three-year offshoring agreement with a US-based company.
The client, whose identity was not disclosed, expects to realize
cost savings in the range of 40 percent to 50 percent.
A key aspect of the agreement was the development of unique
processes and technology to process transactions in near real-time,
to guard customer and company privacy, and to comply with regulatory
deadlines for processing timeliness.
The agreement, the first for Carretek, is a "co-sourcing" arrangement,
under which the client retains key customer contact, product,
operations, control, and technology responsibilities while Carretek
provides business process expertise and offshore functions, as
well as transition support, program management, ongoing delivery
services, and business continuity services. The agreement includes
a stated intention to expand the number of functions offshored
over the next six-to-twelve months.
To ensure compliance with laws and regulations concerning customer
privacy, security, and timeliness of processing, Carretek has
adopted three key sets of processes. First, regarding staffing
and training, Carretek has replicated the client's processes
and controls as much as possible, screening for the same characteristics
and adopting similar training regimens. Second, regarding control
of customer information, the Carretek process ensures that the
information is never resident in India, but remains under the
control of the client, with screened and trained staff having
access to the information only for the duration of the function
being performed. Third, with regard to timeliness, Carretek has
created workflows and processes that ensure Carretek functions
are performed accurately and reintegrated into the client's processing
workflows in order to meet regulator and customer deadlines for
posting and balancing.
Said Jay Mehaffey, executive vice president of Carretek, "By
solving these issues of customer privacy, timeliness, and control,
Carretek can free transaction processing from many of the old
constraints of time and place, transforming the processes in
the course of offshoring them. As a result, our client can leverage
the global work force at this critical period when competitive
and market trends are pressuring institutions to reduce their
costs beyond the power of traditional cost management practices.
Carretek has designed and built specific product offerings targeted
to transaction processing functions for this express purpose."
Ketan Mehta, director of Carretek and co-founder of Mastek,
said, "Realizing the significant benefit potential in offshoring
transaction operations requires solid, transaction-specific expertise
and offshoring experience. Carretek clients can be confident
they are partnering with an organization that has deep domain
expertise in the business, technology and regulatory environment,
a discipline of control and security, a proven change management
process, demonstrated competence in people and process management
in India, and a record of delivering results reliably day after
day."
J. D. (Denny) Carreker, chairman and CEO of Carreker Corporation
said, "With this agreement, this client, which we have served
for more than two decades with a variety of technology and consulting
solutions, is confirming their confidence in our ability to help
them maintain a leadership position in their operations."
"This agreement validates the strategic effort we launched
more than a year ago to respond to the business process outsourcing
needs in the transaction processing business," said Sudhakar
Ram, CEO of Mastek. "Carretek combines Mastek's focus on quality
and operational excellence with Carreker's domain expertise and
technologies in transaction processing, making this model unique
in the Indian business process outsourcing industry and transforming
how business will be conducted in the 21st century."
Forrester Research recently increased its projections for offshoring
of U.S. jobs by 40 percent. They now expect 830,000, or 1.6 percent
of U.S. jobs, to move offshore by the end of 2005.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom,
the Indian technology industry trade body) expects India's exports
of software and services to jump more than 30 percent to $16
billion in the current year ending next March.
About Carretek
Carretek was formed in May 2003 as a partnership between Carreker
Corporation and Mastek. For more information, visit www.carretek.com.
Carretek offers companies the opportunity to significantly
reduce costs while maintaining high quality standards for real
time and near real time payment and transaction operations
by combining domain expertise with state of the art information
security, imaging technology, process reengineering and the
cost efficiencies of a global workforce.
About Carreker Corporation
Carreker Corporation improves earnings for financial institutions
around the world. The Company's integrated consulting and software
solutions are designed to increase clients' revenues and reduce
their expenses, while improving security and increasing the
value of their customer relationships. Carreker provides products
and services to more than 250 clients in the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, continental Europe, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean.
Clients include the full range of community, regional and large
banks, among them more than 75 of the largest 100 banks in
the United States. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas since 1978,
Carreker Corporation has offices in London and Sydney. For
more information, visit www.carreker.com.
About Mastek
Mastek, a US $ 91 million publicly held, global IT application
outsourcing company with global operations, that delivers cost
effective quality solutions as per the customized requirements
of Fortune 1000 organizations worldwide. With its principal
offshore delivery facility based at Mumbai, India, Mastek operates
across US, Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific regions. Incorporated
in 1982, Mastek has been in the forefront of technology, which
along with proven methodologies and processes, increase IT
value generation to its customers through onsite and offshore
deliveries. For more information, visit www.mastek.com.
Forward Looking Statement for Carreker Corporation - Except
for historical information, the statements in this release, including
statements regarding future financial performance, contain forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.
These statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially, including
but not limited to the volatility in the Company's common stock
price, as well as the risks and uncertainties arising out of
economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors
affecting the Companyxs operations, markets, services, products
and prices. For further information concerning certain of these
risks and uncertainties, see under the caption xForward Looking
Statements and Risk Factorsx in the Companyxs most recent Form
10-K for the year ended January 31, 2004. We assume no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except
as may be required by law.
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