– Siemens Financial Services, Inc. (SFS Inc.) today announced its agreement with CapitalStream to begin using CapitalStream.com as a private network to streamline its financing processes and increase service to its partners and vendors. SFS Inc. plans to advance its e-commerce initiatives in the U.S. by using CapitalStream's hosted network and its workflow software. An affiliate of Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), SFS, Inc. offers customized financial solutions for industrial companies, service providers and public contractors.
"CapitalStream is helping us reduce costs by streamlining our manual financing processes, increasing our efficiency and allowing us to track our business with superior management and reporting capabilities," said Bill Zadrozny, President and CEO of Siemens Financial Services, Inc. "More importantly, CapitalStream's network will help us better serve our partners and customers and provide a platform to accommodate the future growth of our equipment finance and leasing business."
"By using CapitalStream.com, SFS Inc. is able to rapidly go to market with an online financing solution capable of handling origination, customer communication, and documentation, all the way to booking," said Stephen Campbell, president and CEO of CapitalStream. "Our solution will not only help SFS Inc. address its sales and operations goals, but also better position the company's future e-commerce initiatives. The CapitalStream platform is able to support both traditional channels as well as developing e-commerce channels and is gaining rapid acceptance in the commercial finance industry."
Initially, SFS Inc. will use CapitalStream.com to automate its equipment sales financing business by allowing vendors to send financing applications online to SFS Inc. SFS Inc. will also implement CenterPoint, the CapitalStream's enterprise workflow software, to improve workflow and document management productivity and to integrate with its backend systems. SFS Inc. then plans to use CapitalStream.com to offer private label financing through its partners' web sites.
SFS, Inc. recently announced a private label agreement with First International Bank, a subsidiary of First International Bancorp Inc. (NASDAQ: FNCE), to provide comprehensive lease processing and operational support to facilitate First International's equipment leases to its industrial customers.
"Siemens Financial Services," comprised of Siemens AG's worldwide independently operated financial services affiliates, is an international financial services provider with a strong customer focus and more than 1,000 employees over 30 countries, offering customized financial solutions ranging from sales and investment financing to fund management.
Siemens AG is an industry leader in telecommunications; energy and power; lighting and precision materials; industry and automation; and healthcare, and a key player in microelectronics and components; transportation; building technologies; information systems and other products. In fiscal 1999 (10/1/98 to 9/30/99), Siemens AG's U.S. businesses, with more than 64,000 employees, recorded sales of $14.8 billion. Siemens AG, based in Berlin and Munich, is one of the world's largest electrical engineering and electronics companies and employs 443,000 people worldwide in 193 countries.
Seattle-based CapitalStream is a leading provider of e-commerce solutions – including customer program management tools, workflow automation, and an online transaction network – for the global commercial finance market. The company's e-commerce network, CapitalStream.com, provides the infrastructure for financing companies, manufacturers and B2B e-commerce firms to capture, grow and service customers. CapitalStream has been an established industry leader for over five years, and has helped several hundred financial organizations increase their competitiveness, customer service and profitability.
Leslie Morgan
CapitalStream
206-548-1712
lesliem@capitalstream.com
Lisa Geschke
Parker LePla
206-625-1541
lisag@parkerlepla.com
Esra Ozer
Siemens
212-258-4348
esra.ozer@sc.siemens.com
