SAN FRANCISCO, California, September 5, 2005  — General Electric, Inc. is to realize a 406% return on investment by moving to SWIFTNet for use by its Corporate Treasury in Cash and Treasury Management, according to an audit by Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, an independent research and consulting firm specializing in value measurement.

          As one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world, GE Corporate Treasury manages billions of dollars every day, serving over 4,000 business units, spanning 20,000 bank accounts with over 200 banks around the globe.  For GE Corporate Treasury, availability, reliability, security and control are paramount to getting the job done – collecting money from customers and paying vendors in over a dozen foreign currencies.

GE, like most multi-nationals, was wrestling with multiple banking relationships and connections to execute their cash management (payment and receipts) strategies.  Scaling to handle the volume and demands of its growing business, GE would have required an increase in headcount to process more than the current 50% level of treasury volume.  IT (Information

Technology) was spending a significant amount of resources to maintain multiple systems, connection points and security protocols.  Each connection was different – systems, processes, and data (quality, availability and timeliness) impacting GE’s ability to quickly assemble a view of its current cash positions.  IT was in an endless cycle of break-fix, work-a-rounds, and update and maintaining of the various connections and security protocols.  To overcome these challenges, GE made the decision to use SWIFT, and its SWIFTNet Corporate-to-Bank (C2B) solution to provide GE with a simple, secure and reliable communications platform to transmit financial messages to and from GE’s banks around the globe.  “With SWIFTNet, we never have to worry about availability,” said Dennis Sweeney, Assistant Treasurer, GE.

Using SWIFTNet, GE is able to create one window from its internal Treasury Workstation, (GE WebCash) directly to its banks via Closed User Groups (CUGs).  The SwiftNet solution allows GE to replace its existing fragmented approach, comprised of point-to-point, EDI VANS (Value Added Networks) and proprietary bank connections to one single, reliable, integrated non-repudiated platform.  Best summarized by Steve Kalkowski, Manager of GE Cash Management Systems, “We have unlocked the constraints of our infrastructure by moving to SWIFTNet.”  Since the implementation began, GE Treasury has realized enormous benefits from the combination of SWIFTNet and GE WebCash.

A recent study conducted by Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, an independent research and consulting firm specializing in value measurement, projects GE’s investment at an impressive 406% Return On Investment (ROI) resulting in significant economic, strategic, and operational benefits.   

Greater Reliability
Before SWIFTNet, GE Corporate Treasury was spending a significant amount of money and resources addressing the complexity of interfacing with over 30 primary banks, 200+ banks in all, incorporating over 20,000 bank accounts.  This enormous effort required more than six full-time equivalents fully dedicated to mapping software for financial messaging, monitoring, and managing connection points to multiple systems and banks around the globe.  “Before SWIFTNet, it took 10% of a person’s time to chase failed transactions,” according to Charlotte Powell, Managing Director, Global Cash Operations.

Improved Security
In today’s on-line, digital world, security is top of mind for everyone — especially so for one of the most respected brands in the world.  The GE brand symbolizes strength, security and reliability mandating that it operate in the most secure environment available.  Before SWIFTNet, GE juggled multiple security packages, protocols and security keys — a never ending management headache for GE Corporate Treasury’s operations.  With multiple banks, GE was constantly in an update, upgrade, and test mode, with no end in sight for the underlying costs.   

Increased Visibility
 With its previous infrastructure, GE was burdened by mapping its transactions to the format dictated by each bank, severely hindering its ability to quickly scale and on-board additional financial institutions.  Also, without real-time responses to outbound messaging, control of 20,000+ bank accounts was nearly impossible.  The majority of banks update transaction status through batch processing on an end-of-day or next day basis, further challenging GE’s visibility into intraday balances, and truly impacting its ability to perform true cash management.   

Quantifiable Benefits
Thoughtware Worldwide’s analysis shows GE Corporate Treasury will generate $10.5 million in Net Benefits over five years from its investment in SWIFTNet.  From the operational benefits alone, GE achieves a positive return on its investment in SWIFTNet.  “For us, the key finding is that SWIFTNet enables GE to redeploy its resources to more value-add activities, allowing GE to focus on running its business more efficiently.  With SWIFTNet, GE no longer has to worry about connectivity, reliability or transaction monitoring,” said Timothy Guyre, Managing Director, Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC.  Beyond the operational benefits GE Corporate Treasury received from SWIFTNet, GE will achieve long term benefits from its improved visibility and availability of cash around the globe, resulting in improved cash management and reduced borrowing through optimization of its idle cash. 

          To view the comprehensive GE-SWIFT ROI study by Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, please select one of the following...

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About General Electric, Inc.

GE is a diversified technology and services company dedicated to creating products that make life better.  From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, television programming, and plastics, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide.  For more information, visit the company’s Web site at www.ge.com

About Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC

A privately held company, Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, USA and was founded in 2005 by a team of leading experts in value management bridging the best of academia and real-world execution. Thoughtware Worldwide delivers credible, comprehensive research and analysis that gives clients and their customers the means to make sound and insightful business decisions in today's volatile economic climate. Thoughtware Worldwide works with companies around the globe to audit and understand the value realized from their investment decisions.

For more information about Thoughtware Worldwide, LLC, please log on to www.ThoughtwareWorldwide.com.

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