SIGMA ANALYTICS PARTNERS WITH VISIONARY SYSTEMS

At the American Collectors Association's annual conference in Philadelphia, July 10-12, 2001, Sigma Analytics, a provider of consulting, modeling and analytics for marketing and risk applications, announced that it is partnering with Atlanta-based Visionary Systems (VSI), a provider of automated credit and marketing decision services.

As partners, VSI and Sigma Analytics will produce a behavior scoring service product, DecisionMiner. Among other uses, the product/process will statistically predict the best collection method based on in-house and outsourced data and will review customers on a periodic basis.

"DecisionMiner isn't just about collections," said Tim Olzer, principal of Sigma Analytics. "It's about creating or preserving relationships with your most valuable clients. Recently, I learned about a company that wanted to generate additional fee income from the least profitable of its credit card customers - those that paid the bill in full every month. When the customers received notice that by not carrying a balance on the card they would be charged an annual fee, the bank received letters not only canceling the charge card, but also giving notice that those same customer's valuable CDs and mortgages would be moved. Better information would have prevented that."

DecisionMiner creates optimized and targeted strategies from complex consumer data. DecisionMiner allows non-technical managers to use profit metrics to gauge existing strategies against new strategies, a champion versus challenger system. For implementation in the credit and collections industry, DecisionMiner will provide the best information available, through statistical modeling and analytics, using the most applicable data sources, such as internal data and credit bureau data.

"Modeling and statistical analysis can only be as good as the information that fuels it," said Tim Bates, vice president of Sales for Visionary Systems. "Since VSI has access to the best consumer data, and Sigma Analytics is a leader in creating new statistical models and analysis methods, the partnership that created DecisionMiner is synergistic at the minimum."

By using DecisionMiner, creditors can use the most effective collections process based on the past behavior of the consumer, or can use the modeling for customer relationship management functions or event just to determine line of credit advancements. "Essentially, using DecisionMiner, a creditor can determine best practices for collections for its unique customer base," Bates continued, "or specifically tailor CRM information to its unique needs, based on results it and other companies compile."

Version 1.0 will have an interactive portion that will allow decisions to be based on both traditional data and the data acquired from a company's experience with the actual customer, the most accurate of predictive data sources. Version 2.0 is expected in the first quarter of 2002.

About Visionary Systems

Visionary Systems is an independent third-party provider of consumer evaluation and decisioning services that facilitate credit granting and target marketing processes. The company's highly customizable proprietary systems enhance customer operations by enabling sophisticated, real-time evaluation and decisioning. Visionary Systems Inc's provides fraud detection, identification verification, risk evaluation, and decision recommendation services to a wide cross section of financial service providers. The primary target market includes those in the banking, finance, automotive, retail, utility and insurance industries.

For more information on Visionary Systems contact Kevin Scollard, senior vice president of Sales and Marketing, 404-504-9006, kscollard@VisionarySystemsInc.com, or Visionary Systems Inc, 550 Pharr Road, Suite 525, Atlanta, GA 30305.

About Sigma Analytics

Sigma Analytics is a business and technology consulting firm specializing in developing statistical solutions for both risk and marketing applications. The company provides cutting-edge data mining tools and full-service strategic consulting optimized for the bankcard, home equity/mortgage, automotive, e-commerce (business-to-business and business-to-customer) and collections/recovery industries. Sigma is based in Atlanta and can be reached by phone at 770-804-9899. Visit its Web site at www.sigmaanalytics.com.

Contact Visionary Systems Inc, Tim Bates, 404-504-9006, tbates@VisionarySystemsInc.com or Sigma Analytics, Tim Olzer, 770-804-0574, olzer@sigmaanalytics.com.