Tumbleweed Releases Secure File Transfer Solution Priced for Community Banks

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 1, 2003–Tumbleweed Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:TMWD), a leading provider of mission-critical Internet communications software for enterprises, financial services organizations and government, today announced the introduction of a secure file transfer solution priced for small and community banks, credit unions, and their outsourcers. Tumbleweed SecureTransport for Community Banks(TM) can be used for branch automation, customer communications, and bank-to-bank data exchange. There are more than 13,000 community banks and credit unions in the U.S.A.

“Enhanced file transfer is a key building block in any organization’s integration infrastructure, and has proven to be effective for a number of large banks,” said Mark Shainman, Senior Research Analyst, META Group. “This technology has the potential to take a lot of cost out of bank data movement operations by utilizing the public Internet and other IP-based networks. It makes a lot of sense for small banks and their outsourcers to leverage this technology to create a ‘virtual secure infrastructure’ comparable to what many larger banks already have.”

By leveraging the low costs and wide reach of the Internet, SecureTransport for Community Banks offers small banks, outsourcers and third-party processors the same enterprise-class secure file transfer capability that was previously only available to larger banks, at a community bank price. Starting for under $10,000, SecureTransport for Community Banks enables small banks and credit unions to securely and reliably transmit sensitive information, such as check images and wire transfers, between office locations and to their customers. The product also provides full compliance with recent legislation, including Title V (Privacy) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Sarbanes-Oxley legislation, and various state legislation on privacy and identity theft.

For outsourcers and 3rd party processors, the high cost and complexity of the private networks, VANs, and VPN-based communications infrastructures often makes it difficult to take advantage of the opportunities enabled by legislation such as the upcoming Check Truncation Act (a.k.a. Check21). Affordable secure file transfer solutions using the Internet and other IP networks allow outsourcers and 3rd party processors to offer exciting new services to smaller banks, such as branch check image capture and check image exchange, with much shorter deployment times and a more affordable cost structure.

Banking applications of SecureTransport include:

— Check image capture and transfer (for truncation, clearing, and presentation)

— Electronic wholesale treasury/cash management services with interactive and unattended file delivery

— Lockbox reporting with images

— Payment initiation and processing (Wire, ACH, SWIFT)

— Purchasing cards transaction reporting, reconciliation data

— Positive pay and payroll file delivery

— Inter-bank networks for settlement, clearing and pooling

— Trade finance documentary collection

— Electronic bill (invoice) presentment and payment

— Trust and custodial services

— Exchange of loan and collateral documents, contracts


Tumbleweed’s SecureTransport provides an integrated, multi-protocol file transfer solution with the low deployment and operations cost critical to small banks and 3rd party providers. The product provides flexible, multi-protocol support for interactive, scheduled, and application-driven secure data movement for branch automation, customer services, and inter-bank file transfer. Beyond application-to-application file transfer, it provides interactive and unattended file delivery services for commercial bank customers, with better, more modern interfaces designed for today’s users, including Web browser access, a Windows client, and 3rd party secure FTP clients. With government security certifications (FIPS 140-1), highly rated customer support, and a significant track record in mission-critical production deployments at leading banks, insurers and financial networks, Tumbleweed SecureTransport has been recognized as a leader in the enhanced file transfer market by the META Group.

“We have created a secure file transfer solution that will allow smaller banks and credit unions to compete more effectively with the large banks,” said David Jevans, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Tumbleweed. “Tumbleweed SecureTransport makes branch automation and electronic customer services affordable by using the Internet in a safe and cost-effective way to transfer files between branches, with customers, and between other banks and third-party processors. We also think that small banks and their IT outsourcing partners will be interested in a data movement solution based on open industry standards that protects their investment, as opposed to products based on proprietary protocols.”

About Tumbleweed SecureTransport

Tumbleweed SecureTransport is the leading open-standards based secure file transfer solution on the market today. It provides secure file transfer and data integration over the Internet and private IP networks. The product has recently been ranked as a market leader in META Group’s METAspectrum(SM) for Enhanced File Transfer, and Tumbleweed was specifically recognized for solid technology and customer support, with strengths in vision, personnel, price, agility, and market presence. SecureTransport is currently in use at 8 of the top 10 US banks, as well as numerous insurers, brokerages and financial networks. The product has been deployed at over 20,000 corporate sites around the world and is used to move billions of dollars in payment transactions daily. Organizations use SecureTransport for securely and reliably transferring all types of sensitive information, including payment transactions and cash management reports, manufacturing and retail EDI files, and health insurance claims, member enrollments, and other transactions.

Tumbleweed SecureTransport provides guaranteed delivery, guaranteed data integrity, and supports the transfer of very large files using open standards and technologies including SSL, FTP and HTTP. Confidentiality of data and access credentials is ensured in transit with 168-bit SSL encryption, in the DMZ and in storage. SecureTransport provides comprehensive authentication, access control, and strong audit trails, and its cryptographic module has been awarded FIPS 140-1 compliance by US Government.

Tumbleweed SecureTransport is easily accessible using a Web browser without any additional software. It also supports 3rd party FTP and secure FTP clients, and provides a broad range of easy-to-use multi-protocol clients for interactive, automated and scheduled transfers on broad set of platforms, including Windows, Solaris, AIX, Linux, IBM z/OS, and OS/400. SecureTransport makes application integration affordable by providing event-driven, easy-to-use rules framework for integration with back-end applications, databases, and EAI solutions on a wide range of platforms for a quarter of the cost of other integration solutions. With fully configurable real-time data extraction, translation and loading (ETL) capability based on easy-to-use visual data mapper, SecureTransport provides an ideal platform for straight-through-processing initiatives in banks and other financial institutions.

About Tumbleweed Communications

Tumbleweed is a leading provider of mission-critical Internet communications software products for enterprises, financial services organizations and government. By making Internet communications secure, reliable and automated, Tumbleweed’s email firewall, secure file transfer, secure email, and identity validation solutions help customers significantly reduce the cost of doing business. Tumbleweed products are used millions of end-users and tens of thousands of corporations. Tumbleweed customers include ABN Amro, Bank of America Securities, Catholic Healthcare West, JP Morgan Chase & Co., The Regence Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), St. Luke’s Episcopal Healthcare System, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the US Navy and Marine Corps. Tumbleweed Communications was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For additional information about Tumbleweed go to www.tumbleweed.com or call 650-216-2000.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, particularly with respect to the benefits and characteristics of Tumbleweed’s SecureTransport products. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates,” and similar expressions. For further cautions about the risks of investing in Tumbleweed, we refer you to the documents Tumbleweed files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly Tumbleweed’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed June 4, 2003, and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed August 14, 2003.

Tumbleweed assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release, which represents the Company’s expectations only as of the date of this release and should not be viewed as a statement about the Company’s expectations after such date. Although this release may remain available on the Company’s website or elsewhere, its continued availability does not indicate that the Company is reaffirming or confirming any of the information contained herein.