Oy Samlink Ab will modernise the information systems in all 40 Savings Banks' and 44 local co-operative banks' offices. Nokia's flat displays selected by Aktia Bank for the new system represent the latest technology in the field. This is one of the largest flat display deals Nokia Display Products has made in Finland.

In the largest information system modernisation project in the company's history, Oy Samlink Ab will replace the existing information system in over 330 bank offices with a customer service and office system based on client-server architecture, in which an office-specific server handles both internal and external traffic. The majority of the offices already have a TCP/IP-based Ethernet network installed, and an object-oriented bank application will be installed on new Fujitsu computers.

"A big advantage is the graphical user interface, which makes it a lot easier to carry out bank tasks, thanks to the possibility of moving flexibly from one task to another. Nokia's technically advanced flat displays where selected after a technical evaluation. Nokia offered the best overall solution, which can be easily fitted into Aktia's existing equipment," says Erkki Saarinen, who is in charge of workstation systems purchases at Oy Samlink Ab.

Aktia's Henrik M. Wikström says that Nokia's flat displays were chosen because they do not require any service counter changes and because the viewing distance from the screen is ergonomically correct, 50-70 cm. In addition, the height of the display was the lowest in the control group. Also the low electricity consumption and heat production as well as the low level of radiation, important from the point of view of occupational safety, supported the decision.

The installation of the new information system was started in late May/early June, and the system will be in use at every bank office by the end of the year. Saarinen also says that an office system and other separate applications will be integrated into the customer service system.

The deliveries of Nokia's flat 14.1-inch 400Xa displays introduced at the CeBIT ´98 exhibition in March are just about to begin. A definite asset for the Nokia 400Xa display based on Super-TFT technology is a 160-degree view angle and an exceptionally high image quality. Nokia believes that 1998 will be a breakthrough year for flat displays.

Further information:
Erkki Saarinen, Oy Samlink Ab, tel. +358 9 133 988
Henrik M. Wikström, Aktia Säästöpankki Oyj,
tel. +358 10 247 6319
Ralf Karlsson, Nokia Display Products,
tel. +358 9 6863 2602

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