ING DIRECT

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ING DIRECT Banks on Sprint to Deliver Continuously Reliable, Secure Service

ING DIRECT isn't like other banks.Customers do business exclusively online, over the phone or by mail. The bank's value proposition is simple and direct — great rates, 24 x 7 convenience and superior customer service. In the United States alone, ING DIRECT has already attracted more than two million customers.

Headquartered in Wilmington, Del., with Internet cafes in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Wilmington, ING DIRECT is part of a global financial institution of Dutch origin that offers banking, insurance and asset management to more than 60 million private, corporate and institution clients in more than 50 countries.

For more information, visit www.ingdirect.com.

Challenge

For ING DIRECT, a bank that primarily conducts business on the Web and by phone, even a few minutes of network downtime could cost millions. What's more, ING DIRECT's unique business model and reliance on the Internet means that network security would be key to protecting customer information, complying with regulations and maintaining trust in the marketplace.

So, when ING DIRECT launched its "direct to consumer" financial services in 2000, bank executives knew that getting the right telecom partner would be critical to its success. The search began for a strategic partner that could put together the secure and reliable network infrastructure the bank required. In addition, ING DIRECT was looking for a financially stable and highly responsive service provider with a focus on the customer. Sprint emerged the clear choice on all counts.

Solution

For Placement Only Sprint designed an enterprise network for voice and data that is truly a thing of beauty. A high-bandwidth private network connects the bank's three major operations centers. Should one site go down, traffic is automatically redirected to the others. The Sprint Peerless IP network — an IP network with no connections to the public Internet — provides the security and disaster recovery capabilities ING DIRECT needs to back up financial data between data centers. To maintain the confidentiality of customer transactions made over the public Internet, ING DIRECT is able to draw on Sprint security expertise and an extensive portfolio of security solutions that includes managed firewalls and managed intrusion detection systems.

To maintain the confidentiality of customer transactions made over the public Internet, ING DIRECT is able to draw on Sprint security expertise and an extensive portfolio of security solutions that includes managed firewalls and managed intrusion detection systems.

Bottom line

Sprint data and voice services have lived up to ING DIRECT's expectations for non-stop reliability, security and cost-effectiveness. In fact, since 2000, the bank has:

• Experienced zero service interruptions and zero security breaches, earning the trust and confidence of its growing customer base
• Kept operational costs low to pass on savings to its customers
• Consolidated the bulk of its telecom requirements with Sprint, simplifying vendor relationships and establishing a single point of accountability

Why Sprint?

Sprint and Nextel have come together, offering you more choice and flexibility. This powerful combination brings you access to more products, more services and more of what you need — to do more of what you want. Welcome to a future full of possibility.

We are the new Sprint, and yes you can.

"With Sprint as our strategic telecom partner, we're in the enviable position of being able to keep our doors open 24 x 7 without fail."
Arkadi Kuhlmann, President and CEO
ING DIRECT USA

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