SunTrust Begins Check Image Exchange with the Federal Reserve Banks through Viewpointe

SUNTRUST BEGINS CHECK IMAGE EXCHANGE WITH THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANKS THROUGH VIEWPOINTE Banks Can Now Clear Checks Electronically With Every Financial Institution in the U.S. Through Viewpointe's Electronic Payments Clearing Network

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2006--Viewpointe, the leading provider of check imaging, archiving and processing services to the nation's top financial institutions announced today that its image exchange connection with the Federal Reserve Banks is in production. The connection provides Viewpointe customers with the ability to send and receive check images with all financial institutions in the U.S. SunTrust (NYSE: STI) is the first Viewpointe customer to take advantage of the expanded reach offered with the Federal Reserve Banks connection.

Viewpointe has consistently focused on expanding its electronic check clearing reach in order to move the industry more rapidly towards full check truncation. "Now that Viewpointe customers can reach every bank in the U.S., the momentum towards completed end-to-end electronic check processing and clearing is building," said Lou Buglioli, Viewpointe's chief executive officer.

Seventy-five percent of all Viewpointe customers are actively participating in check image exchange activities. There are 12 financial institutions and four industry service providers, including the Federal Reserve Banks, currently leveraging Viewpointe for ImageShareTM and Pointe2PointeTM, Viewpointe's check image exchange services. In April, these organizations shared or exchanged over 15.8 million check images worth over $16 billion.

About Viewpointe
Viewpointe is a leading provider of check image and Check 21-related services to the nation's top financial institutions. Viewpointe operates the largest national archive of check images and information and is the only institution able to provide image exchange on demand through ImageShare and direct bank-to-bank image exchange through Pointe2Pointe. Viewpointe customers and connections include: BancorpSouth, Inc., Bank of America, BB&T, Compass, Endpoint Exchange, the Federal Reserve Banks, First Horizon National Corp., Fiserv, Inc, Cullen/Frost Bankers, Inc., Harris Bank, HSBC Bank USA, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., National City Corporation, Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union, SunTrust Bank, Synovus Financial Corp., U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo and Zions Bancorporation. For more information about Viewpointe and its services, please visit www.viewpointe.com

About the Federal Reserve Banks
The Federal Reserve Banks are the nation's largest processor of interbank check payments, clearing approximately half of all interbank checks written in the United States. For more information about the Federal Reserve Banks' products and services, visit www.frbservices.com