Multiyear Agreement Expands 10-Year Relationship with BOK Financial
Corporation to Connect Banks with New Wireless and Wireline Voice And
Data Services
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- A new agreement with Sprint
(NYSE: FON, PCS) is delivering upgraded data services and new wireless
capabilities to BOK Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: BOKF). BOK Financial Corp.
operates four bank subsidiaries - Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., Bank of Arkansas,
N.A., Bank of Texas, N.A. and Bank of Albuquerque, N.A. The multiyear
agreement builds on a 10-plus year relationship between the two companies.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO )
In addition to serving the banks, the agreement with Sprint will also
power a network operated by BOK Financial that links 1,300 ATM machines
throughout the Southwest. The new agreement also delivers additional voice
and private line services to BOKF. Further, the company is implementing a
system of next generation PCS Vision services including PCS Connection Cards
to enhance business connections -- connecting its people to each other --
around the country, anytime, anywhere while on the enhanced Sprint Nationwide
PCS Network.
"BOK Financial works diligently to make intelligent operational decisions
that bring real efficiency to our corporation and help drive positive results
to our bottom line," said Helen Richardson, senior vice president, technology
services, BOK Financial Corp. "We have been growing through acquisition,
especially in terms of uniting several banking subsidiaries from across the
Southwest. Building a powerful set of banking assets like ours is a
challenge. The consistency of our relationship with Sprint -- and Sprint's
ability to grow as we grow -- has been key to our successful, long-term
business relationship."
BOKF will utilize PCS services from Sprint to meet a wide range of
business needs. "High-speed wireless data services will enable us to better
manage travel costs while enhancing our overall availability and efficiency at
doing business and serving our customers across the territory we serve,"
Richardson added.
"In our industry, relationships that last over a decade are rare and
treasured," said John Dupree, vice president, Sprint Business - Southwest.
"The challenge is to consistently deliver new services and technologies that
add real value to a relationship while maintaining a consistently outstanding
level of service that spans many years, many contracts and many changes in the
marketplace. We have been able to grow with BOKF because we have the people
and the wireless and wireline solutions that help them meet their business
objectives year after year."
The financial services industry is a key vertical segment for Sprint and
beneficiary of a customized portfolio of communications solutions geared to
its particular needs. BOKF, for example, delivers a diverse group of products
including trust, mortgage banking, an electronic funds network, brokerage and
trading activities, and cash management services -- all of which require
reliable, fast, accessible communications services.
About BOK Financial Corporation
BOKF is a regional financial services company with total assets of
$13.6 billion at June 30, 2003. The company provides commercial and consumer
banking, investment and trust services, mortgage origination and servicing and
an electronic funds transfer network. Holdings include Bank of Albuquerque,
N.A., Bank of Arkansas, N.A., Bank of Oklahoma, N.A., Bank of Texas, N.A., the
TransFund electronic funds network and broker/dealer BOSC, Inc. Its
acquisition of Colorado State Bank and Trust is pending. Shares of BOK
Financial are traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol BOKF. For more information
visit our Web site at www.bokf.com .
About Sprint
Sprint is a global integrated communications provider serving more than
26 million customers in over 100 countries. With approximately 70,000
employees worldwide and nearly $27 billion in annual revenues, Sprint is
widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying state-of-the-art
network technologies, including the United States' first nationwide
all-digital, fiber-optic network and an award-winning Tier 1 Internet
backbone. Sprint provides local voice and data services in 18 states and
operates the largest 100-percent digital, nationwide PCS wireless network in
the United States. For more information, visit www.sprint.com .
SOURCE Sprint
-0- 09/08/2003
/CONTACT: Jeff Shafer of Sprint, +1-913-794-3614,
Jeff.s.shafer@mail.sprint.com , or Danny Boyd of BOK Financial Corp.,
+1-918-588-6348, dboyd@bokf.com ; for more information on Sprint initiatives
in finance and insurance, contact, John Polivka of Sprint, +1-972-405-3111,
John.polivka@mail.sprint.com /
/Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001013/SPRINTLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840/
/Web site: http://www.bokf.comhttp://www.sprint.com /
(FON PCS BOKF)
CO: Sprint; BOK Financial Corp.
ST: Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico
IN: TLS CPR NET
SU: CON
JR-HL
-- CGM005 --
9300 09/08/200306:00 EDThttp://www.prnewswire.com