Mitek Systems' Check Imaging Solution Installed at $5.7 Billion, Cathay Bank

Mitek Systems' Check Imaging Solution Installed at $5.7 Billion, Cathay Bank
CheckQuest Implementation Readies Bank for Check 21 Compliance 


POWAY, Calif., Dec. 9  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Mitek Systems, Inc. , a leading
developer of check imaging and automated document processing solutions, today
announced that Cathay Bank of Los Angeles, California, installed the
CheckQuest(R) check imaging solution purchased from Mitek Systems in a previous
quarter.  Cathay General Bancorp , the one-bank holding company for Cathay Bank,
purchased the CheckQuest solution in Mitek's third fiscal quarter of 2003.  With
total assets of $5.7 billion, Cathay Bank is the largest of Mitek's bank
customers to install the CheckQuest system.

CheckQuest enables the bank to take full advantage of the recently passed Check
Clearing for the 21st Century Act, or Check 21 legislation.  Check 21 is
expected to dramatically reduce bank operating costs by allowing banks to
substitute electronic check images for paper checks in the clearance and
settlement process.  The CheckQuest solution creates these electronic images,
then captures and automatically processes information from checks and other
items.  Multiple high-speed document transports from Unisys were installed by
Mitek to run in conjunction with CheckQuest in Cathay Bank's item processing
operation.

The installation of CheckQuest provides numerous benefits to the customers of
Cathay Bank.  The system enhances the bank's ability to provide its customers
with new and improved service, including access to information through the
Internet.

"We have implemented CheckQuest's Internet research capability in Southern
California and are currently evaluating a similar implementation in other key
markets," said Scott Kleinert, First Vice President, Information Systems, Cathay
Bank.  "CheckQuest is enabling Cathay Bank to streamline our item processing
operation and capitalize on the efficiencies of an image environment."

Operationally, CheckQuest has modernized existing item processing practices and
provided many improvements.  As a result, CheckQuest will produce greater
efficiency in the back office and reduce costs long term.  For example,
financial institutions such as Cathay Bank will be able to exchange images
instead of transporting paper checks as a result of the new image environment
created by the Check 21 legislation.

Cathay Bank's executive team chose the Mitek solution because they believe it
offers leading-edge features and functionality, enabling the institution to
better serve retail and commercial customers.

"We are excited about the installation of CheckQuest at an institution the size
and prominence of Cathay Bank," said Noel Flynn, Mitek's Vice President of
Operations.  "Mitek's team of installation experts and customer support
representatives has been working very closely with the bank to improve
operational efficiencies and bring greater banking convenience its customers."

About CheckQuest

CheckQuest provides banks and other institutions with a high-performance, check
imaging solution.  CheckQuest's unique, patent-pending process that combines
check reading, forms processing and document identification capabilities is
built into the system and designed to improve the balancing efficiency and
overall workflow of banks.  The CheckQuest system can process any number of bank
documents without the aid of a Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) line or
forms redesign that is often required with other traditional proof of deposit
systems.

About Cathay Bank

Cathay General Bancorp, Inc. is the one-bank holding company for Cathay Bank, a
California state-chartered bank.  Cathay Bank was founded in 1962, the oldest
Chinese-American bank in Southern California, and offers a wide range of
financial services.  Today, Cathay Bank has total assets of approximately $5.7
billion and deposits of approximately $4.4 billion.  Its service network extends
from California to New York and Massachusetts on the Eastern Seaboard, north to
the state of Washington, and south to Texas.  Overseas, it has a presence in the
three important commercial centers in the Asian-Pacific Rim: Taipei, Shanghai,
and Hong Kong.  For more information about Cathay Bank, visit
http://www.cathaybank.com/.

About Mitek Systems

Mitek Systems is a premier provider of check imaging software and check fraud
protection solutions for the banking industry, and an established global
supplier of embedded software recognition engines.  Mitek develops recognition
technology using advanced neural networking techniques and deploys this
expertise in fraud prevention, check, financial document and forms processing
applications.  These applications automatically process over 8 billion documents
per year for a variety of OEMs, reseller partners and end users. For more
information about Mitek Systems, contact us at 14145 Danielson Street, Suite B,
Poway, CA  92064; 858-513-4600 or visit our Web site at
http://www.miteksys.com/.

Forward-Looking Statement Disclosure

With the exception of historical matters, the matters discussed in this news
release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainty. 
Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating
to the development and pace of sales of the Company's products, expected trends
and growth in the Company's results of operations, projections concerning the
Company's available cash flow and liquidity, anticipated penetration in new and
existing markets for the Company's products and the size of such markets,
anticipated acceptance of the Company's products by existing and new customers,
the ability of the Company to sustain any growth in sales and revenue and the
increase in sales representatives and other personnel.  The Company's actual
results could differ in such forward-looking statements.  There can be no
assurance that the Company will achieve the results set forth herein.  Mitek,
Mitek Systems and CheckQuest are registered trademarks of Mitek Systems, Inc. 
All other product or company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective holders.

For further information, please contact James B. DeBello of Mitek Systems, Inc.,
[phone], . 

DATASOURCE: Mitek Systems, Inc.



CONTACT:  James B. DeBello of Mitek Systems, Inc., [phone],





Web site:  http://www.miteksys.com/

http://www.cathaybank.com/ 

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