ST. PAUL, Minn., July 10 -- Deluxe Financial Services today announced it has extended its longtime partnership with Sky Financial Group, a $15.7 billion financial services company. Sky Financial is the parent company of Sky Bank, which has more than 290 financial centers in five states in the midwest. Under the renewed agreement, Deluxe will continue as the bank's exclusive provider of checks and related services for an additional five years. "We sought a strategic partnership with an industry leader that would enable us to improve customer loyalty and retention through enhanced customer experiences and unmatched products and services," said Curtis Shepherd, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Product Management, Sky. "Throughout our partnership, Deluxe has demonstrated a commitment to helping us meet our goals of enhanced customer satisfaction and revenue growth. Deluxe business check programs helped us increase business check penetration by more than 45 percent between 2004 and 2005." As part of the agreement, Sky will continue to take advantage of Deluxe's superior consumer and business check programs including DeluxeSelect(SM) and the Deluxe Business Advantage(SM) program. DeluxeSelect, a comprehensive check-order management solution, is offered directly to consumers on behalf of financial institutions. DeluxeSelect reduces the burden of managing an in-house check program, allowing financial institutions to focus on enhancing customer service. The Deluxe Business Advantage program simplifies the business check order process and provides services tailored to meet small business needs, increasing business check penetration and driving overall satisfaction. "In order to succeed in today's competitive banking environment, financial institutions must provide compelling, engaging consumer interactions while also increasing operational efficiency," said Luann Widener, President, Deluxe Financial Services. "Deluxe's fully-managed products and solutions will streamline internal processes and enable Sky to focus on the overall needs of their customers, boosting retention while simultaneously generating additional revenue." In addition, Sky Financial Group will continue participation in the Deluxe Knowledge Exchange Series, which features information and ongoing events for financial institution executives to network and develop innovative solutions to shared business challenges. More than 1,400 financial institutions participated in the Knowledge Exchange Series over the last year.