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Articles from
January 2008
Audubon Savings Bank Improves Efficiency with Fiserv VISION Cleartouch
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Fiserv VISION, a business unit of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading provider of information management systems and services, announced that Audubon Savings Bank of Audubon, N.J., with assets of $166 million, has chosen Fiserv VISION Cleartouch as the bank’s core data processing solution. Audubon Savings Bank has ambitious goals for future growth, selecting Fiserv VISION for itsability to improve the bank’s operations through increased efficiency while at the same time enabling AudubonSavings to maximize its customer relationships and increase revenue by creating new cross-sale opportunities.
The consistent look and feel of Fiserv VISION Cleartouch, coupled with its easy navigation were factors inAudubon’s selection of Fiserv VISION, as were the power and potential they saw in the iVue business intelligencesolution and the full-featured functionality of the Fiserv VISION application. D. Kyle Morris, senior vice president and CFO of Audubon Savings said his bank wanted a long term partner and Fiserv VISION was the clear choice.
“When we began our due diligence process to select a core data processor, we were looking for a company witha suite of software to meet both our current and future growth plans. Fiserv VISION, with its Cleartouch softwareand integrated ancillary solutions, will provide the ease of use and robustness that we will require from our dataprocessing software to efficiently deliver banking services to our consumer, business and government customers inthe 21st century and beyond,” said Morris.
In converting to Fiserv VISION Cleartouch, Audubon Savings gains a full Fiserv solution set that includes businessintelligence, an automated, integrated teller and new accounts platform, retail Internet banking, bill pay andaccounting functionality.
About Fiserv VISION
Fiserv VISION provides community and commercial banks with a complete online banking solution, web hosting,and internet banking services. Fiserv VISION services more than 850 financial institutions nationwide and providescore processing services to more than 350 clients. Fiserv VISION is headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., with officesin Glastonbury, Conn., Tampa and Orlando, Fla.
About Fiserv, Inc.
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commercesystems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing,outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business processoutsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company serves morethan 21,000 clients worldwide and is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed theacquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv and CheckFree had more than $4.5 billion in combined pro forma total revenue for 2006. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.
Mike Rigney, president of Fiserv VISION, knows financial institutions today face challenges on many fronts. Heis confident that Audubon Savings Bank will be able to meet and overcome those challenges through theirpartnership with Fiserv VISION.
“Today’s competitive banking environment has produced savvy customers with high expectations for service andconvenience. To exceed service expectations and win market share requires every customer touch-point to becomea service opportunity driven by a total relationship view and diverse set of retail and business capabilities. TheAudubon Savings Bank team was quick to recognize that value equation,” said Rigney.
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Alliance Enables Integration of ProfitStars’ RemitPlus Solution to Shelby System’s Automated Donation Processing Solution
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ProfitStars, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) that provides performance-improving solutions for financial institutions and diverse corporate entities, announced that it has established a strategic alliance with Tennessee-based Shelby Systems, a premier provider of management software solutions designed exclusively for faith-based and non-profit organizations.
This alliance will enable ProfitStars’ RemitPlus solution, which was added to its product offering through the recent acquisition of AudioTel Corporation, to be fully integrated with Shelby Systems’ Automated Donation Processing solution. RemitPlus is an affordable check-posting system that provides businesses with the technology to capture check images and credit payments to individual accounts in a fully automated environment, eliminating manual key entry.
Key-Pay® Convene, the latest RemitPlus enhancement, will virtually eliminate exception keying by automatically reading offering envelopes and sending portions of the characters that CAR/LAR cannot read to ProfitStars’ data entry personnel. This innovative functionality will enable churches to post contributions to their accounting systems and to make bank deposits in significantly less time.
According to David Foss, general manager of ProfitStars, “The integration of RemitPlus with Shelby Systems’ proven solutions will significantly reduce the time required to perform the administrative tasks associated with managing contributions. This turnkey solution will enable churches to scan, endorse, and digitally capture tithing checks using a desktop scanner, and seamlessly generate electronic batch deposits. The ability to convert tithing checks and envelopes into electronic transactions will streamline operations, increase operating efficiencies, and enable church staff and volunteers to dedicate their time to other tasks and initiatives.”
About Shelby Systems
Shelby Systems, located in Cordova, Tenn. provides management software design for faith-based organizations such as churches, denominational headquarters, and other non-profit groups. An innovator in the field of church management software since the 1970s, Shelby continues to lead the industry with its newest creation of the Arena division. Arena, a browser-based, shared source ChMS is dedicated to the power of community by encouraging creativity, inspiring connections, and enhancing communication. The company currently services over 8,500 customers in more than 40 countries. For more information about Shelby Systems, go to www.shelbyinc.com.
About ProfitStars
ProfitStars, a division of Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), provides best-of-breed solutions that improve the performance of financial institutions of all asset sizes and charters, and diverse corporate entities. These solutions facilitate revenue and growth, risk mitigation and control, and cost control; and complement virtually any core information processing platform. Additional information is available at www.profitstars.com.
About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.
Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) is a leading provider of computer systems and ATM/debit card/ACH transaction processing services primarily for financial services organizations. Its technology solutions serve more than 8,700 customers nationwide, and are marketed and supported through three primary brands. Jack Henry Banking supports banks ranging from de novo to mid-tier institutions with information and transaction processing solutions. Symitar™ is the leading provider of information and transaction processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.
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Open Solutions Inc. Receives Endorsement from American Bankers Association for Core Platform and Imaging Product Suite
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ABA members to benefit from proven core offerings
and complementary image-enabled processing
The American Bankers Association has endorsed Open Solutions' core data processing platforms The Complete Banking Solution® (TCBS) and TotalPlus® and the company's comprehensive suite of image-enabled item processing solutions.
"We believe that Open Solutions provides our members the tools necessary to increase operational efficiencies, offer a more comprehensive view of their customers and the ability to remain competitive in an increasingly turbulent market," said John Wolff, ABA executive director. "We are pleased to award TCBS, TotalPlus and their suite of image-enabled item processing solutions ABA's stamp of approval."
The Complete Banking Solution's open architecture and customer-centric platform is designed to help financial institutions streamline front- and back-office applications, while providing a centralized view of the bank's relationships with customers, employees and business partners. It is offered in an in-house or outsourced environment.
TotalPlus is designed to help banks seeking traditional outsourcing services streamline both front- and back-office applications by combining the control and access of an in-house system, while offering a reliable, fully integrated core processing platform in an outsourced environment.
Open Solutions' Imaged Payment Technologies Group offers complementary image-enabled item processing applications providing customized, scalable solutions designed to help financial institutions more efficiently manage operational processes, take advantage of image exchange while protecting against fraud, as well as create electronic statements and documents to meet the growing demand for online access to account information.
The ABA and its affiliate, the Corporation for American Banking, conducted a thorough product review and analysis of Open Solutions' TCBS and TotalPlus and imaging division, evaluating a wide range of factors including product functionality, regulatory compliance, management strength, financial soundness and customer service.
"We are honored to receive the ABA's endorsement of our core platforms and image-enabled product suite," said Mike Nicastro, SVP and chief marketing officer for Open Solutions. "We listen to our clients and respond by providing innovative technology solutions designed to address the growing list of challenges banks are facing in day-to-day operations. We realize not every institution faces the same obstacles and therefore tailor our offerings to meet client needs. Based on the individual needs of the financial institution, our team of professionals will devise the appropriate combination of applications and solutions to ensure the bank meets its business The ABA's endorsement further validates the Open Solutions philosophy of creating client-driven solutions."
Open Solutions Chairman and CEO Louis Hernandez Jr., said, "Our commitment to our clients and to the industry is to continually provide innovative technology solutions that help them to better compete, provide cost-savings and efficiencies; to deepen and provide more intimate customer and service-oriented relationships, and finally, to give financial institutions a strong foundation for meeting their short- and long-term strategic goals. The ABA's independent review and endorsement of both our core and imaging offerings is a testament to the sophistication of our technology offerings. We strive to help even more ABA members achieve their strategic vision and serving their customers with continued excellence.
About American Bankers Association
The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America's economy and communities. Its members - the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets - represent over 95 percent of the industry's $12.7 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women.
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc. offers a fully-featured strategic information management product platform that integrates core data processing applications built on a single, centralized Oracle relational database, with Internet banking, cash management, CRM/business intelligence, financial accounting and management tools, profitability tools, wealth management, imaging, digital documents, interactive voice response, network services, HSAs, payments and loan origination solutions. Open Solutions' full suite of products and services allows banks, thrifts, credit unions and financial services providers throughout the world to better compete in today's aggressive financial services marketplace, and expand and tap their trusted financial relationships, client affinity, community presence and personalized service.
For more information about Open Solutions or its financial product line, contact Mickey Goldwasser by email at mgoldwasser@opensolutions.com or by phone at 860.652.3153 or via fax at 860.652.3156. Visit Open Solutions' Internet site at www.opensolutions.com.
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Huntington Bank Becomes First integraPAY® User to Interface with ImageRPS
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WAUSAU, the industry leader in providing remittance processing solutions, announced that Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington National Bank has become the first integraPAY® customer to integrate the integraPAY wholesale lockbox solution with WAUSAU’s ImageRPS retail lockbox solution. Data and images from the ImageRPS platform will be imported into the integraPAY SQL unified database through WAUSAU’s Remote Capture Push technology for consolidated reporting and enterprise content management purposes. This will provide Huntington’s commercial lockbox customers a single location to view daily lockbox transactions, making reporting more efficient and increasing overall customer satisfaction.
“We are extremely pleased with our continued relationship with Huntington in providing flexible and scalable receivables processing solutions that will offer Huntington advanced features such as image exchange, online decisioning and remote capture push capabilities,” said Kathy Strasser, Senior Vice President, Remittance and Enterprise Content Management Solutions for WAUSAU. “Huntington is a very unique customer because they are the first WAUSAU integraPAY customer to interface with data captured from the WAUSAU ImageRPS application. We anticipate savings for the client due to a streamlined back-end reporting and output generator to be a significant impact to the project’s return and increase end-user satisfaction.”
Huntington upgraded four of its processing centers, Mount Clemens, Mich., Crestview Hills, Ky., and Columbus and Cleveland, Ohio, with the latest releases of the integraPAY and ImageRPS applications. The integraPAY release adds several new features and functionality to Huntington’s remittance processing system, offering them distinctive competitive advantages over other solutions on the market. These advantages include: single pass front-end processing through Image Optimized Workflow application (IOWa), web-based decisioning, Image Exchange and satellite capture capabilities. This will greatly expand Huntington’s potential to capture new business and become an even larger lockbox provider in the markets it serves.
“We’ve used integraPAY for many years, and like the features and functionality of the solution.” said Shannon Gardner, AVP, Sr. Product Manager with Huntington’s Treasury Management Services. “When the decision was made last year to upgrade our sites to the latest version of integraPAY and implement satellite capture functionality, the decision to upgrade our retail lockbox solution was also made. With the acquisition of DMP by WAUSAU, we felt we were getting the ‘Cadillac’ of retail and wholesale lockbox solutions.”
“We knew that being the first integraPAY user to implement ImageRPS into our workflow would bring challenges. The support from the WAUSAU team was incredible,” Gardner said. “Even with the challenges, we went ‘live’ on the day promised and successfully processed customer work that same day. We now have many new features associated with this upgrade. Our existing customers really like the new features and the increased options to process remittances.”
ImageRPS will begin providing remote capture push capabilities in Michigan and Kentucky to support the sites in Cleveland and Columbus. Remote capture push uses advanced network connectivity options from the Central Data Center (CDC) to the Remote Capture Site (RCS) to allow locating and pushing of data files, image files and queue files for receivables processing. Through the integraPAY Consolidator module, all data from the four sites will be combined into a common SQL server database for reporting, archive and web-based output.
“Now all four sites offer the same processing capability, which gives us a tremendous competitive advantage in the market,” said Gardner. “Recently since going live, we have had two major sales ‘wins’ on the ImageRPS platform alone. Our retail product in the past had always been a secondary product. The integrated solution is bringing added processing capacity, which has certainly been proved with the recent sales activity.”
Huntington will capture remittance payments at two satellite locations in Michigan and Kentucky with the data being processed in Cleveland and Columbus respectively. Cleveland and Columbus serve as the main processing centers for Huntington. In addition, each of the Ohio processing centers will also serve as the disaster recovery sites for one another.
About Huntington
Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $55 billion regional bank holding company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Huntington has more than 142 years of serving the financial needs of its customers. Huntington’s banking subsidiary, The Huntington National Bank, provides innovative retail and commercial financial products and services through over 600 regional banking offices in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Huntington also offers retail and commercial financial services online at huntington.com; through its technologically advanced, 24-hour telephone bank; and through its network of over 1,400 ATMs. Selected financial service activities are also conducted in other states including: Dealer Sales offices in Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee; Private Financial and Capital Markets Group offices in Florida; and Mortgage Banking offices in Maryland and New Jersey. Sky Insurance offers retail and commercial insurance agency services, through offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Indiana, and West Virginia. International banking services are available through the headquarters office in Columbus, a limited purpose office located in both the Cayman Islands and another located Hong Kong.
About WAUSAU
WAUSAU is a premier provider of payment and remittance processing solutions, serving businesses of all types to develop strategies that move money faster. With its products, services and consulting, WAUSAU works with customers to speed check processing, electronic presentment, ACH payments, transaction processing, distributed capture and enterprise content management. WAUSAU’s innovative solutions provide results for a wide range of organizations, including financial institutions, insurance companies, utilities, retail businesses and governmental agencies. Find more information about WAUSAU at www.wausaufs.com.
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Customer Effective, Inc. Announces Opening of Charlotte Office
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Expands CRM software presence in Atlantic-coast region
Customer Effective, Inc., a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and value-added reseller of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, announced the opening of a new office in Charlotte, N.C. The Charlotte office will provide regional sales and customer support for the company’s growing CRM software client base along the Atlantic Coast.
“Customer Relationship Management (CRM) IT initiatives are at the top of many organization’s strategic plans for 2008,” said Scott Millwood, president, Customer Effective. “As executives implement key CRM initiatives, we are ready to provide any level of support and expertise to increase their return on investment. Our expansion in Charlotte will allow us to capitalize on the rich talent pool of experienced, well-trained technology and financial services professionals there, and will enable us to provide world-class support to our clients in this region of the country.”
Customer Effective provides CRM solutions to mid-market and enterprise organizations across a wide variety of industries. With its Capital EffectiveÔ CRM Suite, the company provides front office solutions for financial services professionals in commercial banking, private equity, investment banks, hedge funds and wealth management. Powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM, these solutions provide effective marketing, sales and customer service performance including strategic views of the business through custom dashboard reporting and key performance indicators. Capital Effective utilizes functionality from the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Office Outlook to bring together information from all data sources within an organization to provide one, holistic view of each customer in real time.
About Customer Effective
Customer Effective, with headquarters in Greenville, S.C., is a leading innovator in customer interaction solutions based on the Microsoft Dynamics CRM (Customer Relationship
Management) platform. Customer Effective is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Solution Implementer serving mid-market and enterprise organizations worldwide. With a sole focus on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the company has been engaged in more than 200 Microsoft CRM implementation and development projects. For more information, visit www.CustomerEffective.com.
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Advent Software Signs OEM Agreement with Panopticon
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Advent signs license to incorporate Panopticon's visualization technology into Geneva®
Panopticon Software, the leading provider of visual business intelligence software, announced that it has signed an OEM agreement with Advent Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADVS). The agreement allows Advent to develop a new visualization module based on Panopticon´s technology for integration into Geneva®, Advent's award-winning global investment management and accounting solution.
Advent has licensed Panopticon's Developer Software Developer's Kit ("SDK"), which provides the ability to use Panopticon's interactive visualization technology in Geneva®. The resulting enhanced Geneva® functionality will improve Geneva®'s end-user capabilities, as well as help expand the audience for which Geneva® is useful.
Todd Gottula, Vice President, Product Development, Client Services, and Support and Co-Head of Global Accounts for Advent, commented, "We selected Panopticon after a careful evaluation of the market for visualization technology. The final decision was based on Panopticon's record of success with SDK-based implementations at leading financial institutions and the results of a technology workshop we complete with the Panopticon people. Enhancing Geneva® will make many of the features of the system more accessible and useful to our hedge fund clients."
Robert Ekström, CEO of Panopticon, stated, "Advent is a great company to work with. Their Geneva® software is well accepted as the leading investment management system in the financial services industry. Adding the Panopticon visualizations to Geneva® is a natural; they will unleash more of the power of the Geneva® software."
Geneva®, a global investment management and accounting platform, is a proven solution for asset managers, hedge funds, fund administrators, prime brokers, and mutual funds that require a high level of operational efficiency and easy access to real time data. Geneva® offers comprehensive instrument coverage, full financial general ledger, and industry-standard integration tools enable firms to manage complex investment vehicles, multiple investment strategies, and tiered fund structures.
Advent Software, Inc. (www.advent.com), a multi-national firm, has provided trusted solutions to the world's leading financial professionals since 1983. Firms in 60 countries use Advent technology and manage investments totaling nearly US $14 trillion. Advent's quality software, data, services and tools enable financial professionals to improve service and communication to their clients, allowing them to grow their business while controlling costs. Advent is the only financial services software company to be awarded the Service Capability and Performance certification for being a world-class support organization.
Panopticon (www.panopticon.com) offers Visual Business Intelligence software for financial institutions, telecommunications firms and other organizations that must make decisions based on very large datasets and real-time streaming data feeds. The company offers a variety of enterprise and desktop products as well as a comprehensive SDK that allows clients to integrate Panopticon's visualization technology with their own systems and workflows. Panopticon and its clients have won several technology awards from Euromoney and The Banker for their implementations of Panopticon technology. Clients include JP Morgan, Fidelity, Louis Dreyfus, Reuters, and Citi. The company has offices in New York, London and Stockholm.
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CONNECTURE, INC.’S INSURECONNECT EZ INSTALLED AND IN PRODUCTION IN FOUR MONTHS AT FALLON COMMUNITY HEALTH PLAN
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Connecture, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based sales, service, and process automation solutions to the health insurance industry, has moved Fallon Community Health Plan (FCHP) into production with its InsureConnect EZ solution in four months. FCHP signed on with Connecture in July 2007 to automate its consumer and small group health plan administration. The solution went live in December 2007.
"InsureConnect EZ is a convenient solution for regional health plans that need to automate without enduring a large investment," stated Bob Barry, Senior Vice President of Product and Market Strategy at Connecture. "The InsureConnect EZ packaged solution is designed to improve efficiencies in the sales, service and processing of health plan options for all market segments. Because the InsureConnect EZ implementations are completed relatively quickly, the carrier’s increased speed to market enhances service, simplifies new market entry, and gives carriers a competitive advantage with their producers and in the market at large."
About Fallon Community Health Plan
Founded in 1977, Fallon Community Health Plan is a regional health care services organization, and the only health plan in Massachusetts that is both an insurer and provider of care. FCHP offers a complete product portfolio of group and individual health plan options (HMO, POS, PPO, Commonwealth Care, Commonwealth Choice, MassHealth and Medicare Advantage plans). We administer fully- and self-insured funding arrangements with customized services for employers. Our uniquely developed provider networks offer high-quality, cost-effective, coordinated care, and our broad spectrum of services and programs ensures that our members, at every stage of life, remain as healthy and productive as possible.
As a provider of care, FCHP operates Summit ElderCareSM, an advanced and completely integrated PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) program that offers seniors and their caregivers an alternative to nursing home care. FCHP has earned consistent ratings as one of the nation’s top health plans, and is the only health plan in Massachusetts to have been awarded "Excellent" Accreditation by the National Committee for Quality Assurance for our HMO, Medicare Advantage and Medicaid products. Fallon Community Health Plan’s corporate headquarters are located at 10 Chestnut St., Worcester, MA 01608. For more information, contact Christine Cassidy at 508-368-9502 or visit FCHP’s Web site at www.fchp.org.
About Connecture
Connecture is solely focused on delivering integrated Web-based sales, service and process automation solutions to the health insurance industry. Connecture has automated elements of the insurance sales and service process for over 70 health plans and insurers, and its InsureConnect suite of solutions currently supports the sales and servicing of 11 of the 20 largest health plans and insurers in the country. Its industry-proven solutions encompass the entire spectrum of multi-channel insurance sales and services for small group, large group and individual markets. Connecture offers an end-to-end business process transaction platform consisting of focused modular applications that fully integrate with existing systems. Connecture’s solutions have proven to deliver increased sales, enhanced broker loyalty, improved back-office efficiencies, lower customer acquisition costs, and decrease overall operating expenses. For more information, call Megan Moyer at 262.408.3866 or visit the Connecture Web site at www.connecture.com. Connecture has offices at 101 Marietta Street, Suite 1600, Atlanta, GA, and at One Riverwood Place, N17W24222 Riverwood Drive, Suite 330, Waukesha, WI.
FCHP implemented several InsureConnect Products, including Quoting, Rating, and Sales Automation. "The sales automation system will help us and our brokers track prospects and their product interest so we can better service them. This will be even more useful as our market reach continues to expand under Massachusetts health care reform," stated Patrick Hughes, FCHP President, Health Plan Operations. "Our sales cycle should decrease significantly now that brokers and consumers have the ability to receive a quote in a matter of minutes. That was our goal – to make it easier for our partners and consumers to do business with us."
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Infonox Opens New Office, Extends Management Team and Announces Strong Growth
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Infonox, a leading provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) financial products has expanded its business operations with the opening of an office in Englewood, Colorado. This office will support Infonox's expanding Client base of major bank and non-bank financial institutions and transaction processors.
Infonox is also pleased to announce the addition of Dean Seifert, EVP, Product Management & Strategy, to the executive management team. Dean Seifert brings with him more than 15 years of financial services industry expertise in money transfer, banking services, bill payment, prepaid cards, financial instrument issuing and government payments.
Safwan Shah, the CEO and President of Infonox said, "Infonox has entered a rapid 3 digit growth phase in its core technology offering. We are the market and technology leader in SaaS delivery of innovative financial services in banking, gaming and retail segments. The Denver office will allow us to expand in key product and business development areas to support our aggressive growth strategies. Dean's experience in international business and product development will benefit us greatly as we enter new vertical markets and industries."
Dean spent the past eight years with Western Union Financial Services as the Vice President of Global Product Development and Delivery, leading product development initiatives in a variety of financial service categories. "I am excited to take on this new role within Infonox and look forward to being a part of such a dynamic and pioneering company in the financial services space. Infonox has experienced explosive growth as their innovative technology offerings have been embraced by some of the largest financial services companies in the country," said Mr. Seifert.
Infonox is uniquely positioned in the self-service kiosk space with their kiosk*PASS platform, a turn-key technology suite that offers a variety of financial services to be delivered across a broad range of hardware configurations. Infonox is also expanding its capabilities in virtual terminals, mobile commerce and banking, and gateway services to enable third parties to connect to a vast network of product and service providers. In addition, the merchant portfolio management system and enterprise back-office, Transending(TM), is gaining considerable traction in a number of different vertical markets.
Mr. Seifert said, "These SaaS turn-key capabilities are unique in the market and bring extraordinary strategic and economic value to Infonox Clients, offering an unbeatable competitive advantage when compared with traditional IT sourcing models. I'm excited to help build the product strategies to support the aggressive growth plans and I look forward to working with the entire Infonox team and Clients."
About Infonox
Infonox is a leading technology company serving the financial services industry that enables the delivery of financial products and services to new markets and innovative distribution platforms, including self-service kiosks, ATM's, web-based applications and mobile phones. The Infonox TransIT(TM) network provides on-demand access to a wide array of services, including check cashing, money transfers, bill payments, ATM transactions, credit/debit card payment processing, check processing, prepaid, gift cards and more. The Infonox Active Payment Platform provides end-to-end transaction lifecycle and system support management from the point of sale to final settlement. These innovative solutions enable Infonox clients to realize turn-key delivery of fully functional, robust and scalable transactional platforms that can be easily configured for new services, products and distribution platforms. Infonox offers its services in a SaaS model, allowing clients to maximize their return on investment and realize the fastest time to market. For additional information on Infonox: www.infonox.com.
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TABB Group Promotes Adam Sussman to Director of Research, Names Kevin McPartland and Monica Schulz as Analysts and Expands NY Client Support Staff
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Robert Iati Tapped as New Global Head of Consulting Services
TABB Group, the financial markets research and strategic advisory firm focused solely on capital markets, announced the promotion of Adam Sussman to director of research from senior research analyst, reporting to Larry Tabb, founder and CEO. The firm also announced that Kevin McPartland and Monica Schulz joined the firm as a senior analyst and analyst, respectively, reporting to Sussman.
With Sussman’s promotion to research director, Robert Iati, partner, moves to a newly created senior management position as TABB Group’s head of consulting with global responsibility for the firm’s strategic advisory services.
Strengthening the client support team based in New York, the firm hired Francesca Loo as client services director and Deborah Van Flandern as account management director, reporting to Mike Ross, partner and vice president, sales and marketing.
“An international research and strategic advisory firm is only as good as the people who work for it,” said Larry Tabb. “Moving aggressively into 2008, we have made TABB Group a stronger organization to better serve our clients’ research and consulting requirements in the US, Canada, the UK and throughout Europe.”
Kevin McPartland joins TABB Group from Detica (formerly m.a.partners), where he was a senior manager in the global financial markets division responsible for strategic and implementation projects across equities, derivatives and fixed income.
Monica Schulz was recently at Institutional Investor News where she was a reporter for Wall Street Letter, covering the brokerage beat, including electronic trading, equity research, market structure changes, commission management and mergers and acquisitions.
Francesca Loo was a relationship manager/research analyst at Strategic Insight Mutual Fund Research & Consulting after serving as an analyst at the risk management group of Reuters Loan Pricing Corporation.
Deborah Van Flandern joins the firm from the New York business development team at the tax, accounting and consulting firm RSM McGladrey.
About TABB Group
TABB Group is the New York- and London-based financial markets’ research and strategic advisory firm focused exclusively on capital markets. Founded in 2003 and based on the proven interview-based research methodology of “first-person knowledge” developed by founder Larry Tabb, TABB Group analyzes and quantifies the investing value chain from the fiduciary, investment manager, broker, exchange and custodian, helping senior business leaders gain a truer understanding of financial markets issues. For more information, visit www.tabbgroup.com.
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Open Solutions Expands International Reach
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1.5 Billion Mexican IXE Banco to Implement
Open Solutions' Relational Data Processing Technology
IXE Banco announced it has signed an agreement to implement Open Solutions Inc.'s® The Complete Banking Solution®, a relational, enterprise-wide relational database core banking solution. Open Solutions Inc. is a leading provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial services providers around the world.
Headquartered in Mexico City, Mexico, IXE Banco has more than $1.5 billion in assets, 120 branches and 240,000 customers. A customer-oriented financial institution, IXE Banco recently announced plans to create a new bank to reach the historically underbanked mid-to-low retail markets in Mexico. The new bank, with its own brand and national coverage, will provide the same high quality services that have distinguished IXE in the financial market. It will offer universal financial services, focusing on consumer and commercial loans for medium and small companies.
After determining its previous platform could not support its customer-centric growth model, of IXE Banco and the "new bank", IXE Banco conducted an extensive search and ultimately selected Open Solutions for its advanced technological capabilities, including its sophisticated database and scalability of the platform.
"We were impressed with the advanced functionality of Open Solutions' relational core platform," said Luis Alonso Coria, CIO, from IXE Banco. "After a thorough evaluation process, it became clear that Open Solutions was the only provider that could serve the current needs of the bank, as well as the aggressive expansion strategy we have in place. The sophistication of the solution coupled with the dedication of Open Solutions entire team to meeting our unique technological needs were ultimately the deciding factors."
IXE Banco joins Open Solutions' growing list of international clients. Recently, the company announced new wins of Asia Commercial, HCM City, Vietnam, with more than $1.7 billion in assets, 84 branches and 658,000 customers and City of Bridgetown Co-operative Credit Union, Bridgetown, Barbados, with $109 million in assets, 44,000 members and two branches. With growing competition among international financial institutions, there is an increased demand for technology platforms that contribute to and accommodate growth, as well as enable them to offer more personalized products and services.
In addition to The Complete Banking Solution (TCBS) relational database core banking platform, IXE Banco will be implementing Open Solutions' cViewT (CRM/business intelligence), StreamLend Velocity (paperless, end-to-end loan origination system) and Interaction Management Center (centralized relationship management).
Open Solutions Vice President of International Operations Wayne Ginn, said, "We welcome IXE Banco to our growing family of international clients. Banco is a progressive institution and like Open Solutions, incorporates innovative technology solutions to better meet the needs of its customers. We look forward to partnering with the bank on its aggressive growth strategy and providing the necessary tools needed to better serve its current customer base, as well as its future markets."
Open Solutions provides enabling solutions to domestic and international financial services providers, offering some of the most advanced functionality, technology and service in today's market. Its relational database technology suite delivers real-time core data processing, business functionality and business intelligence capabilities that have efficiencies for both the front and back offices.
Open Solutions Chairman and CEO Louis Hernandez, Jr., said, "Open Solutions continues to experience tremendous growth and success as more and more financial institutions - worldwide - implement our open architecture platform. As we continue to expand our global footprint, we are pleased to bring our proven methodologies and sophisticated technology to financial institutions in Mexico. Relying on TCBS, IXE Banco is now uniquely poised to succeed in a region that is highly competitive, yet lacks sophistication in terms of core processing solutions. We are pleased to announce our newest international client, IXE Banco."
About Open Solutions Inc.
Open Solutions Inc. offers a fully featured strategic product platform that integrates core data processing applications built on a single centralized Oracle relational database, with Internet banking, cash management, CRM/business intelligence, financial accounting tools, imaging, digital documents, Check 21, interactive voice response, network services, and payment and loan origination solutions. Open Solutions' full suite of products and services allows banks, thrifts, credit unions and financial services providers worldwide to better compete in today's aggressive financial services marketplace, and expand and tap their trusted financial relationships, client affinity, community presence and personalized service.
For more information about Open Solutions or its financial product line, contact Mickey Goldwasser by email at mgoldwasser@opensolutions.com by phone at 860.652.3153 or via fax at 860.652.3156. Visit Open Solutions' Internet site at www.opensolutions.com.
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29WEST APPOINTS TIM MUND TO LEAD SALES TEAM AS PART OF GLOBAL EXPANSION
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- Senior executive brings over 15 years sales experience including work at NASDAQ and NASD
- Mund to focus on worldwide sales efforts and drive expansion in the financial markets
29West, Inc., the market leaders in low-latency messaging solutions, announced that Tim Mund has been appointed to head up the firm’s sales efforts worldwide. In his role, Mr. Mund will take responsibility for expansion into new regions and of 29West’s key market segments, which include many of the leading banks and investment firms, hedge funds and exchanges worldwide. Mr. Mund will also focus on helping 29West’s banking clients reduce their overall costs by driving the adoption of 29West’s persistence messaging solutions across other areas of the banking enterprise beyond market data.
With a successful track record of over 15 years in sales, Mund brings with him valuable experience working in the technology and financial sectors. Prior to joining 29West, Mund worked at Verizon and managed highly specialized business projects with The NASDAQ Stock Market and the NASD from 2000 until 2006. In mid-2006, Tim made the move to Solace Systems where he focused on developing new client relationships in the financial markets on the East Coast.
Of his appointment, Mund said, “I am excited to join a company that is winning worldwide in the low-latency messaging space. The company’s success to date has been due in no small part to the quality of its products and people and I look forward to growing the market worldwide.”
Mark Mahowald, founder and CEO of 29West, commented: "We have been experiencing rapid growth with revenues tripling year over year. With the addition of new staff and customers in the US, Europe and Asia, it was time to bring in a global sales manager to help manage and grow our sales efforts. Tim's background and customer focus make him a great fit. We are excited to have Tim join 29West as we meet the needs of the low-latency messaging market on a global scale."
29West is the leader in high-performance, low-latency messaging solutions for financial institutions. Founded in 2002 by Mark Mahowald (former COO of Talarian), 29West team members have been at the forefront of high-speed, real-time data distribution and networking since the mid-1980s. From its first release in November 2004, 29West’s Latency Busters® Messaging (LBM) has set a new standard in performance for financial market messaging and has been deployed in over 100 firms worldwide. With the introduction of Ultra Messaging™ for the Enterprise (UME) at the end of 2006, 29West added persistence and delivery confirmation to its industry-leading messaging product offerings. With offices in Chicago, New York, London and Tokyo, 29West supports the financial markets worldwide.
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Insurers to Pay $6.5 Billion in 2007 Catastrophe Claims, Says ISO’s Property Claim Services Unit
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U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses $6.5 billion for 2007 property losses from 23 catastrophes — the eighth lowest cost in a decade and the seventh lowest frequency for the same period, according to preliminary analysis by ISO’s Property Claim Services Unit.
PCS estimates that insurers paid 1.18 million claims for damage in 41 states resulting from 2007’s 23 catastrophes. More than 721,000 personal lines claims accounted for $4.4 billion, while 144,000 commercial lines claims cost an estimated $1.3 billion, and 315,000 vehicle claims cost insurers an estimated $800 million.
The 23 catastrophes consisted of 17 severe weather events (wind, hail, tornadoes, and flooding), five winter storms, and one wildland fire.
Among the 41 states experiencing insured losses from catastrophes, following are the states with the largest losses:
|
State
|
Loss ($)
|
|
California
|
$1.23 billion
|
|
Minnesota
|
$747 million
|
|
Texas
|
$677 million
|
|
Georgia
|
$320 million
|
|
Illinois
|
$272 million
|
|
Oklahoma
|
$270 million
|
|
Kansas
|
$262 million
|
|
Missouri
|
$223 million
|
|
New York
|
$202 million
|
|
Colorado
|
$200 million
|
|
Alabama
|
$200 million
|
The costliest events to insurers in 2007 were due to severe weather that resulted in $1.35 billion of insured damage from Texas to Maine and the Witch Fire in San Diego County, California, which caused an estimated $1.1 billion in losses.
“For the second year in a row, the United States dodged a devastating hurricane,” says Gary Kerney, assistant vice president, PCS. “With the exception of Humberto, which made landfall in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana in September, no other hurricane made landfall on U.S. territory in 2007. However, catastrophes continue to occur and cause insured property damage that may not adversely affect the financial condition of most insurers, but does cause hardship to hundreds of thousands of policyholders.”
Fourth-quarter 2007
PCS estimates that insurers paid $1.7 billion of insured property loss resulting from four catastrophes between October and December 2007 — the fourth costliest fourth quarter in the last decade.
The four catastrophes caused insured damage in nine states and a total of 159,000 claims. Following are the states with the largest insured losses in the fourth quarter:
|
State
|
Loss ($)
|
|
California
|
$1.2 billion
|
|
Oklahoma
|
$188 million
|
|
Washington
|
$95 million
|
|
Oregon
|
$70 million
|
|
Missouri
|
$57.5 million
|
Following is the breakdown of fourth-quarter catastrophe activity during the past decade:
|
Year
|
Insured Loss ($)
|
Frequency
|
|
1998
|
$480 million
|
3
|
|
1999
|
$265 million
|
2
|
|
2000
|
$815 million
|
4
|
|
2001
|
$485 million
|
4
|
|
2002
|
$1.73 billion
|
6
|
|
2003
|
$2.6 billion
|
5
|
|
2004
|
$450 million
|
3
|
|
2005
|
$10.8 billion
|
5
|
|
2006
|
$1.5 billion
|
6
|
|
2007
|
$1.7 billion
|
4
|
ISO’s PCS unit defines a catastrophe as an event that causes $25 million or more in insured property losses and affects a significant number of policyholders and insurers.
About PCS
ISO’s Property Claim Services (PCS) unit serves property/casualty insurers and reinsurers as an authoritative source of catastrophe loss information, providing estimates of anticipated industrywide insured losses arising from catastrophes. The estimates reflect the total insurance payment for personal and commercial property items, business interruption, terrorism, workers’ compensation, and additional living expenses. The estimates exclude loss adjustment expenses.
About ISO
A leading source of information about risk, ISO provides data, analytics, and decision-support services to professionals in many fields, including insurance, finance, real estate, health services, government, human resources, and risk management. Using advanced technologies to collect, analyze, develop, and deliver information, ISO helps customers evaluate and manage risk. The company draws on vast expertise in actuarial science, insurance coverages, fire protection, fraud prevention, catastrophe and weather risk, predictive modeling, data management, economic forecasting, social and technological trends, and many other fields. To meet the needs of diverse clients, ISO employs an experienced staff of business and technical specialists, analysts, and certified professionals. In the United States and around the world, ISO helps customers protect people, property, and financial assets. For more information, visit www.iso.com.
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CONNECTURE, INC.’S SERVICES GROUPS COMPLETE OVER 80 DEPLOYMENTS IN 2007
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Connecture, Inc., the leading provider of Web-based sales, service, and process automation solutions to the health insurance industry, successfully deployed over 80 implementations in 2007, including 4 brand new installations of its InsureConnect EZ solution.
Connecture sold InsureConnect EZ to 5 new clients in 2007, four of them in the first and second quarters. Connecture’s implementation teams have completed the first phase for those four new clients; and one has even completed the second phase of their InsureConnect EZ implementation. "The speed to market InsureConnect EZ provides helps clients compete more effectively faster, and also helps them realize ROI sooner," stated Mike Schenk, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Connecture. "Our implementation teams follow standard processes and procedures and can implement InsureConnect EZ relatively quickly, depending on which InsureConnect Products the client has purchased and what their timeline and resources allow. Once InsureConnect EZ is live and in production, carriers are experiencing reduced operations costs, productivity and membership increases, and enhanced agent and broker communications and relations."
The remainder of those 80+ implementations include upgrades and enhancements to existing clients’ InsureConnect solutions that consist of adding new lines of business, new InsureConnect Products, or expanding the InsureConnect solution to other states or carrier subsidiaries. The customer support group at Connecture manages client upgrades and enhancements and is staffed by client teams of business analysts, project managers, developers and quality specialists that have expertise in their client’s InsureConnect solution and also provide maintenance support throughout the year.
Connecture, which has offices in Atlanta, GA and Waukesha, WI, has 180 experienced employees, and clients that encompass over 70 health plans. Eleven of those clients are among the top 20 health insurance carriers in the United States. In 2007, Connecture expanded its market reach, targeting regional plans with 25-250,000 members with their new InsureConnect EZ packaged solution. InsureConnect EZ was introduced in the first quarter of 2007 and was designed to give small and medium size carriers a system with robust features and functionality in a standardized, | | |