– Innovative solutions enable bank to operate a near-paperless environment –
Brookfield, Wis., August 11, 2009 – Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that GreenChoice Bank, the first “green” community bank in the Midwest, has selected the Premier bank platform from Fiserv to provide an enterprise-wide technology solution. The Chicago-based de novo financial institution, set to open in the fourth quarter of 2009, chose Fiserv for its ability to provide tight integration and solutions that will help the bank meet its goal of being a nearly paperless organization. The multi-product solution implementation for GreenChoice Bank represents solutions from all five of Fiserv’s core competencies: Processing Services, Customer and Channel Management, Business Intelligence and Optimization, Risk and Compliance, and Payments.
The breadth of Fiserv solutions that encourage environmentally friendly practices, such as online banking and bill pay, remote deposit capture, mobile banking, image-based check processing, electronic document management, e-statements and signature capture, heavily influenced GreenChoice’s decision to deploy the Premier suite. For instance, the Director for Premier content management solution will enable the bank to store images electronically, providing greater efficiencies and using fewer resources. Other bank processes, such as account opening and ATM deposits, will also be as paperless as possible, thanks to Fiserv technology.
“We saw an opportunity to target the sustainable business community – a growing market segment that has a tremendous amount of energy and enthusiasm yet remains relatively untargeted,” said Harold Sherman, founder, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of GreenChoice Bank. “The Premier platform from Fiserv enables us to leverage leading-edge technology and at the same time implement earth-friendly policies.”
Outsourced processing through Fiserv’s regional data center in Brookfield, Wis., is part of the bank’s strategy, making it possible for GreenChoice to operate in a much smaller space with much less hardware on site. “In the past, banks tended to build very resource-intensive in-house operations considered essential to banking,” said Sherman. “Due in large part to outsourced processing, we?re able to offer every service that any commercial bank could from a 3,800-square-foot space, and we can do it more efficiently, less expensively and more responsibly in terms of conserving environmental resources.”
GreenChoice plans to be holistically earth-friendly, according to Sherman. That means they will offer advantaged loan and deposit products to customers who embrace sustainability, incentives for employees who reduce their carbon footprint, and the encouragement of “green-collar” job creation through loan practices. This mission is further echoed in the bank’s location in Chicago’s Green Exchange, the country’s largest self-contained sustainable business community containing several dozen diverse green businesses and their employees. The bank anticipates being the Midwest’s first community bank to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification for its location.
Before entering into its relationship with Fiserv, GreenChoice evaluated the organization?s environmental practices to ensure the two companies were like-minded. “Fiserv was clearly the company that could deliver the best services and the most cost-effective solutions for us,” said Sherman. “The breadth of services the organization provides is impressive, and no other provider ties its solutions together as seamlessly as Fiserv.”
“GreenChoice already has such a great story to tell. We?re very proud the bank has chosen Fiserv as its technology partner,” said Mike Young, president of the Fiserv Bank and Credit Union Division. “Our two companies are a perfect combination because Fiserv has a great track record of helping start-up institutions grow and thrive, and we have a shared commitment to environmental responsibility. From our software that reduces the need for paper and storage, to our efficient data center strategy that leverages combined processing operations for hundreds of banks, Fiserv has been helping financial institutions make environmentally sound choices for many, many years. We believe GreenChoice will be a model for banks everywhere.”
For Sherman and GreenChoice, the benefits of serving the sustainable community are clear. “This is the direction every bank should consider taking, not just because it’s trendy to be green,” he said. “These initiatives will reduce the cost of doing business and improve convenience for the customer. What a great opportunity to serve customers and our community well by doing something a little differently.”
About GreenChoice Bank
Based in Chicago, GreenChoice Bank will be the first green community bank in the Midwest when it opens in the fourth quarter of 2009. The bank will offer a full-range of financial products and services, but through its triple bottom-line focus is dedicated to providing those services in an environmentally friendly way and will actively invest in the sustainable business community through its lending and community involvement. GreenChoice will be a federal savings bank with deposits insured by the FDIC. For more information, visit greenchoicebank.com .
About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is the leading global provider of information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry, driving innovation that transforms experiences for financial institutions and their customers. Ranked No. 1 on the FinTech 100 survey of top technology partners to the financial services industry, Fiserv celebrates its 25th year in 2009. For more information, visit http://www.fiserv.com.
