Fleet Mortgage hires a credit card veteran.

Fleet mortgage group has hired a veteran of the credit wars for a newly created, No. 2 management post.

Robert Golitz, formerly chief information officer of AT&T Universal Card Services, will be president and chief operating officer of the Columbia, S.C.-based Fleet Mortgage. The position was created to free up Andrew Woodward, Fleet's chief executive, from the details of daily management.

Fleet Mortgage, one of the nation's largest mortgage banks, also has hired Matthew S. Jacobs, previously with Lomas Information Services, as executive vice president and director of information systems. That is also a new post.

The heavy technology backgrounds of the two executives suggest that Fleet is trying to position itself on the cutting edge of technology. Up to now, observers said, Fleet has not been as advanced as some of its rivals.

Before coming to Fleet Mr. Golitz was part of the team hired by AT&T to start Universal Card Services Inc., the company's hugely successful credit card subsidiary. He was chief information officer and senior vice president of new business ventures for the company from 1990 until last month.

In tapping Mr. Golitz, Mr. Woodward showed that he wanted "something new," said Mark Springer, a leading executive recruiter for the mortgage industry.

Mr. Golitz is "going to look at the business having been through efficiency-seeking in the credit card industry," Mr. Springer added. It's an experiment to see what Mr. Golitz "can bring to the table," he said.

Mr. Golitz, for his part, said he is excited about having a job in a new field.

"The opportunity to play a leadership role in one of the leading participants in the mortgage market was very attractive," he said in a telephone interview.

He said he also liked the idea of being a general manager and taking part in the strategic planning of a major company.

"I bring a good set of skills to the job," he said. "Mortgage banking is a very information technology-driven business. My background in this area should be useful."

From 1979 to 1985, he was president and chief executive of BancSystems Association Inc., a third-party credit card processing company based in Cleveland.

He went on to top posts at Citicorp Credit Services, Hagerstown, Md., and York Federal Savings and Loan Association, York, Pa.

Mr. Jacobs, who had been chief operating officer at the Dallas-based Lomas Information Systems, has more than two decades of experience in data processing, telecommunications, and systems development.

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