M&I Data Services has recruited a retail banking veteran to pull together its disparate transaction processing and delivery systems and help the outsourcer take a run at electronic banking.
The Milwaukee-based unit of Marshall & Ilsley Corp. has enlisted Alfred S. Dominick Jr., who left a senior retail position at Boatmen's Bancshares earlier this year, to head the company's retail delivery efforts.
Mr. Dominick, a retail banker with 25 years' experience at banks like Bank One Texas and Shawmut National Corp., joined M&I in early July to lead the company's retail products and delivery group. The group - formed when Mr. Dominick came on board - encompasses all of M&I's credit and debit card processing, all its automated teller machine back-end operations, and branch automation services.
Mr. Dominick will also be spearheading the service bureau's initiative to branch into more home-based banking services for telephones and personal computers. M&I has been developing some basic home banking products and services that would help form an integrated electronic banking platform for its financial institution customers.
M&I just started piloting its telephone and PC-based services last month with 14 banks, Mr. Dominick said. The company expects to roll out its electronic banking services in September or October.
M&I also inked a deal in May with PayMate Inc. to tie together M&I's home banking and transaction processing with PayMate's services and market those to banks. PayMate, which handles back-office bill payment operations for about 300 credit unions and banks, has already signed on at least three banks for its joint bill payment and home banking service, according to Gene Nygro, a vice president for marketing at Milwaukee-based PayMate.
Under Mr. Dominick's leadership, the service bureau is also pursuing more ambitious goals in remote banking. Mr. Dominick said his group is working closely with AT&T Corp. to develop videoconferencing capabilities for PC-based banking and is also looking into other banking services for the Internet.
These new forays into electronic banking are a natural fit for M&I, Mr. Dominick said, as the data company already has vast expertise in retail delivery through its ATM and transaction processing work. He said that M&I had previously been following this trend "in a reactive way," but now by bringing all these services under one umbrella the company would have a greater chance to integrate and develop its offerings.
Mr. Dominick left Boatmen's in April with plans to operate as a "free agent" in the retail delivery business. Although he said he enjoyed working at Boatmen's - where he oversaw the bank's mortgage, insurance, credit card, electronic banking, and corporate marketing operations - Mr. Dominick said he wanted to focus more distinctly on the retail delivery part of his work.
So, after a "particularly unexciting and uninspiring day of meeting after meeting," he decided to leave to pursue those interests. M&I approached him with their plans after he had left the bank.
Having been involved in the payment industry since 1973, Mr. Dominick noted the rapid and profound shifts taking place in the market and realized the opportunity.
"Timing is everything," he said. "The changes happening in delivery system channels now are what's going to affect the industry for years to come."
