Surprisingly Few Banks Use Data Warehousing, Study Finds

Electronic data warehouses are up and running at only 11% of banks and in some earlier developmental stage at only 7%, according to research from Mentis Corp., Durham, N.C.

Data warehouses are centralized repositories that gather information from disparate data bases and application systems. A typical use is to get comprehensive views of customer relationships.

The findings were surprising because many bankers seem eager to put customer data to better use.

"The data warehouse concept is relatively new, and the level of awareness is still low in midsize and small banking organizations, said James B. Moore, Mentis' president. But the company's research "confirms that data warehousing is a rapidly growing market trend in the banking sector."

Mentis' survey of 6,000 banks also found that banks with more than $1 billion of assets were much more likely to use data warehouse technology than smaller banks.

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