Fiserv Inc. has gotten a $12 million outsourcing contract from Marquette Bancshares of Minneapolis.
Under terms of the five-year deal, the Brookfield, Wis.-based technology services firm will provide Marquette with its Comprehensive Banking System software, access to computer hardware, and an unspecified number of employees to support data processing operations.
Marquette is a $4 billion-asset holding company with 28 banks in six states.
It has grown rapidly in recent years by acquiring community banks in the Midwest and Southeast.
The bank plans to convert 17 of its banks to the Fiserv system by next May. Several Marquette units-roughly one-fourth of its asset base-already are Fiserv customers.
Marquette now uses Alltel Information Services Inc. for the services covered under the new contract. Bank executives said Alltel and M&I Data Services Inc. were in the running for the new deal.
"Any of the three alternatives would have delivered" sufficient cost savings, said Ross Ronnenberg, senior vice president and chief information officer at Marquette. Fiserv just looked like it would "work best for us," he added.
Dean Schmelzer, executive vice president at Fiserv, said the bank will save money by relying on Fiserv facilities to house most of the required hardware and personnel.
