BROOKFIELD, Wis.-Fiserv said its recent acquisitions of three different companies are part of a broader strategy to continue to expand offerings.
In a one-week period, Fiserv acquired Maverick Network Solutions, a Delaware-based provider of advanced prepaid, reward and incentive card programs; M-Com, an Atlanta-based provider of mobile banking services for credit unions and banks that developed and provides its Mobile Money solution, and Credit Union On-Line (CUOL), a Waltham, Mass., CUSO that that runs an outsourced version of an account-processing solution from Fiserv. (The CUSO was co-owned by CEO Connie Boretti and RTN Federal CU and Medical Area FCU.)
Nasseer Nasim, segment executive, Credit Union Solutions at Fiserv, said the CUOL acquisition helpls to fill a hole in outsourced delivery in Fiserv's product mix. CUOL has focused on offering a hosted, ASP version of the latest release of the XP2 account processing solution.
"The XP client base is all in-house and this open up a service bureau option," added Sara Brooks, SVP-strategy, marketing and offerings development.
Looking ahead, Brooks said she expects that Fiserv and the broader market will be making "significant investments' in the mobile channel over the next 24 months, and that Fiserv alone already has approximately 150 credit unions offering mobile services to members.
Insights On Mobile
Brooks added that many credit unions have invested in online offerings, but that many consumers are actually skipping over the online channel and going directly to mobile. But consumer sentiments are fickle, and institutions are investing in not just mobile, but mobile capture, bill pay and P2P solutions, such as Fiserv's ZashPay, she said.
"We expect to see mobile evolve into what ultimately will be a mobile wallet," said Brooks. "It's important to get into the game now. With P2P, we are focused on bringing to credit unions an affordable way to do so with a service bureau model."
Nasim said the challenge around retaining members is only growing and that if a financial institution does not offer mobile access the consumer is likely to move elsewhere.
"The trick is in maintaining the payments chain," added Brooks.
