Following the acquisition of more than a dozen different companies over the past two years, Jack Henry & Associates is now branding the broad number of solutions it offers under a new moniker: ProfitStars.
If the name looks familiar to credit unions, it should. Among the 13 companies that are now operating under that umbrella is Omaha-based ProfitStar, which has done segmentation analysis for numerous credit unions and whose name became the name for the wider brand with the addition of an "s."
"We wanted to broaden our opportunity to sell products and services outside our narrow core," said Steve Tomson, national sales manager, referring to Jack Henry & Associates' long-time core processing offering, which it offers to credit unions through Symitar Systems. "Consolidating (the acquisitions) under a single name makes sense."
For years, noted Tomson, financial services providers were all playing on one arena with one solution. The challenge to firms such as Jack Henry & Associates is that it is a growth stock that can only grow core processing solutions so far, hence the acquisitions. Implementing the same strategy as Fiserv, Jack Henry has maintained the identity and management team of the acquired companies, even if they compete with each other.
"All of the companies had recognition, but not broad recognition," said Jack Henry's Carol Cassil. Among the companies now under the Profitstars brand are Banc Insurance Services, eClassic Systems, Optinfor, Regulatory Filing Group, Select Payment PRocessin, Stratika, Synergy, System Legacy Solutions, Tangent Analytics, TWS Systems, Verinex Technologies, and, of course ProfitStar. The services involved range across enterprise risk management, fraud detection and prevention, business intelligence, sales automation, image solutions, and business continuity, among others.
"We'll have a more consistent message and we'll be better at cross-selling," she added.
On The Menu
Among the various solutions is Strategix RPM product, which can identify at the branch and member level the contribution of each to the bottom line, and TWS, which does back-office item processing and aims to help a credit union become more efficient.
Under Proftstar, the products and services available have been repositioned and categorized into operational benefits for financial institutions that can drive revenue and growth. "I know it sounds trite, but we really do not see ourselves as product peddlers but as solutions providers," said Tomson, who stressed that the Proftstar solutions are available to any credit union, not just Symitar clients.
Internally, sales units managers have had training to identity areas where there is "logical crossover" and opportunity for "cross pollenization."
"Leveraging those relationships is the key," said Tomson.
Tomson added that he has always been "impressed by credit unions, as they seem to embrace technology more quickly than banks"
Among the cutting edge solutions Tomson expects credit unions to explore is biometrics as a means of enhancing not just security but efficiencies in the IT helpdesk. "Half the time spent by industry help desks is related to passwords," said Tomson. "IT is estimated the average cost per end-user is $200 just to keep them up on their passwords." Biometrics allow the end-user to identify themselves with a fingerprint, and even to use different fingers for various solutions.
"We have been able to broaden our applications for non-Jack Henry Associates core processors in ways we would not have been able to 18 months ago," said Tomson. "We refer to it as focused diversification."
