Fiserv Inc. has landed two new banks as core-processing clients, winning praise from stock watchers.
The additions to the Brookfield, Wis., company's roster are Countrywide Bank and Columbia Bank.
Countrywide Bank, a division of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s $30 billion-asset Treasury Bank of Calabasas, Calif., licensed a core-processing system from Fiserv CBS Worldwide of Lake Mary, Fla.
The $1.9 billion-asset Columbia Bank, of Tacoma, hired Fiserv's Precision Computer Systems to provide outsourced core processing services for deposit and loan accounts.
Chad Gregg, a vice president in charge of information services at the Columbia Banking System Inc. unit, said the 34-branch bank has begun planning for the transition from its current provider, the Metavante Corp. unit of the Milwaukee banking company Marshall & Ilsley Corp. He said Columbia plans to begin using the new service commercially in February 2006.
"It's going to enable us to be more flexible, and maybe grow faster," Mr. Gregg said in an interview. He pointed to the thin-client design of the system provided by Precision Computer Systems, of Sioux Falls, S.D., which requires no downloading of software to employee workstations. "It will help our resources internally to concentrate on other tasks," he said.
Paul Decoff, Countrywide Bank's chief operations officer, said in a Nov. 22 press release from Fiserv, "We chose Fiserv over the incumbent and other challengers because of the richness of product offerings, functionality, and Fiserv's ability to expedite the delivery of new products."
Carla N. Cooper, an analyst at the brokerage firm Robert W. Baird & Co., said the deals, taken in conjunction with an expanded stock buyback that Fiserv announced Nov. 23, "increase our confidence for accelerated 2005 internal growth."
Jon D. Markman, a contributor to RealMoney.com, called Fiserv one of "the cheapest stocks in the S&P 500 today that have at least modestly good prospects."
