The Brookfield, Wis., technology vendor Fiserv Inc. has expanded its consulting capabilities by acquiring an online advisory service provider.
Fiserv said Monday that it has acquired BancIntelligence, an Atlanta provider of analytical tools and strategy consulting services for financial institutions. The price was not disclosed.
Mike Young, the president of the bank and thrift division of Fiserv’s depository institution group, said his company’s core accounting systems already contain vast pools of data on bank customers.
“Our clients have come to us and leaned on us to make decisions about that data,” he said. The purchase is “a logical extension, in our view, of capabilities that are in place and foundational.”
BancIntelligence, founded in 2000, has 580 clients in 49 states with assets ranging from less than $20 million to $100 billion. Mr. Young said Fiserv plans to offer BancIntelligence’s services to his company’s clients all along the asset scale, much as it did when it bought NetEconomy, a Dutch security software firm, in March.
BancIntelligence says that its approach, unlike conventional consulting strategies that rely on profitability, asset size, or geography, divides banks according to their operating strategies to provide a more accurate view of their performance. The company says it has defined 100 different types of operating strategies.
Mr. Young said that BancIntelligence’s tools incorporate call report data, along with demographic information and other market research, to generate detailed reports that bankers can use. “Maybe they’re weak in commercial deposits. Maybe they are underfunded in a market segment that is particularly opportunistic.”
Steve Cotton, BancIntelligence’s founder, president, and chief executive, said that it had worked on projects with Fiserv for two years and struck a formal marketing partnership late last year.
“We both help banks compete. We had connected through common clients,” said Mr. Cotton, whom Fiserv will retain, along with his management team. “The discussions evolved from there.”
BancIntelligence focuses on issues of profit enhancement and business growth to assess an institution’s strengths and weaknesses and to reach “quantifiable conclusions” about business strategy, Mr. Cotton said.
The company does all of its consulting work by Web conferencing, and staff members seldom travel, he said. “A good bank strategist can connect with four banks in four parts of the country in one day.”
