When banks merge, the process of combining and synthesizing corporate cash management records can be cumbersome.
But PNC Bank Corp. of Pittsburgh has had relatively few headaches in its effort to combine these resources in its merger with Midlantic Corp., the New Jersey-based bank it bought.
Using a new software product from AFS & LSC, a bank consulting firm based in Exton, Pa., PNC has been able to compile a central data base of corporate account files and search them in ways that have proven helpful to product managers.
Considering that both banks are major cash management players, those involved in the conversion process said they were surprised and relieved at how smoothly it went.
"Within a merger environment, the software allowed us to quickly concatenate files from the two banks and look at total enrollments for existing products," said Daniel J. Pavlick, manager of electronic products and treasury management systems for PNC.
Using the software - known as the Product Manager Workstation - has made life much easier for PNC employees who are seeking vertical and horizontal information lines about customers and product use, Mr. Pavlick said.
"I see the value being ongoing," Mr. Pavlick said.
"We will continue to feed account analysis information into this, and use it as a day-to-day product management utility."
The software is a new offering that AFS & LSC developed as an outgrowth of its work on the BankAmerica and Security Pacific merger. After working on a customized data base of corporate accounts for those banks, the firm created a standard method of compiling, searching, and analyzing data.
"Banks are doing a fair amount of this stuff on the retail side, but on the commercial side, it's really in the beginning stages," said Bruce Eaton, managing director of decision support services at AFS & LSC.
Mr. Eaton emphasized that a bank need not be undergoing a merger to make good use of the new software.
