Siebel Systems has been reinforcing its lock on the big-bank CRM market. It has announced a number of new deals in recent weeks, but none is as big as its latest catch, Cleveland's $96 billion National City Corp.
National City originally signed a deal with Siebel in 1999 to use the San Mateo-based software company's resource center to support the bank's Private Investment Advisors' group, which includes investment management, and trust and brokerage services. But under the new contract, the PIA group will use Siebel's eFinance product, which enables private bankers, portfolio managers, trust officers and financial consultants to obtain a broader range of views of their clients' accounts. The agreement also allows PIA to use Siebel's Internet applications.
David Carter, senior director and general manager of Siebel, says many of its big bank customers start with some introductory-like CRM software, and then agree to upgrade after some time. "National City's PIA group wanted more than just the Resource Center," says Carter. "Siebel eFinance will provide National City with what it wanted, which is more views of customer accounts."
Siebel has deals to provide CRM software and services, in different forms, to eight of the country's 10 largest banks. Recently it had been announcing deals with smaller financial institutions like Vancouver City Savings Credit Union and ICICI Bank in India.
