Headlines:
IBM Wins Seven-Year Lloyds Contract Mass. Bank Stays with Fidelity Yancey of Synovus Dropping Exec Duties
IBM Wins Seven-Year Lloyds Contract
International Business Machines Corp. has signed a seven-year, $971 million deal with Lloyds TSB Group PLC to enhance Lloyds' voice and data services.
IBM will act as the technology partner for the British bank as it implements a national, dedicated high-speed network to support both voice and data communications.
The project will include almost 70,000 Internet protocol telephones, and will reduce Lloyds' network costs.
The new infrastructure, to be rolled out over the next 20 months, will feature a single network for voice, data, and video, and direct links to mobile and call center services. IBM announced the deal Monday.
Mass. Bank Stays with Fidelity
Independent Bank Corp. of Rockland, Mass., the parent of the $2.9 billion-asset Rockland Trust Co., has signed up with Fidelity Information Services Inc. for another five years of core account processing.
The bank, in southeastern Massachusetts, will keep using the Fidelity-hosted Horizon integrated banking system, said Denis K. Sheahan, Independent's chief financial officer.
The contract renewal was announced Friday. The original contract was signed in 1996 with Alltel Information Services. Fidelity National Financial Inc. bought the company in 2003 and renamed it.
Yancey of Synovus Dropping Exec Duties
James D. Yancey, who rose from a teller at Columbus Bank and Trust Co. to become the chairman of its parent, Synovus Financial Corp., plans to retire from his day-to-day executive duties at yearend.
Mr. Yancey will remain the chairman of the board, Synovus said Tuesday.
He was named the Columbus, Ga., company's president and chief operating officer in 1998 and held those posts until October 2003, when Richard E. Anthony succeeded him. After that Mr. Yancey did not hold a specific executive title but acted as a customer advocate, said Aimee E. Davis, a spokeswoman for Synovus.
Mr. Yancey followed an unusual career path. He was laid off at a steel mill in 1959 and became a teller at CB&T, which Synovus later bought. His move through the ranks culminated in his election to the chairmanship last year.
