Headlines:
Wachovia Hires Outsourcing Exec Flagstar Using Pci Loan Scan Software Corporate One FCU Offers Image System At Union Bank, Wire Transfers Upgraded
Wachovia Hires Outsourcing Exec
Wachovia Corp. of Charlotte has hired an executive to manage its Indian outsourcing projects.
Mukesh Mehta started this week as the director of global services for application, development, and maintenance outsourcing. He will focus initially on shifting almost 3,000 technology jobs to India. Mr. Mehta's background is in insurance.
Wachovia first hinted at its outsourcing plans in January, when it said it planned to cut $1 billion in expenses by 2007, at a cost of up to 4,000 jobs.
The banking company notified employees last month that it was evaluating 2,700 software application development and maintenance jobs, as well as 160 vacant positions, for outsourcing.
The work could go to one or more of three companies with operations in India: Infosys Technologies Ltd. of Bangalore, India; International Business Machines Corp. of Armonk, N.Y.; and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. of Teaneck, N.J.
Flagstar Using Pci Loan Scan Software
Flagstar Bancorp Inc., a $13.1 billion-asset thrift holding company in Troy, Mich., is automating loan reviews to head off regulatory problems and predatory lending by mortgage brokers and correspondents.
Flagstar ranked 11th in both wholesale and correspondent lending in the first quarter, according to Origination News.
The company is installing Wiz Sentinel from PCi Corp. of Boston and will introduce it to the originators this month, said Brian Boike, its vice president of lending operations
Wiz Sentinel will look for conformity with Flagstar's own rules as well as state, federal, and municipal requirements. It will review closing documents three times: when they are drawn from Flagstar's origination system, when the loan is funded, and after closing.
Mr. Boike stressed the importance of the pre-closing reviews. "People are going to try to draw closing documents, but if they don't pass our predatory-lending screen, they're not going to be able to," he said. "If we're going to be disrupting our customers' workflow, we want to make sure we're doing it for a good reason."
Raffi Festekjian, PCi's chief executive, said most banks "do it in reverse" - booking loans and fixing problems after post-closing review.
"Compliance should be more of a strategic part of operations," he said. It "should be integrated into the operation and should not be an afterthought."
PCi is a maker of automated compliance systems and is owned by Bankers Systems Inc. of St. Cloud, Minn.
Corporate One FCU Offers Image System
Corporate One Federal Credit Union Inc. of Columbus, Ohio, which provides wholesale banking services to 770 credit unions, has started offering check imaging systems to them.
Robert Coyan, its senior vice president for marketing and operations, said Tuesday that it is providing the equipment for free, but the credit unions must pay a $35 monthly maintenance fee. It also charges a 3 cent fee for every check image they store in its archive.
For the first 60 days after a credit union starts to use the equipment, the fees are waived, Mr. Coyan said. It is more interested in getting the technology to the credit unions "and getting them accustomed to the process," he said.
The long-term goal is to prepare them for settling checks electronically with banks and other credit unions.
"We decided to go ahead and get these hardware, software, and procedures out to our members so that they can begin to recognize some of the earlier benefits of distributed capture and Check 21," Mr. Coyan said.
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, which took effect last October, is widely seen as encouraging banks and credit unions to use image exchange networks.
The hardware and software package Corporate One is delivering includes a computer made by International Business Machines Corp. of Armonk, N.Y.; a check scanner from Unisys Corp. of Blue Bell, Pa.; and software from Alogent Corp. of Alpharetta, Ga.
The package costs about $5,000, including installation, but will pay for itself in two to three years, Mr. Coyan said. After that "it's actually got a positive cash flow," he said.
"It's a good technology, from a financial standpoint."
At Union Bank, Wire Transfers Upgraded
Union Bank of California can now initiate wire transfers in foreign currencies, using software from IntraNet Worldwide Inc.
"That capability will come in handy," said Howard Russell, a senior vice president at the bank. For example, if the dollar is falling, it can be advantageous to purchase certificates of deposit in other currencies, he said.
The five-year licensing agreement was announced last month. The bank has been using the company's software for dollar-denominated wire transfers since the 1980s.
The bank's parent is mostly owned by Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc. IntraNet Worldwide is a unit of Transaction Systems Architects Inc. of Omaha.
