The bank has chosen to outsource the operation of the system through Harland Financial Solutions' Enterprise Services Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Phoenix System is also used by many Harland Financial Solutions clients in an in-house configuration.

First Community Bank, which has assets of $118 million, has been an integral part of the San Benito and Harlingen communities since it was first chartered in 1979. The commitment of the bank to provide exceptional service to the members of its community has helped First Community Bank become the premier independent community bank for the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. First Community Bank currently has five branches, serving the communities of Harlingen, San Benito and Los Fresnos.

First Community Bank chose the Phoenix System because of its advanced technology, including the ease of integrating the bank's existing third-party systems into the Phoenix System using PhoenixXM middleware; the open source architecture of the system; and Harland Financial Solutions' strong reputation in the marketplace.

"We are excited about the open source technology of the Phoenix System and look forward to implementing a fully integrated banking solution for all the third-party platforms that we operate within the bank," said Robert B. Dunkin II, chief financial officer of First Community Bank. "After looking at a number of alternatives we chose the Phoenix System because we believe that the functionality, flexibility and efficiencies the system provides will allow us to differentiate ourselves within the marketplace and allow us to out-perform our competitors by providing better products and services for our customers."

"We are glad that First Community Bank has selected the Phoenix System," stated Bill Zayas, senior vice president and general manager of Harland Financial Solutions' Bank Core Systems Group. "The bank's focus on using technology to grow its business parallels our direction in meeting the needs of the community bank marketplace."