This Vermont-based mid-tier bank, which has more than $1.7 billion in assets, will implement SilverLake through Jack Henry Banking's outsourced offering, JHA OutLink Processing Services™.

According to Zoe Edrman, senior operations officer of Merchants Bank, which is the largest independent bank in Vermont, "We have processed in-house for more than 20 years and had reached the point in our technology lifecycle that we needed more sophisticated core capabilities, access to more fully integrated complementary solutions, and a true technology and business partner rather than a vendor. We engaged a consulting firm to manage our evaluation and selection process and spent a significant amount of time evaluating Jack Henry Banking, its infrastructure, its culture, its products and services, and the satisfaction level among existing customers. Our evaluation convinced us that Jack Henry Banking wants to be the business partner we need and that we will not be treated like just another customer. Our visit with the company's executive team and our candid interaction with bankers using SilverLake and its complementary solutions also convinced us that we will receive consistent outstanding service levels and that our bank will benefit near- and long-term from high quality, banker-driven products and services."

Geoff Hesslink, the bank's COO, said, "Considering the inherent and growing challenges of in-house processing, we also decided our conversion to a new core system was the ideal time to move to an outsourced processing environment. Outsourcing our information and transaction processing to Jack Henry Banking will enable us to strategically focus on serving our customers and growing our business rather than managing a complex datacenter and dynamic technology. Outsourcing will also provide more seamless access to the complementary products and services that are integrated with SilverLake, much more predictable operating costs, and the flexibility and scalability to y to more effectively and efficiently evolve our business to proactively support our customer and market requirements."

Stan Viner, general manager of sales for Jack Henry Banking, said, "The bankers at Merchants Bank clearly understood there is more to selecting the right long-term technology platform and partner than just evaluating features and functions. Representatives of this bank attended our 2013 educational conference where they had the opportunity to attend product-specific training classes and detailed product demonstrations, network with hundreds of other bankers that have real-world experience with our solutions, and investigate the business and banking solutions provided by Jack Henry Banking and our business partners. Representatives of this bank visited 'the mountain,' our one-of-a-kind underground disaster recovery facility located in Branson, Missouri. This hardened, state-of-the-art facility is used to replicate our data centers and is a competitively distinct component of our disaster recovery offering. Representatives of this bank also visited the SilverLake data center in Allen, Texas and our corporate headquarters in Monett, Missouri. We appreciate and respect the time and resources this bank invested in its evaluation and the unique, forward-thinking aspects of its due diligence process."