Metavante (NYSE:MV), a leading provider of banking and payments technology, today announced that Citizens Republic Bancorp (Nasdaq:CRBC) has implemented Metavante Corporation's SendPoint Branch branch capture solution.
With total assets of $13.1 billion, Citizens Republic Bancorp is one of the largest bank holding companies headquartered in the Midwest with 233 branch offices located throughout Michigan, Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin.
Citizens Republic Bancorp's adoption of the SendPoint Branch solution will extend its Check 21 imaging strategy to branch locations by truncating on-us items and facilitating the electronic presentment of transit items. The deployment of SendPoint Branch, coupled with the recent implementation of the SendPoint Merchant solution, allowed the bank to further realize the cost savings and product advancements of check imaging technology. The SendPoint Branch solution connects with Metavante's check imaging system and requires no integration to the existing teller system. As a result, Citizens Republic Bancorp benefits from increased teller efficiency, diminished courier expenses and the elimination of costs associated with the processing of paper checks.
Citizens Republic Bancorp also selected NYCE as its primary network for ATM and retail PIN debit access, contributing 265 ATMs to the NYCE Payments Network. Additionally, Metavante provides several other products and services to Citizens Republic Bancorp, including: core processing, electronic payments, customer relationship management, electronic banking, card processing, electronic funds transfer and card personalization.
"SendPoint Branch was an alternative that provided us with several financial and operational benefits," said Jerry Bettens, senior vice president and chief information officer, Citizens Republic Bancorp. "More importantly, while check volumes are declining at more than 4 percent per year on a nationwide basis, the costs to clear checks through traditional channels are continuing to rise. Metavante's branch capture solution has helped us defray these rising clearing costs."
"The financial services market remains in transition and institutions like Citizens Republic Bancorp expect concrete ways to reduce costs, speed up time-consuming processes and gain greater results through existing technology infrastructure," said Paul Danola, president, Metavante Image Solutions. "Metavante's item processing services eliminate capital expenditures required for hardware and software, and support quick and efficient clearing and settlement."
Metavante's image solutions provide comprehensive solutions that help institutions and businesses transition from paper to electronic payments and image processing. Solutions that can be delivered in-house or outsourced include distributed capture, check and remittance processing, and fraud detection, as well as document and report management. Customers encompass organizations of all sizes from start-up organizations to the world's largest financial institutions and corporations.