Fidelity National Financial, Inc. (NYSE:FNF), a Fortune 500 provider of products and outsourced services and solutions to financial institutions and the real estate industry, and its Fidelity Information Services (Fidelity) division today announced a contract to replace several existing technology systems at Concordia Bank & Trust Company, a Vidalia, LA-based institution with $377 million in assets.
Concordia's core processing solution will be replaced with Fidelity's HORIZON Banking System, and its check imaging technology will be replaced with ImageCentre, a product that resulted from Fidelity's 2004 acquisition of BankWare. The bank will also replace their existing Internet banking system with Fidelity's Online Banking suite.
"From the core processing standpoint, we found HORIZON to be a superior solution," said John Mark Williams, chief operations officer and cashier for Concordia. "Fidelity demonstrated that the vast capabilities built into the product will allow us to eliminate many redundant, manual processes. We can also discontinue the costs associated with maintaining relationships with a number of third-party vendors who have been providing various services, because HORIZON will allow us to perform those functions ourselves. Overall, this will reduce expenses and contribute to a lower total cost of ownership."
HORIZON is comprised of a fully integrated suite of six modules which control financial reporting, transaction processing, relationship management, and the setup and maintenance of deposit and loan accounts. The solution will replace Concordia's existing system, and is expected to go live in June, 2005.
On the check imaging side, the bank recognized that, with the advent of Check 21, their DOS-based system would not support their needs as they move toward image exchange. ImageCentre is a browser-based solution that allows users to access all functionality from their existing PCs without the need to license, load and maintain additional software. Because the system is Check 21 and image-exchange ready, Concordia will be positioned to exchange images with national and local clearing networks and other financial institutions.
"We feel very confident with our decision to go with Fidelity," said Williams. "In this environment of continual vendor consolidation, we've been impressed with the strategic acquisitions they've made over the past year. Beyond that, we're very pleased with the customer-centric, solutions-based approach they took to addressing our business issues."
The new relationship represents a milestone for Fidelity's Integrated Financial Solutions division since its acquisition last year of BankWare, developers of the ImageCentre solution. While many of the company's existing HORIZON users have already purchased and implemented ImageCentre, this is the first time the combined solution has been sold to a new client.
"Our clients have consistently told us they want to deal with one provider for all their technology solutions," said Anthony Jabbour, executive vice president for Fidelity's Integrated Financial Solutions division. "This new relationship with Concordia indicates that our product strategy for the commercial bank market is now bearing fruit. By placing their trust in us for core processing, check imaging and Internet banking, the bank will not only be in a better position to provide superior customer service, they will also benefit from increased revenues and greater efficiencies."