Source: S1 Corporation
S1 Corporation (Nasdaq: SONE), a leading global provider of integrated front-office applications for financial institutions, today announced that innovative financial institutions in the community banking space - Northstar Financial Group, Inc., Franklin Bank, and Midwest Banc Holdings - have recently extended their relationships with the company by signing new multi-year agreements to license S1 Community Financial products and services.
All three financial institutions have extended their contracts to license S1 applications currently deployed and have added new products to their suite of S1 solutions.
An S1 customer for more than four years, Northstar Financial Group, Inc., is a $235 million multi-bank holding company located in Michigan with two wholly owned banks in Michigan and one $50 million asset affiliate in Florida. The bank uses S1 Internet Banking System (IBS) Cash Management and S1 IBS Retail Banking with online bill pay and check imaging. S1 IBS for retail and corporate customers delivers a cost-effective, proven, and highly functional packaged solution on one platform specifically designed for community financial institutions.
The integrated S1 IBS solution enabled Northstar to improve customer service and drive profitability. In fact, Northstar was the first bank in its area to offer any type of Internet banking, and upon introduction of S1 IBS, many professionals and small companies in the area migrated their accounts to Northstar. The bank continues to steadily increase online banking adoption and transaction volumes by an average of 10 percent every month at each of its three institutions. Customers continuously provide positive feedback on the ease of use of the solution's intuitive screens as well as the 24-hour availability for account access.
Building on this success, Northstar recently renewed its commitment to S1 IBS Retail Banking and S1 IBS Cash Management with a three-year subscription contract to move application hosting from its own data management center to S1's state-of-the-art data center. In addition, the bank purchased a new application, S1 Customer Center, which is a tool for managing the bank's Web site and provides engaging online content. "S1 has proven to be a true partner for community financial institutions," said Brian Hagle, chief information officer at Northstar Financial Group. "S1's community solutions are easy-to-use and allow us to provide a delivery channel with more self-service capabilities that satisfy our customers' needs. With fewer calls to customer service representatives, more customers choosing self-service transactions, and lower check volumes, we're able to focus on our most important asset, our customer."
In addition, Franklin Bank, a $4.3 billion asset community bank in Houston, Texas that is focused on building high-quality, profitable financial services franchises, recently chose to add S1 Voice Banking to continue to improve the level of convenience it offers customers. Franklin Bank currently deploys S1 IBS Retail Banking and S1 IBS Cash Management for its customers that want both a hometown community bank and the accessibility of 24/7 Internet banking. "S1 is a key partner for our institution, and we are confident that expanding our self-service capabilities through S1 solutions will help us deliver greater value and convenience to our customers," said Glenn Mealey, executive vice president at Franklin Bank.
Midwest Banc Holdings, Inc.'s $2.2 billion Midwest Bank and Trust Company unit, with 17 locations throughout the greater Chicago metropolitan area, currently uses S1 Voice Banking to deliver a superior 24/7 voice response system to its customers. The holding company recently purchased the S1 Customer Center for a five-year contract to replace its current Web site and deliver a more robust and interactive site for its customers. "The new Web site design and enhanced applications will provide us with additional opportunities to build new deposit and lending relationships within our markets," said Edward H. Sibbald, executive vice president, Retail Banking Division of Midwest Bank and Trust Company.
"Our customers depend on S1 because our solutions help them build a more loyal and profitable customer base," said Sean Dwyer, general manager of the S1 Community Financial Division. "S1 will continue to deliver leading solutions that help community financial institutions succeed in today's competitive marketplace."