Mechanics Cooperative Bank has selected the Fusion Phoenix core banking system from Finastra, as well as a full suite of ancillary offerings, to provide its new technology foundation.
The solution will bring together a wide-range of proven, specialized software into a single environment that is more easily managed in the back-office, providing greater workflow and interface efficiencies for the bank’s staff, and ultimately customers.
When deciding to upgrade the bank’s legacy core platform, the leadership team at Mechanics Cooperative Bank, together with management consultancy The NBS Group, LLC, sought a solution built on modern architecture that could work seamlessly across the enterprise. Using a fully open API architecture, Fusion Phoenix integrates proprietary systems and third-party solutions into a single comprehensive platform, providing all staff with improved access to customer data, and enhanced organizational efficiencies. As a result, the bank’s customers will have access to more innovative products and services, and a better overall user experience that includes consistency across bank platforms and a complete financial picture spanning a customer’s different accounts.
“By upgrading our core technology, we are making a statement to our customers and employees,” said Joseph T. Baptista Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Mechanics Cooperative Bank. “This is an investment in our future to provide better service and cutting-edge products that will deliver an overall better banking experience for our customers. Working with Finastra, we have selected not only a trusted partner, but a software system that will help ensure that we are meeting our customers’ needs and expectations.”
“The future of core banking technology is a true modern and open architecture that allows a bank to gain access to a functionally-rich, extensible solution and take an evolutionary approach to the deployment tied to their needs,” said Nadeem Syed, CEO, Finastra. “By selecting Finastra’s core banking platform that the bank can tailor to its needs, and which allows for easy integration with other digital platforms, Mechanics Cooperative Bank is future-proofing its infrastructure, ensuring that its customers will have access to the best banking experience possible.”
Mechanics Bank worked with The NBS Group to run its core evaluation project, provide advice on best practices, and guide them through the vendor selection process. The consultants will also be working with Mechanics and Finastra throughout the implementation.
“The banking core is the single most important technology investment a financial institution can make,” said Tom Grottke, CEO of The NBS Group. “Working together, we found that Finastra’s open, flexible platform best fit the bank’s needs, delivering optimal consumer and staff experiences, as well as the operational efficiency for growth, and ongoing innovation.”
Fusion Phoenix has been developed using only Microsoft technology. This will enable Mechanics Cooperative Bank to use commodity hardware, lowering the total cost of ownership, while also exposing the banking system to the many capabilities inherent to Microsoft technologies.