"Every one of our customers is important, and we treat them that way, but we also want to go the extra mile for our best clientele, especially since they generate more than 95 percent of our net revenue," said Keith Knudsen, Executive Vice President of Security National Bank. "Our entire staff, from tellers to bank managers, needs to know who our most profitable customers are. This is our first step in this new customer-focused initiative."

By seamlessly integrating IPS-Sendero's customer profitability software with ITI's Premier system, customer profitability metrics and rankings can be viewed instantly from any desktop. These customer profiles enable bank personnel to make profit-based decisions related to product pricing, portfolio management or waived fees -- any decision that can benefit the relationship with key customers.

"Our 25th most profitable customer has a split line of credit with another area institution," said Knudsen. "By knowing the scope of his financial relationship with us, we were able to offer an attractive loan package that may bring his second line of credit to our institution and move him well up our profitability rankings."

Knudsen said having desktop access to this information is very important.

"Integrating these two powerful systems enables financial institutions to take customer data and put it into a decision-making context that can be acted upon immediately," said Rodney Poskochil, President of the Fiserv Bank Systems and eProducts Group. "The value created by this single package is a huge benefit for both our clients and their customers."

Steve Andersen, Senior Vice President of Security National Bank, said that with a better understanding of who the bank's most profitable customers are, the institution is also able to identify and approach potential customers that fit the same profile.

"For prospective commercial accounts, we get our foot in the door and build excitement by demonstrating our business Internet banking product, Premierecorp," he said. "Then we offer the kinds of loan rates and services we know these businesses will find attractive."

Anderson added that Security National also has been able to turn customers that were costing the bank money into some of its most profitable. "By generating a profitability view of a customer who was in the bottom 30 percent of our rankings, we were able to consolidate some loans and refinance a mortgage, moving this person into the top 10 percent of customers for profitability," Anderson said.

Being able to offer additional banking services is a direct benefit of profitability information, added Knudsen. "By leveraging customer data already in our system, we're able to identify unique cross-selling opportunities that can ultimately have a positive impact on our bottom line," he said.

This is the first time Fiserv business units IPS-Sendero and ITI have collaborated using the Fiserv Integration Framework. This highly efficient technology utilizes standard web services concepts, including XML, to enhance integration between the diverse businesses and technologies that make up Fiserv. Standard, platform-independent protocols and messaging techniques reduce the cost of developing and supporting these products by sharing common components, while also creating greater functionality among Fiserv products and services through the added value of integration.