Subsequent signings
VSoft duly gained Denton County, Texas-based Pointbank Community Bank, to replace Fiserv’s PCS Vision system. At the time of the signing, Pointbank had nine branches and assets of around $355 million. Pointbank was not happy with the service it was receiving
from its existing supplier, said the bank’s president, Ray David, nor the product itself. Nevertheless, it was not intending to look at a core system replacement for another two or three years but then came across the VSoft offering at a trade show. The bank was taken by the advanced nature and openness of the Java-based solution, he said. Normally it would have carried out a full selection process for a core banking system but it had kept abreast of what was around via technology conferences and trade shows and decided that this was a leap forward. Pointbank visited the first taker, Carter Bank, and was
impressed with what it saw. In terms of the fit of the system with its own business, it was felt to be very customisable, and it also looked straightforward to integrate with other applications. Pointbank intended to replace most of the systems around
its current core, either with Coresoft or with third party offerings. For internet banking, he felt the VSoft offering might have sufficient functionality to negate the need for a separate solution. Time-to-market for products and services was seen as one benefit, so too the flexibility to adapt to new market demands, such as remote deposit capture (RDC) and account opening on iPads. The implementation of the core system started with a planning session in October 2012, after which it would determine the precise deadlines, but a phased implementation and a 90-day parallel run were envisaged. As with the Fiserv system, Pointbank took Coresoft for its own data center. It was expecting, in a year to 18 months, to look to offer it on an outsource basis to other banks, thereby seeking to turn its IT cost center into a profit center. The new environment would include one existing application at Pointbank, a merchant-funded rewards solution that underpinned the bank’s Buzzpoints scheme. David described Pointbank as the ‘alpha’ client for this. It stemmed from a Texas-based company called Fisoc, set up by a number of banking and social media experts, including the founders of internet banking pioneer, FundsXpress. Pointbank, said David, liked to be ‘leading edge’ when it came to technology.
Next in line for Coresoft was US-based Midwest Business Solutions (MBS), signing in the first half of 2013. MBS is a credit union service organisation which focuses on providing underwriting
and portfolio management services for
commercial and agricultural loans. By May 2013, Phil Love, CEO of MBS, said the design and build stage was nearing completion, with VSoft housing the servers for the core system. Coresoft was to be outsourced to the vendor’s data center for ‘ease of use and flexibility’.
The launch was scheduled for early July 2013. MBS was set up in 2009 and took a couple of years to ‘put everything together’. When Love joined the organisation as CEO in May 2012, ‘it had nothing, so we had to create everything from scratch’, he said. PointBank has selected VSoft’s Iris omnichannel platform
as its new digital banking solution in 2015. The bank decided that it needed a multi-device banking solution to launch it into the modern world of smartphones, tablets and internet banking.
The following month, Love and an IT team from Black Hills
Federal Credit Union, one of MBS’s largest members, started looking for a core solution. Several systems were evaluated including offerings from VSoft, Harland, Fiserv, and smaller credit union systems from local providers. From this process, MBS realised that it needed a
commercial banking system, said Love, because ‘credit union systems were not felt to have the capabilities to set up complex loans for commercial and agricultural lending’. ‘I want staff to be focused on new and existing deals, making sure we are managing them correctly and servicing our credit unions as opposed to micky-mousing with the system.’
A system that could handle complex participation, the ability to have multiple servicing rates, flexibility, and integration were among MBS’s requirements. MBS visited Carter Bank and Evans Bank (which was still
on the VSoft user list at the time) to ‘see what their experience of Coresoft has been like’. Both clients were ‘pleased with the capabilities of Coresoft, and its ability to communicate with other applications’. The design and build stage kicked off not long after the
contract signing. MBS, VSoft and Black Hills FCU participated throughout the project. The latter also planned to use the system for its own commercial needs, said Love, as its current system (Fiserv’s XP) was ‘outdated’ and ‘does not work for them’.
MBS was implementing all of Coresoft’s modules that deal with commercial and agricultural lending. These included general ledger, credit cards, loans, mortgages, and teller functionality.
The vendor carried out training for around 25 users from MBS and Black Hills FCU. Coresoft has been interfaced to ComplianceOne and Tsoft
from Wolters Kluwer Financial Services; Suntel, an underwriting and file management system; and the organisation’s internal file sharing system. Love was complimentary of the relationship MBS had built
with VSoft. ‘We see VSoft as a partner; as we go through the project we need a company that we can truly rely on, which is going to add value to the business, not just sell us a product.’ The communication throughout the project so far had been ‘incredible’, he added.
Once the system was up and running, Love said that MBS would expand its module range. He said, ‘as we go forward, we will be in a situation where regulations will get tougher.
US Financial Services Technology Market Report |
www.ibsintelligence.com 129
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132
