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De Novo Success
With a goal of becoming the foremost business bank in Grand Rapids, Mercantile Bank of Michigan opened as a de novo in December 1997. Their strategy: Bring together an experienced team of business bankers committed to building strong customer relationships. Build an efficient infrastructure that leverages technology to support their efforts. Create an entrepreneurial sales culture that delivers strong results.
Today, Mercantile has eight branches in four major cities across Michigan, employs 300 bankers, and has nearly $2 billion in assets. Although commercial lending is their core business, they also offer a full line of retail banking products and brokerage services in the communities they serve. John Schulte, Senior Vice President of Operations, recognizes the importance of his bank’s partnership with Fiserv, Inc. to their success and growth. “Fiserv has played a critical role in providing the technology we’ve needed to expand our operations and fulfill our mission as a business bank,” he explains.
Building a Technology Foundation
From the very beginning, Fiserv has been at the heart of the bank’s technology platform. “When we were in the planning stages, most core processors didn’t believe we could meet a launch schedule of just over three months, from contract signing to bank opening,” says Schulte. “On top of that, we were looking for a provider who could grow with us, and offer the type of commercial banking products and flexibility we knew our customers would demand.” Schulte says Fiserv was the only core provider willing to roll up their sleeves. “They met our high expectations, and helped us open the doors right on schedule.”
Operating in an outsourced environment (through the Fiserv ITI Outsourcing data center in Brookfield, Wisconsin) has also contributed to the bank’s exceptional growth, according to Schulte. “Outsourced processing has allowed us to focus on customer needs, while giving us a trusted partner to help quickly integrate new solutions.”
The Premier Solution
The Mercantile Bank uses the Premier® core processing system from industry leader Information Technology, Inc. (ITI), a unit of Fiserv. Available for either outsourced or in-house processing, Premier’s openly integrated, serviceoriented architecture offers a comprehensive suite of products for virtually every banking function. “Premier’s open architecture gives us the flexibility to integrate third-party solutions as needed, and products can be customized to match our customers’ needs,” explains Schulte. He adds that the stability and reliability of these Fiserv applications helps prevent disruptions that can affect customers and operations.
Achieving Results
Mercantile Bank of Michigan has also benefited by deploying many of ITI’s other Premier solutions. “Premier Director has enabled us to put an efficient item processing environment in place, which prepared us for Check 21 before many of our peers,” says Schulte. ITI’s Premier Prime has also enabled the bank to generate monthly reports as needed, customized to specific needs, and Premier Platform has helped create a workflow for both front line staff and operations.
“Fiserv’s Remote Deposit Capture product from BANKLINK is helping us continue to efficiently gain deposit relationships outside traditional market coverage areas,” adds Schulte. “Products from Fiserv EFT and Fiserv Credit Processing are also creating ways to better serve our customer base.”
Valued Relationships
While having the right solutions to meet customer needs is a big part of the success Mercantile is experiencing, creating a consistent approach to building relationships with their customers has had the biggest impact. In fact, it’s a philosophy that has carried over into the bank’s relationship with Fiserv. “One of the key elements of our successful partnership with Fiserv has been the long-term relationships we’ve built with the Fiserv team,” concludes Schulte. “They truly understand our needs.”
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