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Planning for Success
When Nexity Bank launched their banking services on the Internet in 2000, their no-brick-and-mortar business model was a radical departure from traditional banking practices. Even today, Nexity’s business model of gathering deposits from all 50 states over the Internet, while also engaging in correspondent banking services,remains a unique approach. It’s also a profitable one, with assets at the Birmingham, Ala.-based bank approaching $1 billion.
“Service and a relationship are really what people are looking for. We felt those things had been absent from the market, and were determined to put them back by building the most fundamentally sound, high-performance bank in the nation,” says Nexity President David Long. “In and of itself, good service isn’t a revolutionary idea in the banking industry, but to deliver it via the Internet and correspondent banking services really was.”
Foundation for the Future
As Nexity Bank made plans to roll out a high-tech banking solution, they knew the right technology provider was a must-have. “Because we wanted to use the Internet to offer products to depositors and provide correspondent banking services to community banks, we knew integration was key,” says Long, who adds that in-house core processing software
from Fiserv, Inc., outperformed systems they saw from other vendors.
“Integration was the 'be all and end all' for us, providing the ability to process our model online more efficiently, while reducing staff.” Long adds that the scalability of the Fiserv solution also eased Nexity's concerns regarding future expansion. “With Fiserv, we know we're not going to arrive at some growth milestone – be it $1 billion, $5 billion, $10 billion or more – and be forced to switch systems. We know they can handle our growth.”
But it was more than the products that clinched the deal. “We were impressed by the character of Fiserv’s management, and the people we met in the decision-making process. Their commitment to developing software that’s the best for not only an online bank, but a traditional bank of any size, was a significant factor in our decision,” he explains.
A Premier Decision
Nexity chose to deploy the Premier® core system from industry leader Information Technology, Inc. (ITI), a unit of Fiserv. Available for either in-house or outsourced processing, Premier’s openly integrated, service-oriented architecture offers a comprehensive suite of products for virtually every banking function.
“I know ITI’s software can do anything we need,” explains Long. “Director Check Image, for instance, is a favorite of the bank because it enables staff to see not only the account but also related documents and information.” Nexity has also benefited from the risk management solution Premier Patriot Officer, the document management capabilities of Premier Director, and of course, ITI’s consumer and business Internet banking solutions, Premierecom and Premierecorp. “These integrated, online banking products have been crucial in building strong customer relationships.”
An Expanding Relationship
Nexity customers use the Internet to view daily transactions, transfer money, make deposits and perform a multitude of other banking tasks, with the main office processing all deposits. As a correspondent bank, Nexity provides processing services to 226 community banks through six regional offices. The ability to satisfy such diverse banking services through the use of Premier and several other key Fiserv products, such as easyLender and IPS-Sendero, has led to a further expansion of the relationship: Nexity now serves as a referral agent for Fiserv products.
“We’re completely satisfied with our experience with Fiserv, and so committed to the ITI Premier suite of products that we're introducing many of the solutions to our correspondent customers,” Long says.
Looking Forward
At a time when the banking industry is changing at such a rapid pace, Long is grateful to have formed a technology partnership with a forwardlooking software company that continues to help the bank grow and expand its offerings. “Fiserv understands both the macro and the micro of industry changes, and they make certain all the integration is in place.”
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