Missouri-based Bank Taps Aurum

North American Savings Bank has selected Aurum Technology to deliver a comprehensive information technology solution, encompassing core processing, check imaging, ATM solutions and business intelligence capabilities. The $1 billion institution, the largest savings bank based in the Kansas City area, will outsource its IT operations to Aurum in order to gain efficiencies, reduce fraud and deliver enhanced and more personalized service to customers.

The bank's outsourcing conversion is scheduled for November, with the implementation of Aurum's Miser core processing solution, including the system's investor reporting feature, which will serve to streamline the bank's extensive mortgage loan servicing business. With the integration capabilities offered by Miser, North American will leverage other Aurum solutions, including image item processing, automated signature verification and ATM processing. The outsourcing of North American Savings Bank's core processing systems will be supported via Aurum's National Computer Center in Charlotte, N.C., and by imaging solutions provided through Aurum's Lee's Summit, Mo., item processing center, one of 24 strategic image-enabled processing sites located nationwide.

The bank concluded that operating in an outsource environment would create new efficiencies and enable it to improve customer service, according to Keith Cox, president of North American Savings Bank.

The agreement calls for the implementation of Aurum's SmartBanker business intelligence solution to maximize North American Savings Bank's channel strategy. Through detailed analysis and reporting capabilities, SmartBanker will enable North American to compile volumes of data into accurate, reliable information on which meaningful business decisions can be made.

Increasingly, banks want out of the technology 'construction' business, according to Paul Bourke, chairman and CEO of Plano, Texas-based Aurum Technology. Many institutions are looking for a homogeneous, integrated and proven solutions approach, more often than not from a single-source supplier. "North American Savings Bank can now devote critical energy and talents to serving the needs of its rapidly growing market."