North America Bytes

J.P. Morgan Chase Bank licenses custom-designed Web-based tools for collateralized debt obligation from RiskMetrics Group; Heritage Bank of St. Joseph selects a Windows-based teller system from National Source One; Republic Bank implements channel enhancement application from S1; Truliant Federal Credit Union to install Web-based e-procurement and asset management applications from Verian Technologies.

The Institutional Trust Services group of J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has signed an agreement with RiskMetrics Group, Inc. (RMG) to license custom-designed Web-based tools for collateralized debt obligation (CDO) market participants.

The new tools will capitalize on the depth and breadth of J.P. Morgan deal data, knowledge of deal structures and client needs, and be powered by the analytics of RiskMetrics Group's CDO Manager software. This combined expertise will generate analytics that will form a key component of an industry-wide Web site developed to meet the unique needs of the CDO community.

The site will provide CDO market participants with a consistent and comprehensive source for CDO market data. It will also offer tools such as performance analysis, industry benchmarks, market news, and research to enhance the clarity, transparency and liquidity of the CDO industry. By improving transparency and linking site users to other CDO participants, CDOVantage seeks to promote overall CDO market growth.

"CDOVantage's objective is to create an inclusive, non-proprietary, Web-based platform that will serve as a community for CDO market participants - trustees, investors, CDO collateral managers, rating agencies, underwriters, and the investment banks structuring these transactions," said Steve Patterson, senior vice president, Institutional Trust Services' CDO business executive for J.P. Morgan Chase. "J.P. Morgan has always been a pioneer in the CDO marketplace, and we are excited to be the first trustee to participate in this effort. Because CDOVantage is committed to furthering the interests of the entire CDO community, trustees and other community members will benefit from the common modeling and reporting standards and the marketplace efficiencies this creates, while retaining their unique brand identities as providers in this market. J.P. Morgan is pleased to be participating with RiskMetrics Group in this important industry initiative."

J.P. Morgan is an industry leader in providing trusteeship and transaction management services for CDO-related structures, including CBOs, CLOs, and synthetics. A pioneer in the industry since 1989, J.P. Morgan has acted in over 350 CDO transactions and established relationships with more than 20 investment banks and over 150 portfolio managers worldwide.

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Heritage Bank of St. Joseph, Mo., has selected National Source One's (NSO) 32-bit Windows-based teller system to upgrade its operations.

Heritage Bank had been having operational difficulties with its old DOS-based PC teller system. This prompted the bank to begin looking for another solution. "We needed a system that would allow us to be competitive in today's market, and one that would not require a huge learning curve for our associates," said Billy Cole, president and CEO of Heritage Bank of St. Joseph. "Our customers are our most important concern, and we need to be able to execute transactions in a smooth and expedient manner. Our previous teller system was hindering those efforts."

According to Cole, a major factor in the decision to purchase NSO's teller solution was the need for the banks' tellers to have the best and most technologically superior teller system available. Cole indicated that his objective was to give tellers advanced tools that would allow them to be the most productive at their jobs.

"The functionality of the touch screen," Cole said, "has increased our productivity. With customer retention being a priority of all banks today, we needed to have a system that was reliable 100 percent of the time and provided accurate and timely information. Our old system could not." Heritage Bank currently uses Aurum technology for data processing. It needed a seamless, hassle-free interface for on-line hosting. It was able to obtain that solution for the best value from NSO.

NSO is the marketing, sales and installation support consortium of Systems Integrators (SI) located strategically across the U. S.

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Republic Bank, the St Petersburg, Fla., banking subsidiary of Republic Bancshares Inc., will implement several S1 enterprise applications aimed at enhancing the level of service the bank provides its customers across multiple channels.

Republic Bank will deploy S1 solutions for the branch, Internet and voice channels to execute its goal of offering consistent and highly personalized assistance across all full-service, self-service and automated channels. Ultimately, the S1 solutions will help the bank increase the level of service it provides, increase customer relationships, lower overall costs and gain a significant competitive advantage.

"S1 has proved to be a strong technology partner through the years, and today is the only company offering a multi-channel solution that will enable us to deliver highly personalized service across all channels," said William R. Klich, president and CEO of Republic Bank. "From ensuring top-quality self-service solutions and providing the right tools for our associates to service customers to effective CRM strategies aimed at growing our asset base, S1 has answered the call with its comprehensive line of Enterprise applications."

Republic Bank originally partnered with S1 in 1996 to become the first Florida based bank to offer Internet banking to its customers.

Republic Bank, with the S1 Enterprise, will be empowered to unify multiple interaction channels, applications, and customer segments onto a single platform. This new solution also establishes the foundation for the bank's sales and marketing campaigns.

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Truliant Federal Credit Union, which operates 21 branches throughout five states in the Southeast, will install Web-based e-procurement and asset management applications from Verian Technologies.

The bank will use the application, called ProcureIT, to improve and make its manual purchasing and assets management operations more efficient. Truliant will also use ProcureIT's XML-based Vendor Connect application to create real-time links for procurement from its suppliers such as Staples and Dell Computer Corporation.

"ProcureIT is the best solution for our organization because of its open architecture, 100% web-based design, intuitive interfaces and simple yet extensive reporting capabilities," said Thom Beck, senior vice president of operations for Truliant Federal Credit Union. "ProcureIT also provides the ability to open a real-time connection with suppliers via the Internet. This is an added bonus, because we can reduce catalog management costs and eliminate middleman and transaction fees."