American Savings Bank Revamps for Speed

By Paul Allen

American Savings Bank’s implementation of an enterprise-wide banking solution based on the Signature Bank Platform from Fiserv marks a radical overhaul of the Honolulu-based firm’s technology infrastructure.

In total, American Savings will take 22 different products from the Fiserv range. “We are implementing the core processing suite, teller, sales and service, Internet banking, bill pay, image content, capture and GL, to name a few,” notes Rick Robel, executive vice president, operations & technology with the bank. And the systems will cover an array of business areas: “All our sales, service delivery channels which includes call center and Internet banking, all of our operations, finance and accounting, reporting, and technology.”

The project was initiated when American Savings’ contract with its previous platform provider came up for renewal. As a matter of policy the bank put the contract up for tender, and after assessing the options available opted for the Fiserv platform, which it will use on an ASP basis, with some of the server client-based services implemented in Honolulu, says Robel. Cut over to the new platform is scheduled for May 2010.

A particular issue the bank is seeking to address with its new infrastructure will be the lack of automation in its processes to date. “One of the things we are trying to improve in the area of efficiency is data entry and workflow improvements,” says Robel. That means being able to enter data once in the system to cut out redundant inputting, having less screens to process, plus screen and data collection logic that is built around the needs of users in service and sales, he explains.

“With Fiserv our users will rely on one system. For example, tellers will use only the teller application, while new account/account service representatives will use the new account system for contact and basic referral processes. So they won’t use core and/or other native application screens, which is what happens today. This will improve the speed by which we can open accounts and cross sell, as well as reduce our training time.”

The bank will enhance its internal efficiencies too through the move to a more Web-based solution, notes Robel, by reducing its server dependencies in its branch delivery channels, and enabling it to speed up transaction processing times. Meanwhile, “our customers will benefit on many fronts, for example in our ability to process transactions faster, process new accounts faster, and offer more services through our Internet banking channel.”

A crucial enabler for American Savings to achieve its efficiency goals therefore is Aperio from Fiserv, says John Macaluso, chief technology officer, Bank Solutions with Fiserv. The system is based on the Microsoft .NET Framework, and utilizes the entire Microsoft solution stack – including Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft SharePoint – around the desktop and servers. Fiserv also plans to incorporate the EnAct Enterprise Sales Management system, powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM, into the Aperio platform for better sales force automation by the end of this year.

“Aperio is a business process engine that sits across the enterprise and allows the bank to move from transactional interaction to more process-level interaction,” Macaluso explains. “For example, this means we are able to improve significantly the process of opening an account in the traditional branch location. But because of the Microsoft architecture underpinnings, we are able to employ the same process that we use in the branch in the call center and over the Web as well.”

As a result, customers get a consistent experience in their dealings with the bank whatever the channel of contact. For the bank meanwhile, the Aperio product allows it to employ its risk mitigation controls, in areas such as customer identification, across all channels, says Macaluso. It makes processes far more efficient too, since tasks that used to require multiple people and multiple levels around the bank are now done in a single, front-to-back automated process, he adds. “So the bank gains efficiencies, it gains risk mitigation, it gains consistency for its customers, and it will have the ability to do this across all its channels.”

Improving American Savings’ Internet banking capabilities then will enable the bank to offer customers more self-service transaction capabilities, as opposed to conducting them by phone or face-to-face as happens today, Robel explains. In this way it will be able to provide more value to clients no matter where they are located. A longer-term plan is to extend those capabilities to mobile channels as well, he adds. Similarly, once the Fiserv conversion is completed the bank will revisit its long-term road maps with the goal of reaching out to new types of customers, he adds.