
Open Solutions Inc., Glastonbury
Glastonbury-based Open Solutions Inc., a provider of integrated enabling technologies for financial institutions across the United States and Canada, has announced that Bryant, Ark.-based Heartland Community Bank recently underwent a successful implementation of Open Solutions’ The Complete Banking Solution.
The bank chose to outsource its core data processing needs to Open Solutions’ Technology Outsourcing Center. Open Solutions is now handling all of Heartland Bank’s core data processing operations. The bank has approximately $90 million in assets, three branches and 6,000 accounts.
Previously, Heartland Bank’s operations were being handled in-house; however, in 2004 the bank’s ownership changed, which presented it with a unique operational challenge when most of the Operations Department chose not to move to Bryant.
“Since the operations team was no longer at our location on a daily basis, we thought that perhaps outsourcing those functions would best meet our needs,” said Judy Lawton, chief financial officer of Heartland Bank.
Additionally, the processor the bank had been using was acquired by Open Solutions, thus presenting the bank with an opportunity to review its current system and potentially migrate to a different system.
After an extensive search of numerous vendors, which included seeing many different solutions and viewing several demonstrations, Heartland Bank narrowed its selection process down to Open Solutions and one other possible vendor. Bank representatives traveled to Glastonbury for an onsite visit and to meet with Open Solutions’ executives.
“In the end we made the decision to partner with Open Solutions,” Lawton said. “Its state-of-the-art technology solution, The Complete Banking Solution, offered the flexibility, scalability and the ease of use that Heartland Bank needed to remain competitive in today’s busy market.”
“Being able to accommodate Heartland’s structural changes was key to migrating them from their previous in-house environment to the current outsourced platform,” said Jim Kern, senior vice president and general manager of Open Solutions’ Banking Group. “Open Solutions’ main objective is to offer a complete banking solution to support the way any institution chooses to operate, whether it be in-house or outsourced. By outsourcing its core data processing operations, Heartland Community Bank will have additional flexibility, new features and functionality, and it will position them for future growth.”
PSB’s Income Rises
Putnam-based PSB Holdings, the holding company for Putnam Savings Bank, reported net income of $543,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005 vs. a net loss of $279,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004, an increase of $822,000. The quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004, included a one-time expense of $1.2 million to establish and fund the new Putnam Savings Foundation.
Excluding the charge for the charitable foundation, net income would have been $537,000 for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2004, and the increase in net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2005 would have been $6,000, or 1.1 percent.
For the six months ended Dec. 31, 2005, net income totaled $1.2 million vs. $146,000 for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2004, which included the one-time expense to establish and fund the new Putnam Savings Foundation. Excluding the charge for the foundation, net income would have been $962,000 for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2004, and the increase in net income for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2005 would have been $193,000, or 20.1 percent.