ATLANTA, March 10, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corserv Solutions Inc. announced today the launch of its new "EnCor Lending" program designed to allow community and regional banks to own and control their credit card business, diversifying their local market lending and strengthening their customers' overall banking relationship. For the past several decades, the credit card industry has been dominated by large and monoline issuers with agent bank programs that have subjected their customers to unfriendly rate and fee policies. Until now, because they lacked the management expertise and scale, community and regional banks did not have an option allowing them to be in the business themselves.
"The struggling economy and new laws governing card industry practices have significantly altered the credit card business, returning relationship banking and deposit-funded lending to the forefront of banks' card programs," said Jerry D. Craft, Corserv's chief executive officer and respected card industry veteran. "We recognized this paradigm shift in the industry and have tailored our "EnCor Lending" program to allow community and regional banks a relationship-driven approach to take back high-earning card assets on their books while making good, conservative personal loans to their own customers – and strengthening their customer relationships in the process."
Corserv's "EnCor Lending" program turns the traditional agent bank credit card approach 180 degrees, re-installing the originating bank as the lender and beneficiary of the card relationship. In the traditional model, banks were forced to cede control over nearly all aspects of their customers' card accounts to the outside company, in the process weakening customer relationships and mitigating long-term financial benefit. Frequently, the program provider became a competitor with its client banks.
In a partnership with Corserv, banks originate the accounts and control their customer relationships while owning virtually all of the loan balances and the P&L. Corserv's "EnCor Lending" program provides community and regional banks a turn-key credit card program that includes VISA and MasterCard credit card issuance, marketing, risk management, end-to-end customer service, collections, processing and settlement, reporting, analytics and accounting.
"Corserv is a full-service partner, not a competitor, with banks," Craft said. "We offer banks that have lost customer goodwill through their agent programs, those never able to have a card program, and those that have cobbled together an outsourced service solution the ability to offer cards, branded to the individual bank, as an integral, core business line. The benefits accrue to their balance sheet through more diversified consumer and business lending, and through deepened customer relationships."
Under the "EnCor Lending" program, banks control the relationship and economics while avoiding the administrative headaches, regulatory liability, and the majority of the overhead costs associated with starting up and running a credit card program. Banks also gain the breadth and depth of management expertise necessary to run a card program. Corserv's management team averages 25 years' experience and includes expertise in all facets of the card industry.
"Regulators are placing ever-increasing importance on the public policy benefits of banks' local deposit-taking and lending," Craft said. "Our 'EnCor Lending' program enables banks to bring the credit card business full circle, back to balance sheet funding through low-cost deposits via relationship banking, fulfilling the 'local market' emphasis of regulators at the same time."
About Corserv
Corserv Solutions Inc. is a consumer and small-business credit card loan servicing company located in Atlanta. Corserv offers community and regional banks a turn-key credit card program that allows them to diversify their local market lending and strengthen their customers' overall banking relationship. In a partnership with Corserv, banks originate the accounts and control their customer relationships while owning virtually all of the credit card loan balances and the P&L. Corserv's management team has an average of 25 years' experience in the credit card and consumer finance industry and includes professionals in business development, marketing, portfolio management, portfolio analytics and information technology, led by 38-year industry veteran Jerry Craft. For more information, visit Corserv on the web at www.corservsolutions.com.