Intracoastal Bank Selects Fiserv

Recently, Fiserv, Inc. ( FISV - Analyst Report ) declared that its wide range of digital banking solution services have been adopted by Intracoastal Bank. The bank with $167 million in assets selected Fiserv given its highly developed platform with flexible, scalable and integrated financial services technology solutions.

Previously, Intracoastal Bank had been deploying the company’s Premier bank platform along with other digital services including Business Online and Retail Online for net banking, CheckFree RXP to provide bill payment solution and Popmoney for person-to-person payment services and Merchant Source Capture for easy check capture. Now, with this association the bank will also gain access to a range of Fiserv’s service offerings including ATM Source Capture for easy check deposits at ATMs, LinkLive Banking used for instant messaging services, Mobiliti to organize mobile banking, AccountCreate for effortless e-account opening.

These user-friendly solutions by Fiserv would make the entire banking system much easier, more secure and risk free for Intracoastal Bank. In addition, Fiserv’s banking solution platform has been designed for the banks and financial institutions, which would use it to ameliorate its service standards and cater to growth potentials in the market.

The company appears quite proactive in winning contracts of late. Recently, Oak Bank adopted its Premier bank platform, outsourced banking solution services and a wide range of its digital solution services. We can be confident of such contract wins as these may prove to be major growth drivers for the company’s upcoming quarters ahead.

However, even with such moves, it is always wise for Fiserv to be extra cautious of competitive strides in the industry. The company’s primary competitors include big players such as Mastercard Incorporated ( MA - Analyst Report ) , Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. ( FIS - Analyst Report ) and Total System Services, Inc. ( TSS - Analyst Report ) . Moreover, Fiserv faces an ongoing threat from billers and self-sufficient financial institutions that develop and use their own electronic payment transactions and Internet banking solutions.

The current Zacks Consensus Estimates for Fiserv, Inc. are $1.27 and $5.18 for the third quarter of 2012 and for 2012, respectively. The estimates represent a year-over-year growth of 9.82% for the third quarter and 13.06% for 2012. We currently have a long-term ‘Neutral’ recommendation for Fiserv. The stock carries a Zacks #2 Rank, which translates into a short-term ‘Buy’ rating.