ripley federal selects cocc for technology partnership

AVON, CT, April 8, 2008 – COCC, the region’s leading provider of next generation technology services for financial institutions, today announced that Ripley Federal Savings Bank has selected the company for a long term technology partnership. The $96M savings bank located in Ripley, Ohio plans to increase efficiency for more profitable growth as a result of COCC’s next generation technology and support.

“COCC will increase our product range and flexibility so we can better compete with the regional and national players in our market area,” said Danny R. Grooms, President and CEO, Ripley Federal Savings Bank. “As we reviewed our IT options, we saw that COCC’s customer-centered technology, cooperative ownership structure, and excellent customer support would give us real opportunities for success.”

Ripley Federal Savings Bank has served the residents of southwestern Ohio since 1895, priding itself on a level of personal service “not always available in larger institutions.” Independence and minimal bureaucracy have enabled the bank to be responsive to customer needs. 

“Our advantage is that we can make our systems work for our customers,” said Betsy L. Pasley, Chief Operations Officer at Ripley Federal. “Yet our flexibility has led to more labor-intensive processes than we would like with our current processor. COCC’s technology will help us automate many more of our product features and give us additional tools to expand our deposit base.”

Dan L. Combs, Chief Lending Officer at Ripley Federal, added, “Being on the periphery of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, we get a considerable amount of mortgage and revolving loan activity. Each of those loans is an opportunity to extend our relationships into the community. COCC’s customer-centered technology will help us by presenting the customer’s full relationship, including commercial products, so we can offer a full menu of sensible services.”

Combs explained that the bank’s real estate market has not experienced the pressures seen elsewhere in Ohio, and as a result, the bank continues to experience healthy loan demand.

The open technology behind the COCC system will increase Ripley Federal’s flexibility to respond quickly to changing market conditions. Integrated products and online, real time processing will keep customer balances up to date, regardless of the banking channel – an increasingly important feature in today’s multi-channel banking world.

The bank will gain efficiency behind the scenes as well. Screening for matches on OFAC/FinCEN lists will be automated as will the tracking and billing functions for the bank’s safe deposit product. Booking new loans onto the servicing system will be automated as well, reducing opportunities for error and increasing efficiency.

“We look at this as an enhancement, not a conversion,” said Nancy Linkous, Vice President — Loan Operations.

For all the benefits of the technology partnership, Mr. Grooms added that choosing COCC required an adjustment to his thinking. “The idea of our bank in Ohio using a technology firm from the east coast was a change,” he said. “But my Ohio colleagues recommended  COCC so highly and the company’s cooperative ownership structure makes so much sense that I knew this was the right choice.”