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Bankers as Buyers(tm) is a collection of research, observations and articles about what technology, solutions and services bankers will buy in 2009 and the changing financial industry landscape. The full 2009 Bankers As Buyers study can be downloaded at: http://www.williammills.com/images/pdfs/bab%202009%20final.pdf This blog entry is about 1,200 words...down from the full report's 40 pages. According to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (June 2008 data) and Credit Union National Association (November 2008 data), the depository institution landscape is as follows: Commercial Banks 7,146 Savings Banks 1,238 Credit Unions 8,064 Total 16,448 For the FDIC bank profile, see: http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif Overall, Financial Insights is predicting a reduction in IT spending for North American banking. This will mark the first time Financial Insights has forecast negative growth for the industry since before the company and its predecessor firm started forecasting ...

If you market technology or related services to the mortgage or real estate market, you should note that there is one less news outlet. News from October Research -- Real Estate Technology News folded into Title Report and Valuation Review this month As of Jan. 1, the online content for Real Estate Technology News is being integrated into several of our other premier publications. Building on the wealth of stories written over the past seven years, the October Research editorial staff will continue to provide critical technology news and analysis for each of our markets. We encourage you to visit our other publication Web sites to access our First in Class coverage of the real estate and settlement services industries: Valuation Review (www.valuationreview.com) Title Report (www.thetitlereport.com)

Available for download at: http://www.williammills.com/images/pdfs/bab%202009%20final.pdf Please feel free to share the information with your friends and business associates. This year's study runs 40 pages -- I will have a summary version in a few weeks for you as well. Best regards, Scott Mills, APR

There have been several articles within the last week that may focus vendors toward community banks and credit unions (community financial institutions – CFI’s for short). Articles cite larger banks as holding on to capital; tightening up lending standards, lowering credit card limits and closing unprofitable accounts. For the most part, CFI’s have avoided the more risky mortgages, are better capitalized (ratios), retain more servicing rights and generally treat customers better (because they know them). If you are an American Banker reader, I suggest you look at: 1. Web and Branch Sign-Ups Give Small Banks Mortgage Lift, By Kate Berry, Friday, December 19, 2008 2. Small-Bank Tech Spending Up While Bigger Players Cut Back, By Will Wade, Friday, December 19, 2008 For a great article on CFI successes of late, read: USA TODAY More bank customers think smaller institutions these days, By Pallavi Gogoi, December 21, 2008 http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/2008-12-21-small-co...

Recently, I saw Barbara Perino, senior vice president of operations and technology for The Washington Trust Company address a room full of bank vendors. While other speakers painted a gloomy picture of the industry, she provided insights on how vendors should approach her and the bank’s spending priorities in technology and related services in 2009. About Washington Trust: · Founded in 1800 · Based in Westerly, Rhode Island · 17 branches · Four wealth management offices · $2.8 billion in assets (as of September 30, 2008) · Earnings before taxes = 40% from retail, 34% from business banking and 26% from wealth management · Washington Trust Wealth Management (a division of the bank) has approximately $4 billion in assets under administration Perino aligns technology spending with the bank’s strategic goals, only considering projects and/or vendors who can demonstrate either a positive ROI or show an ability to mitigate risks and threats to Washington Trust. She said that her 2009 spe...