by Art Gillis

Tomorrow, Fidelity National Information Services and Certegy will meet at the altar of mergers. So was it a coincidence that two officials from FNIS came to visit me today? Yes, and it was worth it. For this outspoken straight shooter, it was a display of “I tell it as I see it.” I wasn’t quite sure that these two companies were going to blossom all of a sudden just because they became one. My reasons were simple. Bankers just don’t abandon their incumbent vendors overnight in order to achieve some mild benefits like dealing with one company. After a very nice two-hour lunch, it was clear to me that something else is working here. Things that benefit the bank customer and productivity improvements for the banks. And when I further pressed on how fast the revenue line would notice this marriage, I got the only answer that really counts. “We’ve signed up a lot of banks already.” So from this not-so-humble consultant, I offer the following. Listen to your vendor. You might learn something as I did. And you might not have to get on an airplane to find out. And you might not have to give up a whole day, if you keep the small talk to a minimum.

This is a public forum. CMP Media and its affiliates are not responsible for and do not control what is posted herein. CMP Media makes no warranties or guarantees concerning any advice dispensed by its staff members or readers.

Community standards in the message center do not permit hate language, excessive profanity, or other patently offensive language. Please be aware that all information posted to this forum becomes the property of CMP Media LLC and may be edited and republished in print or electronic format as outlined in CMP Media's Terms of Service.

Important Note: The Message Center is NOT intended for commercial messages or solicitations of business.