Berkshire Bank Boosts Productivity with PRODUCT4 Software System; New System Saves Time and Money While Boosting Customer Service & Cross-Selling.

ST. LOUIS -- Berkshire Bank (www.berkshirebank.com), one of Massachusetts' oldest and largest independent banking institutions, with more than $1.2 billion in total assets and 11 branches, is increasing productivity, saving money and improving customer service, thanks to application of new PRODUCT4 deposit platform software from PRODUCT4, Inc. of St. Louis.

Gayle P. Fawcett, Berkshire Bank Senior Vice President - Retail Banking & Operations, said, "This software application allows us to provide customers with a greatly improved banking experience. Wait time in the new accounts process is greatly decreased because the PRODUCT4 software produces forms quickly and accurately. This is a great time saver for our customer service reps and allows them more time to cross-sell and concentrate on customer needs.

"We estimate that the new software is saving each Berkshire customer service rep more than 45 minutes per day and the value of this time saved is more than $130,000 a year," said Fawcett. "This time can be put to work in additional sales efforts to increase profits, boosting our rewards from implementation of this software."

Berkshire Bank chose PRODUCT4's deposit platform system after deciding to update its time-consuming manual forms product process, said Fawcett. "We wanted to provide our reps with less focus on paperwork and free them up to spend more time on meeting customer needs," she said.

"After evaluating other vendors, PRODUCT4's software capabilities, cost and willingness to work with our host data service provider EastPoint Technologies, LLC drove our decision to implement the system. PRODUCT4, EastPoint and Berkshire discussed an integrated solution, and some challenges existed in writing code that allowed PRODUCT4 and EastPoint systems to 'talk' with each other. But the opportunities far outweighed the challenges, making the overall effort well worth it," Fawcett said.

"Our real opportunity is that time saved is now dedicated to customer service functions," she added. "Since PRODUCT4 deposit automation and EastPoint data host systems are now integrated, much of our customer information is pre-filled. This eliminates key entry when waiting on existing customers, there's no manual typing of forms such as signature cards, and no required entry of data into EastPoint's system," she said.

Daniel Moskowitz, President and CEO of PRODUCT4, Inc., said, "PRODUCT4 platform systems are an increasingly popular solution for financial institutions that want to enhance delivery of products and services while helping to decrease expenses and increase revenue."

PRODUCT4 software enables banks to increase profitability using an integrated suite of retail and commercial financial delivery systems. PRODUCT4 systems have been installed in more than 135 financial institutions across North America and the Caribbean, and support more than 7,200 bank branches.

For more information, contact Daniel Moskowitz at PRODUCT4, Inc. at 314.434.1999, or please visit the website www.product4.com or e-mail inquiries to [e-mail].