With the addition of industry veterans Stephen Heckard and Matt Bergman, Artisan Advisors is adding a new practice to its portfolio: Core Financial Technology Consulting. Strategic Consulting, Risk Management and Organization & Talent Assessment round out Artisan’s portfolio, providing banks, credit unions and non-bank financial institutions with a robust slate of critical support services. Artisan can also assist in building Fintech partnerships.
Core Financial Technology Consulting will focus on generating more favorable contract outcomes for Artisan clients, from the development and implementation of a customized and highly competitive core vendor assessment process. Artisan can now provide core vendor evaluation, managed contract renewal and in-house transition to outsourced processing assessment, among other services, in accordance with client needs.
“Managing the core vendor contract process is daunting for a lot of bankers,” said Jeff Voss, co-founder and managing partner at Artisan. “Bringing such well-respected experts as Steve and Matt into our group allows Artisan to hit the ground running and immediately make this invaluable service available to our clients. This is a real win for Artisan and our clients.”
Steve Heckard will lead the Core Financial Technology Consulting practice. He is a noted specialist in financial technology with extensive experience in IT strategic planning, conversion planning, and operational assessments. His extensive background in selling financial technology services to financial institutions, while with companies like Fiserv and ProBank Austin (now Forvis), uniquely qualifies him in assisting institutions in their review of processing systems and contract negotiations. In addition to core vendor evaluations (RFPs), managed contract renewals, and in-house vs. outsourced studies, he has deep experience in conversion management, merger assistance, IT strategic planning and operational studies.
“Matt and I are excited to join forces with Artisan Advisors,” said Steve Heckard. “We’re looking forward to being part of their team and putting our rigorous and competition-driven processes to work, for the benefit of Artisan clients.”
Matt Bergman is a deeply knowledgeable technology solutions professional with decades of experience in selling core processing service programs to financial institutions including banks and credit unions. He has worked with leading providers of technology solutions in the financial industry throughout his 25-year career, notably FISERV, FIS and Xamin, Inc. His experience from the vendor perspective allows him to bring invaluable insight to the contract negotiation and renewal process that will translate to strong results, including more competitive rates and improved service and support, for Artisan clients.
“Our mission at Artisan Advisors is to help banks, credit unions and non-bank financial institutions be the best they can be,” said Jim Adkins, co-founder and managing partner at Artisan. “By adding Core
Financial Technology Consulting to our service portfolio, Artisan has another powerful tool to use as we support our clients in achieving that goal.”
Artisan Advisors specializes in strategic consulting, risk assessment, organization and talent assessment and core financial technology consulting services for community banks, credit unions and non-bank financial institutions. Artisan’s team of former bank CEOs, CFOs, board directors, compliance, credit and lending officers, and marketing strategists works closely with clients to help them succeed in an increasingly complex operating and regulatory environment.