Fiserv Unveils Major Healthcare Banking Program; Effort Combines Extensive Capabilities in Health Plan Administration and Financial Processing
Fiserv Unveils Major Healthcare Banking Program; Effort Combines Extensive Capabilities in Health Plan Administration and Financial Processing
June 13, 2005
Fiserv Unveils Major Healthcare Banking Program; Effort Combines Extensive Capabilities in Health Plan Administration and Financial ProcessingBROOKFIELD, Wis.--June 13, 2005--Fiserv Inc. (Nasdaq:FISV) has unveiled a comprehensive program of services in the rapidly growing field of healthcare banking. Fiserv's initiative leverages the company's dominant position in financial processing and its increasing presence in health plan administration to help financial institutions compete.
Healthcare banking is a rapidly evolving set of services that financial institutions provide to the interconnected world of healthcare consumers, insurers and providers. Those services include managing tax-advantaged healthcare accounts for consumers and moving payments between parties in healthcare transactions. Authorization by the U.S. Congress of health savings accounts (HSAs), which became available in 2004, is motivating financial institutions to target healthcare banking as a major growth area. Fiserv's goal is to be the leading technology enabler of this effort.
"Our financial institution clients have a great deal of interest in recent healthcare legislation and the emergence of healthcare banking," said Norm Balthasar, Fiserv's chief operating officer. "At the same time, there's a lot of confusion in the market today, especially regarding HSAs and their implication for the financial industry. Because no other company touches as many parts of the healthcare transaction process as Fiserv, we believe we're ideally suited to help banks, credit unions and other service providers understand and seize the opportunities."
HSAs are the centerpiece of an evolving model of more market-based and consumer-driven healthcare. Similar to 401(k) and individual retirement accounts, HSAs allow families covered by high-deductible health insurance plans to make annual contributions of up to $5,250 in pre-tax earnings ($2,650 for individuals). The rationale behind the legislation is to put the ownership of everyday health spending decisions in the hands of consumers and to make insurance - through high deductibles - primarily responsible for catastrophic events. HSAs are designed to support this self-determined approach.
Fiserv already has made great strides in healthcare banking, supporting hundreds of financial institutions that offer HSAs. In addition to HSA processing, Fiserv's healthcare banking program includes various health payment solutions, as well as marketing and educational tools designed to help banks understand HSAs and inform their customers.
"The number of HSAs has already exceeded 1 million and is expected to increase even more rapidly as companies begin open enrollment for their 2006 benefit plans," said Jim Cox, president of Fiserv Health, a Fiserv company that administers benefit plans for self-insured employers. "Fiserv's goal is to enable healthcare banking services, which allow consumers to better manage their health care expenditures."
In addition to capitalizing on its extensive history in financial payments processing, Fiserv is drawing heavily on the intellectual capital and market presence of Fiserv Health. In 2004, the operating units of Fiserv Health handled $6 billion of payments to healthcare providers and patients.
For financial institutions looking to offer HSAs, the accounts have several unique characteristics. As HSA balances grow, for example, current law allows account owners to invest a portion of those balances in mutual funds and other investment vehicles. Thus, the accounts require both long-term investment options and day-to-day transaction capabilities.
Additionally, since HSAs can only be opened by customers with high-deductible health insurance, they may represent the long-awaited convergence of banking and insurance.
"No one can predict exactly how healthcare banking will evolve, but we think Fiserv's combination of skills gives us a great vantage point for helping our customers," Balthasar said. "Last year American consumers, employers and insurers spent more than $1.7 trillion on healthcare. Managing that money and moving it around the system is a complex endeavor. Our aim is to make Fiserv clients the best at doing so."
Fiserv, Inc. (Nasdaq:FISV) provides information management systems and services to the financial industry, including transaction processing, business process outsourcing and software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 16,000 clients worldwide, including banks, credit unions, financial planners and investment advisers, insurance companies and agents, self-funded employers, lenders and savings institutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported $3.4 billion in processing and services revenues for 2004. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the U.S. financial services industry in the 2004 FinTech 100 survey by the American Banker newspaper and the Financial Insights research firm. Fiserv can be found on the Internet at www.fiserv.com.
Healthcare banking is a rapidly evolving set of services that financial institutions provide to the interconnected world of healthcare consumers, insurers and providers. Those services include managing tax-advantaged healthcare accounts for consumers and moving payments between parties in healthcare transactions. Authorization by the U.S. Congress of health savings accounts (HSAs), which became available in 2004, is motivating financial institutions to target healthcare banking as a major growth area. Fiserv's goal is to be the leading technology enabler of this effort.
"Our financial institution clients have a great deal of interest in recent healthcare legislation and the emergence of healthcare banking," said Norm Balthasar, Fiserv's chief operating officer. "At the same time, there's a lot of confusion in the market today, especially regarding HSAs and their implication for the financial industry. Because no other company touches as many parts of the healthcare transaction process as Fiserv, we believe we're ideally suited to help banks, credit unions and other service providers understand and seize the opportunities."
HSAs are the centerpiece of an evolving model of more market-based and consumer-driven healthcare. Similar to 401(k) and individual retirement accounts, HSAs allow families covered by high-deductible health insurance plans to make annual contributions of up to $5,250 in pre-tax earnings ($2,650 for individuals). The rationale behind the legislation is to put the ownership of everyday health spending decisions in the hands of consumers and to make insurance - through high deductibles - primarily responsible for catastrophic events. HSAs are designed to support this self-determined approach.
Fiserv already has made great strides in healthcare banking, supporting hundreds of financial institutions that offer HSAs. In addition to HSA processing, Fiserv's healthcare banking program includes various health payment solutions, as well as marketing and educational tools designed to help banks understand HSAs and inform their customers.
"The number of HSAs has already exceeded 1 million and is expected to increase even more rapidly as companies begin open enrollment for their 2006 benefit plans," said Jim Cox, president of Fiserv Health, a Fiserv company that administers benefit plans for self-insured employers. "Fiserv's goal is to enable healthcare banking services, which allow consumers to better manage their health care expenditures."
In addition to capitalizing on its extensive history in financial payments processing, Fiserv is drawing heavily on the intellectual capital and market presence of Fiserv Health. In 2004, the operating units of Fiserv Health handled $6 billion of payments to healthcare providers and patients.
For financial institutions looking to offer HSAs, the accounts have several unique characteristics. As HSA balances grow, for example, current law allows account owners to invest a portion of those balances in mutual funds and other investment vehicles. Thus, the accounts require both long-term investment options and day-to-day transaction capabilities.
Additionally, since HSAs can only be opened by customers with high-deductible health insurance, they may represent the long-awaited convergence of banking and insurance.
"No one can predict exactly how healthcare banking will evolve, but we think Fiserv's combination of skills gives us a great vantage point for helping our customers," Balthasar said. "Last year American consumers, employers and insurers spent more than $1.7 trillion on healthcare. Managing that money and moving it around the system is a complex endeavor. Our aim is to make Fiserv clients the best at doing so."
Fiserv, Inc. (Nasdaq:FISV) provides information management systems and services to the financial industry, including transaction processing, business process outsourcing and software and systems solutions. The company serves more than 16,000 clients worldwide, including banks, credit unions, financial planners and investment advisers, insurance companies and agents, self-funded employers, lenders and savings institutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., Fiserv reported $3.4 billion in processing and services revenues for 2004. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the U.S. financial services industry in the 2004 FinTech 100 survey by the American Banker newspaper and the Financial Insights research firm. Fiserv can be found on the Internet at www.fiserv.com.