BROOKFIELD, Wis., Sep 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ:FISV), a leading provider of information technology services to the financial industry, today announced two developments related to the company's Fiserv Case-Shiller(R) Home Price Indexes, which are widely recognized as the most accurate measures of home price trends. The company has partnered with Moody's Economy.com to enhance its CASA automated property valuation model (AVM), and Fiserv will be distributing quarterly bulletins on home pricing trends.

"The steps we announce today will further harness the power of Fiserv's Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes," said Walter Morgan, executive vice president, Fiserv Lending Solutions. "As steward of the most respected and accurate measure of home price trends, we are continually seeking to provide additional insights, tools and information that will help mortgage lenders and other market participants make informed decisions about lending and managing their risk."

First, the company has partnered with Moody's Economy.com in an exclusive agreement to incorporate Moody's Economy.com home price forecasts into Fiserv's popular CASA Automated Valuation Model (AVM). The enhanced forecasting capability combines the historical data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Home Price Indexes with Moody's Economy.com's industry-leading U.S. macroeconomic and regional economic models.

The home price forecasts, which have been seamlessly integrated into Fiserv's CASA AVM, reflect Moody's Economy.com's current outlook for hundreds of economic variables, including interest rates, demographic trends and labor market conditions all combined into a fully specified econometric model. The CASA AVM is used by home equity and mortgage lenders, securities issuers, ratings agencies, insurers, industry analysts and other market participants.

In addition, Fiserv also plans to initiate a program of quarterly bulletins that will offer insights on home price trends in larger national metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). These releases will be distributed on the first Tuesday of each quarter, starting the first week of September. For many years, mortgage lenders, securities issuers, insurers and rating agencies have utilized the Case-Shiller Indexes (CSIs) to accurately track U.S. residential real estate trends and manage home price risk. Part of Fiserv since 2002, the CSIs include home price index sets covering thousands of zip codes, counties, metro areas and state markets. Among the most widely followed sets is The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, which are generated and published under agreements between Standard & Poor's and Fiserv. This includes home price trend data for 20 MSAs as well as 10-city and 20-city composite indexes.

"Fiserv's Case Shiller Home Price Indexes are extraordinary assets, and their value in identifying trends and providing home price forecasts is never more important than in times of market change and uncertainty," said David Stiff, economist, Fiserv. "The addition of Moody's Economy.com's macroeconomic and regional economic models to our CASA AVM creates home price forecasting capabilities that are unrivalled in the marketplace."

See more details on which markets are bucking the national trends in the Fiserv news release "Fiserv Case-Shiller Home Price Insights: Despite Housing Crisis, Nashville Shines among Affordable Markets with Solid Employment" issued today on www.fiserv.com.

Fiserv's CASA Automated Property Valuation Model

The partnership announced today will incorporate Moody's Economy.com home price forecasts into Fiserv's CASA automated property valuation model (AVM) to create the industry's first AVM tool with extensive predictive capabilities.

The home price forecasting piece of the CASA AVM estimates the affordable level of home prices, based on balanced supply and demand conditions, in more 375 metro area housing markets. These equilibrium levels of home prices reflect local income growth, demographic trends, mortgage lending standards, and the investment performance of housing. In addition to creating a baseline, forecasts can also be produced for different economic scenarios, including describing future home price paths following possible economic shocks, such as sharply increasing oil prices or financial market distress.

Fiserv Case-Shiller Index Monthly Bulletins

The planned Fiserv quarterly bulletins will feature insights on home price trends in more than 375 metro areas in across the U.S. Fiserv plans to release the bulletins on the first Tuesday of the quarter.

The basis of the Case-Shiller home price indexes is the pioneering research of economists Karl Case and Robert Shiller, who, beginning in the 1980's, collaborated and later co-founded Case-Shiller Weiss, Inc. with Allan Weiss in 1991. In May 2002, Case-Shiller Weiss was purchased by Fiserv.

About Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.

FISV-G

SOURCE: Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv Financial Institutions Group 
Julie Keaton 
Public Relations Manager 
678-375-3744 
julie.keaton@fiserv.com 
or 
Fiserv, Inc. 
Lori Stafford-Thomas 
Assistant Vice President Corp. External Comm. 
262-879-5130 
lori.stafford@fiserv.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008

News Provided by COMTEX