THE NBS GROUP
TRANSFORMING REGIONAL AND
COMMUNITY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
FOR 25+ YEARS.
INDEPENDENT ADVICE – INFORMED DECISIONS
The NBS Group has been a leading provider of Strategy, Technology, and Performance consulting services for banks, credit unions, and fintech’s for over 25 years.
NBS continues to serve clients throughout the United States and abroad from $100m community banks to the largest fintechs in the world. Choose the NBS Group to be your partner to meet the diverse and expanding requirements of the financial services industry by leveraging more than two centuries of collective experience delivering…
Innovative Business Strategies
Advanced Technology
Operational Excellence
Let NBS help meet your challenges with seasoned professionals in areas such as:
- Project Management
- Digital Transformation
- Card and Payment Services
- Bank Operations
- Information Technology
- Retail and Commercial Banking
- Treasury Management
- Regulatory Compliance
- Audit
- Interim CIO and CFO Positions
- Fintech Oversight
- Commercial Loan and Mortgage Origination Platforms – Specialists with Encompass and Abrigo Sageworks
- Business Process Improvement Services with Lean & Six Sigma Black Belts.
STRATEGY
We partner with you to paint the vision for your institution and ensure you have what it takes to get there. Whether that is engaging in your enterprise or divisional planning processes, conducting industry, market, or peer analysis, plan drafting or financial modeling – we have what it takes to design & secure your future as a community or regional institution.
PERFORMANCE
Most banks and credit unions rarely take an objective look at their processes, and are not executing to their potential as a result. We work to conduct enterprise and/or departmental efficiency reviews to include organizational structure, staffing, systems, and business processes or workflows to drive efficiency gains for your organization.
TECHNOLOGY
With new fintechs and banking-as-a-service companies emerging daily, it’s crucial that you have the technology in place to remain competitive. Our technology team engages in technology planning, vendor assessments & benchmarking, and vendor selection & contracting so you have the foundation to succeed for years to come.
TRUSTED BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
2023 KEY HIGHLIGHTS
In 2023 over 30 clients benefited from a full range of services from NBS. Some with multiple engagements. Check out some of our key highlights from this past year…
Strategic Planning Services for 9 banks, credit unions, and a mortgage banker ranging in size from $350M to $5B in assets
Operational consulting, efficiency, and system conversion/implementation services for 8 banks and credit unions ranging in size from $650M to $5B in assets
Technology vendor evaluations, selections, and contracting projects for 12 banks and credit unions ranging in size from $450M to $3.1B in assets
SPOTLIGHT ON SUCCESS
CLIENT | $3.5B BANK
Before engaging the NBS Group, this client struggled with legacy processes and technologies. The NBS Group engaged in a full performance evaluation to uncover the root causes and find efficiency gains.
Included in the review, NBS examined the IT department staffing, policies and procedures, roles, operations, and use of systems and vendors to improve efficiency.
As a result, the bank realized $500k in annual cost savings and a 20% staffing efficiency savings through better use of technologies, streamlined operating practices, and maintaining a strong level of end-user support and services.
CLIENT | $2.5B COMMERCIAL BANK
A large commercial bank was coming up on its core vendor contract renewal and was seeking to replace its current provider to not only advance its technological capabilities but also reduce its investment.
The NBS Group first completed a complete analysis of their current contract, invoices, and features and functionalities and benchmarked them against their proprietary database.
NBS then lead the entire RFP process, provided leverage in the negotiation process, and ultimately created a true “apples to apples” comparison for the Bank so that they could make the most informed decision possible.
As a result, the client was able to realize a cost savings of $16 million over the life of their contract, benefit from favorable terms & conditions negotiated by NBS, and provide the digital experience and customer experience they longed for through the updated technology.
CLIENT | $1.5B BANK
Struggling with their retail banking strategy, NBS was engaged to review the retail banking business for branch performance and strategic value.
NBS completed a comprehensive analysis to identify branches to close, combine/modify certain offices, and even identify new markets for branches. This included evaluating the physical branch environments, markets, staffing, operating practices, and roles with product sales and support.
As a result, NBS identified 3 of the 15 branches to close with no loss of customers, and identified one new location for a new branch.
CLIENT FEEDBACK
“Making the decision to hire an outside consultant to help us through the Core Processing vendor evaluation process was not the difficult decision to make for our Bank. The key component was aligning ourselves with a firm that would allow us to make an objective decision that best met our unique strategy – and NBS didn’t disappoint. Their execution from day one helped the Bank identify the best solution, secured competitive pricing, and provided further guidance with service level agreements, performance conditions and other contractual arrangements. We highly recommend NBS.”
~Edward F. Doherty, Jr., CEO, Stoneham Bank
“It was an interesting and welcome change from past strategic planning sessions. To me, Tom’s approach was direct and really thought There were a few moments that made me feel uncomfortable, but in a good way, because it made us think about where we are as a company compared to our perception of ourselves.”
~Management and Board of Directors, First Seacoast Bank
“I was fairly involved in the Commercial LOS presentations and deliberations, but Jim was very involved with your folks. Just want to pass along his appreciation for the work that your folks did on this project (as am I). I think we made a solid decision, struck a good agreement, all in a very short time frame, which I know would not have been possible without NBS assistance. So, thank you to you and your team.”
~Management and Board of Directors, First Seacoast Bank
“Excellent use of time! I walked away with the realization that we should likely act at warp speed when it comes to selecting/ implementing a new core and implementing strategies to grow our deposit base.”
~Management and Board of Directors, First Seacoast Bank
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What can you bring to my team?
We bring ideas, outside perspectives from dozens of similar and different financial institutions, and we are change agents, helping our clients make decisions, and accomplish their project objectives.
How are you cost effective?
We focus on your goals and objectives – we get in and get out.
How are your clients’ employee needs and concerns addressed?
We dig into our projects, we meet with and talk one-on-one with your staff and officers, we listen, confirm what we heard, and carefully accumulate our findings and correlate what we heard with the facts and circumstances associated with your financial institution, and our approach includes multiple methods of communication and engagement to drive buy-in and teamwork.
What happens if we are unable to support your team in a timely manner?
We are always flexible, your business demands come first, but we maintain attention and focus on your project and needs, and work together to accomplish the agreed upon project goals.
If we do not agree with your findings, what happens?
We work for you. If our facts are wrong, we dig in and get the facts working together with you, if our facts are correct, we work with your project team to figure out what is best for your financial institution. You are the boss, you have to value and agree with the project results, it is our job to customize the opportunities to fit your culture and environment.
Do you bill more than your cost quote?
Never!
How do you fit in with your client’s project teams?
That is the difference we bring. When we are engaged to help and support you, we focus on your needs and our agreed upon engagement. Our methods address the human aspect of our work, learning your culture, style, and operating model. Our responsibility is to bring proven practices to your attention, and work together to figure out how to adopt improved practices in your environment.