By Bill Perry

SCOTTVILLE, - Neil Armstrong took his first walk on the Moon the same year that West Shore Computer Services (WSCS) took its first steps to start a cooperative computer center for banks. To most people 36 years ago, space travel, walking on the Moon and computer technology seemed more science fiction than fact; and the value and impact on society that technology would have in the future was not totally understood at that time.

Formed in 1969 by three community bank presidents; Bruce Draper of State Savings Bank of Scottville (now West Shore Bank), Robert S. Smith of Lake- Osceola State Bank, and Duane Parkes Jr. of Manistee Bank and Trust (now a National City), WSCS has emerged as a profitable member-owned cooperative that provides data processing services to community banks.

"Both Bruce and Robert are now deceased, but looking back at their efforts to start a computer center was a daring and progressive decision to make in the late 60s," said Paul Rasmussen, President/CEO of WSCS. "Most people knew little about computers, when many checks did not have account numbers MICR encoded." But a market was established and he noted that the data center expanded rapidly in its early years of operation, from the original three banks to a peak of sixteen, with equal shareholders.

"The bank mergers and acquisitions that followed our early and rapid growth caused a reduction in participating banks," Rasmussen said.

"Our market has always been Michigan's community banks, where we currently focus on financial institutions with assets ranging from $100 to $500 million. We presently

have six customers, of which five are equal owners." Those five owners are: ChoiceOne Bank, Sparta; Lake-Osceola State Bank, Baldwin; Valley Ridge Bank, Kent City; West Shore Bank, Ludington; and Honor State Bank, Honor.

Working with Rasmussen, the other corporate officers at WSCS with over 27 years of continuous employment include Susan O'Connor, VP - Operations and P. Mark Kerkstra, VP - Technology.

Changing Technology and its Impact

Rasmussen recalled that in the early years it was necessary to physically transport checks to the data center for capture and sorting. New accounts and changes were keypunched; reports were printed on continuous forms and couriered back to each main office and in turn to branch offices. Telecommunications brought customer information first to tellers in remote branches, then directly to customers anytime and anywhere they want it.

"Improvements in telecommunications have had a significant impact on operations. Voice response telephone banking remains a very popular delivery channel," he emphasized. "Improvements in personal computers and the Internet have dramatically impacted our entire work culture including banking. Internet banking is growing and Check-21 will have a profound impact on our entire payment systems over the next few years. WSCS is poised and ready for the change to happen."

Check imaging allows WSCS to automate statement rendering, reduce research time and allows a customer to perform their own check
research via the Internet. With
Check-21, business

customers will soon be depositing checks electronically.

Looking to the Future

WSCS primary strategic objective is to be a reliable, cost effective provider of data processing and allied services to a variety of financial companies with the following goals:

Looking to the future, Rasmussen sees WSCS becoming a banking services company offering more than traditional data processing services. "We will be moving into other cooperative arrangements that reduce cost for the banks, such as group purchasing, auditing, loan review and training," he said. "We are currently building a corporate university delivering various classes in a myriad of formats, designed by us and tailored to the needs of our banks. The classes can be taken via web-ex, online via our secured Intranet, on-site or off-site. The offerings will include core banking software, PC software in use by the banks, systems training, and compliance training.

Rasmussen concluded that the success of WSCS is based on the ability of competitors to work cooperatively and collectively to provide technologically advanced services at affordable cost making the computer company a successful venture with a strong future.