SRM Releases Report on the Seven Rules for Optimizing Vendor Contracts

​SRM (Strategic Resource Management), an independent advisory firm serving financial institutions and other industries across North America and Europe, today released its most recent report, “Rising to the Challenge: SRM’s Seven Rules for Optimizing Vendor Contracts.”
 
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Banks and credit unions are more reliant than ever on vendors and third-party technology providers to keep pace with the continuously evolving digital landscape and to provide the state-of-the-art experiences that customers expect. A natural synergy exists between fintech firms and financial institutions - fintech is well-equipped to design and deliver solutions rapidly, often at a lower cost than in-house development.
 
However, important areas must be navigated before arriving at a successful partnership. Millions of dollars are at stake when negotiating a bank or credit union’s portfolio of vendor agreements. Based on SRM’s 30 years of representing clients in contract negotiations, we have identified seven keys to determining success. This new report discusses these seven rules and outlines the unifying theme of the need for a financial institution to bring the proper skills to the table to solve the power imbalance inherent in these discussions.
 
“With today’s challenging economic conditions, the current inflationary environment, and labor shortage struggles, banks and credit unions must explore all possible avenues to control their cost base, making vendor contract negotiation more important than ever,” said Patrick Goodwin, President of SRM. “For more than 30 years, we have been representing our clients in vendor negotiations, which has led us to develop strong best practices in this arena. Working with an experienced and objective third-party expert with clearly defined roles and responsibilities is a crucial step in helping financial institutions gain both operational and financial success with vendor contract negotiations.”

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