Golden Contract Coalition Launches to Offer Banking Industry Leverage Against Core and IT Vendors

AUSTIN, TX--(Marketwired - Jun 15, 2016) - The Golden Contract Coalition (GCC) today announced its launch as an alliance of community banks, credit unions and key players from within the banking community, charged with addressing core vendor contract disparities from one institution to another. The coalition aims to level the negotiation playing field by creating a fair, standard agreement between community financial institutions and their core and IT vendors -- exclusively available to its members.

Community banks and credit unions have struggled for decades under the oppressive weight of the core vendor goliaths, unable to develop and deploy the same cutting-edge, customer-facing services as those produced by larger national banks. Not only have institutions been treated unfairly in core and IT contract negotiations, but shareholders have been penalized further still when entering mergers and acquisitions. The surging price tag on early contract termination has long-acted as a forceful deterrent to the growth of banks.

Now, for the first time in history, the GCC puts the power into the collective hands of community financial institutions, challenging the vendor oligopoly to end the era of underperforming IT functionality, unenforceable service-level agreements, unfavorable contract terms and overpriced, one-sided deals.

"The GCC is the first alliance of its kind where a group of like-minded institutions has the power to create huge waves in the financial industry," said Aaron Silva, founder of the coalition and president and CEO of Paladin fs. "The vendors and the banks need each other, but there has to be a fair balance established. We are trying to achieve this through the creation of the Golden Contract."

The Golden Contract strips excessive legalese and self-serving conditions from core and IT agreements and pricing, and dictates the master commercial terms and legal conditions by which all core and IT providers must abide. Utilizing the Golden Contract and its set of rules and conditions determined by its GCC members, much-needed money is returned to the bottom line of community banks and credit unions.

Spearheaded by Silva and backed by Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, the leading IT contract negotiation law firm in the world, the GCC aggregates expert negotiators, champions of competitive banking and the institutions themselves to implement higher standards of service and more equitable terms on behalf of the community banking industry.

"The coalition is set to revolutionize the financial ecosystem by mandating exactly how negotiations can and should be done," said Pillsbury Senior Partner Robert Zahler. "We are pleased to be the first of many partners supporting the Golden Contract Coalition to protect community financial institutions from ever signing a bad deal again."

In addition to joining a growing network of financial industry professionals dedicated to creating a new market standard for all, those who join the GCC will also receive individualized consulting and customized price negotiation support according to their asset size. To learn more or to join the GCC, please visit www.goldencontract.com.

About the Golden Contract Coalition
The Golden Contract Coalition (GCC) consolidates the buying power and contract values of large groups of community banks and credit unions, leveraging their collective influence to negotiate a fair deal with their incumbent core and IT vendors. For the first time in history, the GCC puts the power into the hands of the banks and credit unions to challenge the oligopoly, ending the era of underperforming IT functionality, unfavorable contract terms and one-sided deals. By teaming up with the country's premier IT contract law firm, which has handled half-a-trillion dollars in negotiations, the GCC will dictate the master commercial terms and legal conditions of the Golden Contract.