Fiserv Buys Stake in Urban Settlement

Fiserv Inc. has announced the acquisition of an equity interest in Urban Settlement Services LLC, a Pittsburgh-based vendor management company that provides title search, real estate appraisal, and closing products and services to the home mortgage industry.Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Urban Settlement is the only national minority-owned settlement services company currently certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. Urban Settlement serves major financial institutions such as Citizen's Bank, Bank of America, PNC Bank, and Wachovia Bank. The company is owned by Charles Sanders, who also serves as its president. Fiserv said its investment will enable Urban Settlement to expand its business portfolio among current clients and new institutions. Urban Settlement may serve as an outlet for other Fiserv lending products, while gaining the efficiencies of a much larger organization. The companies can be found online at http://www.fiserv.com and http://www.urbansettlement.com.