This week, First Internet Bank of Indiana (First IB) expanded its support for Quicken® online services by enabling transaction history downloads through Direct Connect sessions. With Direct Connect, a customer’s downloaded transactions are automatically matched with existing transactions and new ones are entered into the customer’s account register, enabling the customer to manage his personal finances with ease.
In addition to transaction downloads, Direct Connect allows customers of First IB to initiate a funds transfer between two First IB accounts within Quicken and then upload the transfer instructions to First IB for completion. Direct Connect leverages the Open Financial Exchange (OFX) specification created by Intuit, Microsoft, and CheckFree.
Bank management reported widespread enthusiasm among its customer base for Quicken software and services. Within 24 hours of the Direct Connect announcement, over 150 customers had signed up for the service through First IB’s website. Customer Scott B. of Indianapolis told Bank representatives, “…First IB’s service just gets better and better. I’m an avid Quicken user, and I really appreciate the bank’s initiatives to integrate its website with the Quicken product. These little conveniences are much appreciated, and they are a big reason why I continue to be an equally avid supporter and promoter of First Internet Bank.”
About Open Financial Exchange
Open Financial Exchange is a unified specification for the electronic exchange of financial data between financial institutions, business and consumers via the Internet. Created by Intuit, Microsoft and CheckFree, Open Financial Exchange supports a wide range of financial activities including consumer and small business banking; consumer and small business bill payment; bill presentment and investments, including stocks, bonds and mutual funds. Other financial services, including financial planning and insurance, will be added in the future and will be incorporated into the specification.
The Open Financial Exchange specification is publicly available for implementation by any financial institution or vendor, and is being used by Intuit, Microsoft and CheckFree as the primary mechanism for supporting financial data exchange in their products and services.
About Intuit
Intuit Inc., a financial software and Web-based services company, develops and markets Quicken, the leading personal finance software; TurboTax, the best- selling tax preparation software; and QuickBooks, the most popular small business accounting software. Intuit’s Quicken.com (http://www.quicken.com) offers a complete set of personal finance news, information, and tools, including the leading mutual fund and insurance sites. Intuit’s products and services enable individuals, small businesses, and financial professionals to better manage their financial lives and businesses.
About First IB
With $352 million in assets, First Internet Bank of Indiana is the first state-chartered, FDIC-insured institution to operate solely via the Internet and has customers in all 50 states. Services include interest-bearing checking accounts, regular and money market savings accounts with industry-leading interest rates, CDs, IRAs, credit cards, and check cards that can be used instead of cash or checks. First IB also offers personal lines of credit, installment loans, unique real-time transfers between accounts, and the ability to display checking, savings and loan information on a single screen. First IB is a privately capitalized institution with over 400 private and corporate investors.