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Online banking vendors - features for consumers 6/19 AB Software vendors are starting to incorporate money management features from corporate products & personal financial management applications into their consumer online banking systems. Last month S1 upgraded its Enterprise software, putting several business functions into consumers’ hands. The company, which offers the software to large banks, is planning to introduce another upgrade this fall. Several other vendors that serve mainly smaller institutions are making similar upgrades. In October, Intuit will start offering consumers online banking software with features from its Quicken desktop software. It plans to offer a small-business version in December. Online Resources added personal financial management features in February to its MoneyHQ online banking software. The version S1 rolled out last month, Enterprise 3.6, is the first upgrade ‘for S1 in a while,’ Jerry Silva, ORCC, said. ‘We threw away all of the personal online banking code’ & replaced it with code from the business banking product, allowing banks to turn on any business features for their consumers. S1 banks that adopt the change can offer remote deposit capture, wire transfers, & other business features to consumers. In September it plans to begin selling Enterprise 3.7, which will feature ‘a new interface’ that allows consumers to ‘design their own Web page based on what they use more often.’ The personalization features will resemble the ‘widgets’ that users of portals & social networking sites can add to customize their interface. ‘That’s what customers see outside of financial services,’ & they expect the same features at bank sites. The 3.7 update is ‘competitive & keeping up with the times.’ The version rolled out in May replaced Enterprise 3.5, which had been expected in 2005 but was delayed by a year after a management shake-up. The prior version, 3.0, dates to 2004, & Silva said some customers are still on even earlier versions. The new features could entice some banks to update their software. Persuading customers to update has been a long-standing issue for S1. Some enhancements, such an online authentication feature added as a result of a 2006 pact with PassMark Security, were applied only to certain versions as an incentive for clients to upgrade. Silva joined S1 after 8 years with TowerGroup, & 17 in the banking industry before that. S1 is hiring more people with experience in the industry. Christine Barry, Aite, said vendors are starting to beef up their offerings because of increased consumer demand for features that typically have been reserved for businesses. ‘A lot of the vendors are going to be moving in the direction of that ‘PFM lite,’ if that’s what the customers are looking for.’ Business features in particular are in demand because of the worsening economy. More consumers are being exposed to business banking ‘as the economy changes & people lose jobs & start their own businesses.’ As vendors respond to this trend, ‘we’re seeing, in a way, the best of both of the solutions, consumer & business, starting to come together.’ Besides better tracking tools, banks want to offer remote capture to consumers. ‘The goal of banks is to increase the visibility of their solutions.’