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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Microsoft, Intuit Agree On Standard

From Staff And Wire Reports

Financial software rivals Microsoft Corp. and Intuit Inc. on Thursday proposed a unified technical standard which they said will make it easier to bank over the Internet.

The proposal, also announced with CheckFree Corp., a processor of Internet transactions, is a step toward allowing customers to use any available financial management software at the financial institution of their choice when banking on line.

The proposed standard is called Open Financial Exchange. It is as if the technology providers were agreeing on a standard electrical socket design and asking lamp designers to make their lamp plugs fit the standard socket.

A unified standard “represents a dramatic benefit for financial-services provides and their customers,” said Bill Harris, executive vice president of Intuit.

The specifications are still being refined and will be included in software to be released in September, the companies said.

Microsoft and Intuit have been competing to get banks to use their respective personal-finance software.