Intuit Buys Galt, Moves Into Mutuals Deal Underscores Intuit’s Push Into Electronic Banking

Intuit Inc., maker of the leading personal finance software program Quicken, moved into the mutual fund field Wednesday by agreeing to buy a leading distributor of mutual fund information on the Internet.

The deal further underscores Intuit’s major push to the world of electronic banking.

Intuit, based in Menlo Park, Calif., said it would acquire Galt Technologies Inc. of Pittsburgh in a stock deal valued at more than $9 million. The deal is expected to close by September 1996.

Galt Technologies runs a service called NETworth that distributes information on 65 mutual fund companies on the World Wide Web, part of the Internet.

The acquisition will mean that Quicken users will be able to use their home personal computers to pay bills, check balances at their bank and download prospectuses and other information for mutual funds through the Quicken Financial Network, Intuit’s new Web site.

“This acquisition puts us a step closer to our goal of making QFN the leading Internet marketplace for a full range of financial products and services,” Bill Harris, Intuit’s executive vice president, said in a statement.

Robert Frasca, GALT’s president and chief executive, said the strategy alliance of Intuit and Galt was simple: “It’s basically a one-stop shopping distribution deal.”

The announcement comes as advances in technology are changing competitive forces within the banking and securities industries. Earlier this fall, the Securities and Exchange Commission laid out rules to permit mutual fund companies to send prospectuses to their customers via the Internet. Other computer online services are expanding their electronic banking services as well.

“Intuit has definitely made it a goal to be a major player in the electronic banking world,” said Gary Arlen of Arlen Communications Inc., a Bethesda, Md.-based technology consulting firm.