Microsoft Backs Banking Standards

Microsoft Corp. has thrown its clout behind standards for new online banking software that could make it more practical for consumers to pay bills electronically.

The software standards would allow banks to continue using their old computer systems, overcoming what had been a key impediment to widespread use of Internet banking.

In a speech Wednesday by satellite linkup to a bankers convention in New Orleans, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates said his company and 31 developers of software for financial institutions are working on Windows Distributed interNEt Applications for Financial Services.

Windows DNA FS is a set of specifications that will allow the wide variety of incompatible computer systems and data files used by banks to share information.

That, Gates said “will allow institutions to embrace next-generation solutions that take advantage of the Internet.”