Pat: It looks like it is going to be war, here are the sides:
The banking industry, IBM, Intuit and CKFR versus MSFT.
The banks, along with IBM, formed Integrion, which in turn acquired Visa Interactive's home banking and bill pay platform. Then, Integrion announced linkage with Intuit,
biz.yahoo.com
and a 10 year processing agreement with CKFR, which is ready to roll.
biz.yahoo.com
Keep in mind that all of the entities on the left of the "versus" have a reason to want to defeat MSFT. MSFT, meanwhile, forms a JV with First Data Corp, MSFDC, and assures the bankers that he does not want to get into their business.
So the battle lines are drawn. On one side we have Integrion; 18 of the largest banks in the US and IBM, with IBM's Global Network, all of the Big Blue hardware and services resources; along with CKFR's 2,000,000 consumers using home banking and bill payment and with several bill presentment billers live and several more in queue; teamed up with Intuit, the leading provider of personal financial management software.
On the other side we have MSFT, the leading provider of operating systems for PC's; and FDC, the leading provider of point of sale/credit card processing. Together, as MSFDC, they have 0 customers, and 4 or 5 billers going into "pilot" in early '98.
Who do you think is going to win this war? The guys with all the banks and customers or the guys who are just getting started? I think the only real thing that MSFDC has going for it is the MSFT name. There are alot of young people that simply trust MSFT, because the name is all over the software they use everyday. These people may be tempted to open financial accounts with an entity other than an established bank. If this happens, MSFT will have entered the banking industry, and the war will get bloody. I do not think it will happen, as the banks, CKFR, IBM and Intuit are arming themselves to stop it.
Hope this helps,
Kurt |
