Home Financial Network Adds Java Version of PC Banking Product

Home Financial Network Inc. announced a version of its Home ATM personal banking software with Sun Microsystems Inc.'s "100% Pure Java" seal of approval.

By using the highly flexible Java computer language, customers of banks using the Home ATM software can do banking business on a personal computer, a Network Computer, WebTV, a personal digital assistant, or other Internet- based devices.

Previous versions of Home Financial Network's system required installation on the user's computer. The customer could then obtain account information and do home banking either through a direct-dial connection or via the Web.

Using 40% less software code than its PC counterpart, the Java version is downloaded over the Internet to a computing device each time a customer wants to bank on-line.

Comerica Inc., one of five banking companies operating Home Financial Network's software, would be the first to adopt the Java version.

"The Java version of Home ATM completes our strategy of allowing our customers to choose the channel they prefer for remote banking," said Richard G. Lyons Jr., senior vice president of electronic banking at Comerica.

KeyLabs Inc., Provo, Utah, certified Home ATM as meeting Sun Microsystems' Java specifications.

In separate announcements, Home Financial Network said that Marquette Bankshares of Minneapolis had launched Home ATM and that all versions of its software are year-2000-compliant.

"By the year 2000, we expect 20% of our customer base to be participating in home banking, with the majority using Marquette Home ATM," said Margaret Murphy, senior vice president of Marquette Banks, which also offer home banking through Microsoft Corp.'s Money and Intuit Inc.'s Quicken personal financial management packages.

Home Financial's year-2000 claim applies to the Java-based Home ATM and other products that can be used with Integrion Financial Network's Gold and ADMS data specifications and the Open Financial Exchange protocol, also known as OFX.

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