Intuit Quickens Move Into CU Market

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – Shares in Internet services provider Digital Insight surged 16% yesterday to close at $38.18, after financial software giant Intuit agreed to acquire the company for $39 a share. Intuit’s planned acquisition of DI promises to bring changes to credit union services aimed at the small business market, as soon as the first quarter of 2007, an Intuit executive promised yesterday after the $1.35 billion deal was announced. “Online banking is growing like a weed, but it’s not solving the problems faced by small business owners today,” Paul Rosenfold, director of product management and marketing, told The Credit Union Journal yesterday. Intuit, maker of QuickBooks, Quicken and TurboTax software, has been working with Digital Insight, a leading provider of online banking services to more than 1,700 financial institutions (almost half of which are credit unions) for nine months. The two have been developing a strategy to fill the needs of the vast number of small businesses in the U.S.--estimated at 26 million. Rosenfold said Intuit’s acquisition of Digital Insight will allow it to provide services like tracking accounts balances, payment inquiries and bill payments to complete cash management and planning of all aspects of small business operations.