CALABASAS, Calif. — Credit unions and banks will soon be able to offer TurboTax through their online banking interface-and it can be integrated with Digital Insight's FinanceWorks financial management tool.
Digital Insight, an Intuit company, expects the new product - called TurboTax for Online Banking - will strengthen customer and member relationships and drive deposits. "It's about helping credit unions leverage the online channel to keep building member relationships," said Albert Ko, SVP-financial management for Digital Insight, who pointed out that TurboTax for Online Banking can be added with or without FinanceWorks. "If you think about consumer pain points, taxes are one. If we can resolve that pain point for credit union members, we will further cement that relationship." TurboTax for Online Banking is being offered free to Digital Insight's retail Internet banking clients.
Ko said the real advantage of TurboTax for Online Banking is gained when it is integrated into FinanceWorks. "Because I am accessing this through my institution's financial management tool, all of my personal information is pre-populated. It's really about automating things you would have to otherwise key in, which saves time and reduces errors. For example, I have a lot of interest income from my credit union savings account. TurboTax for Online Banking automatically imports that 1099 information. I don't have to dig around for my account information, and I don't have to find my checkbook for the routing number."
TurboTax also drives deposits, Ko said. If the member gets a refund, the program asks where the refund should be sent. "There is a default option that members click on and the refund goes to their credit union account," Ko said. "In our pilot for TurboTax for Online Banking, 94% of people who received refunds selected the default option."
Ko said the program was tested with a "handful" of credit unions and banks last tax season. "The overwhelming response from credit union members was that they loved how easy this makes tax preparation," Ko said. "It takes an experience most people dread and makes it much simpler. Members saw this as something truly innovative from the credit union - something important as credit unions seek to differentiate - and, as a result, said they would be more likely to recommend their credit union to others."
Additional tools will be released in May or June, KO said, to help consumers meet their tax preparation needs. "These will be year-round tools to help people who have questions about taxes. You see different types of tax calculators all over the Internet. But what will make these tools more effective is that when they are integrated within TurboTax for Online Banking and FinanceWorks, they will know exactly who you are, your tax status, and the projections and calculations will be more accurate and personalized than anything out there today."
According to Ko, TurboTax for Online Banking should be available to financials this fall for use by consumers in December.
