As banks hurry to offer online account aggregation, nonbank aggregation companies such as By All Accounts.com Inc. are racing them for high-net-worth customers.
By All Accounts, of Cambridge, Mass., is one of a growing number of companies that aims to serve as an Internet version of the popular personal financial management sofware tools, such as Intuit Inc.'s Quicken and Microsoft Corp.'s Money.
Not only will it pull together a customer's accounts online, it will also offer a comprehensive analysis of the customer's portfolio, including risk/return summaries and asset allocation.
The firm is pursuing banks and brokerages to be cobranding partners who would pay a small fee to link to its Web site. L. Patrick Gardner, president and chief executive officer of By All Accounts, said banks could find value in his service because bank Web sites generally have less "sticking" power than do the sites run by other financial services firms.
"Account aggregation is an important and growing phenomenon, and its most important application is in the area of finance," Mr. Gardner said.
He said he expects brokers and financial advisers to see his service as a threat initially but eventually to realize that it adds value to their work. The firm has no plan to offer trading or investment advice, he said, but he did not rule it out.
By All Accounts' aggregation product, called WebPortfolio, is aimed at people whose debts are minimal. It automatically tracks mortgages and other substantial liabilities; customers who want to include smaller debts, such as card loans, must input the data manually.
Mr. Gardner said his firm had decided that people with assets large enough to really make use of WebPortfolio were not likely to have substantial credit card debt.
Before co-founding By All Accounts, Mr. Gardner was national sales manager for the retirement plan services division at Charles Schwab & Co. in San Francisco.
