Online Resources and Communications Corp. and the Pershing division of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. have begun offering on-line investment services through screen-based telephones.
The service, sold through Pershing's electronic services arm PC Financial Network, enables individual investors to trade securities and retrieve extensive account information using the ScreenPhone - one of several interactive devices supported by Mclean, Va.-based Online Resources.
By offering the service, PC Financial, the nation's largest on-line discount broker, hopes to expand its electronic brokerage business.
The company already provides on-line services to 180,000 personal computer users through Prodigy, America Online, and the Reuters Money Network.
PC Financial also offers a research product on Apple Computer's E-World, an on-line service for Macintosh users. It also plans to support a trading application through Sony Corp.'s MagicLink personal digital assistant by the end of the year.
PC Financial's latest service targets "touch-tone traders" - the estimated two to three million individual investors who use touch-tone telephones for trading activity.
The company hopes to lure clients from this pool by touting the ease of use of screen telephones for buying and selling investments, tracking account balances, and reviewing transaction activity.
Blake Darcy, PC Financial's chief operating officer, said the ScreenPhone eliminates the confusion of touch-tone by enabling customers to scroll through real-time quotes and complete transactions without having to follow computerized voice prompts or to navigate functions by entering sets of numbers.
By establishing a PC Financial ScreenPhone account with a net equity balance of $10,000 or more, investors can acquire the phone for $74.95 and avoid a monthly service fee.
In addition to transaction services, PC Financial makes available via a toll-free telephone number experts who can assist investors with inquiries about their portfolios.
The cost of the ScreenPhone will be refunded to investors referring someone who subscribes to the service. Investors also may return the phones for a full refund if at the end of two months they do not find the service useful.
In addition to its ScreenPhone, Online Resources supports delivery of interactive services through conventional telephones and PCs and plans to support other devices, such as interactive TV and personal digital assistants, as demand warrants.
Online maintains a directory of financial institutions and service companies on the Internet's World Wide Web, and develops home pages for financial institutions that want to market products and services on the Internet. Its home page can be found at http://www.orcc.com.
