Intuit Selling Mobile Banking Unit, but Keeps Merchant Services

Intuit Inc. said Monday it has agreed to sell its online and mobile banking division for about $1 billion in cash to Thoma Bravo LLC, a private equity firm.

The purchase will allow Thoma Bravo to create a stand-alone company that sells a digital banking platform to financial institutions. The transaction includes an Internet banking platform, digital payments, mobile banking and wallet technology, purchase rewards, FinanceWorks (a personal financial management module) and digital banking add-on solutions as well as third-party solutions, according to Intuit.

Meanwhile, Mint.com and the Open Financial Exchange connectivity unit are expected to stay with Intuit. In addition, Intuit's Small Business Financial Solutions unit, which includes QuickBooks, Intuit Payments Solutions and the Intuit Partner Platform, will remain a part of Intuit. The division's offerings include merchant services like the integrated GoPayment mobile card reader and QuickBooks Point of Sale system, online processing and other products and services.

Intuit Financial Services, the unit based in Westlake, Calif., serves about 2,900 financial institutions, providing about 1,100 of them with digital banking. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the next few months.

“Intuit will sharpen its focus on directly serving consumers and small businesses, and continuing to build our durable competitive advantage in those segments,” said Brad Smith, Intuit president and chief executive officer, in a statement.

Intuit Financial Services employs 730 in several offices in the United States and India.

Separately, Thoma Bravo announced in late June it would buy Keynote Systems, a company that provides testing and monitoring services for internet and mobile applications.