Microsoft Charts Course for Version 2.0 of Internet Finance Server Toolkit

Microsoft Charts Course for Version 2.0 of Internet Finance Server Toolkit

REDMOND, Wash., April 16, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. today announced plans for version 2.0 of the Microsoft® Internet Finance Server Toolkit (MIFST), formerly code-named
“Marble,”
at the Microsoft FinNet conference in Bellevue, Wash.

MIFST 2.0 will enable financial institutions and systems integrators to take full advantage of the new and yet-to-be-named specification, which converges Open Financial Exchange and GOLD (OFX/GOLD). The converged OFX/GOLD specification will provide a standardized framework for exchanging financial data and instructions between customers and their financial institutions. MIFST 2.0 will also provide full support for electronic bill presentment and payment, a service offered by MSFDC and other bill presentment systems complying with the converged OFX/GOLD specification, which allows customers to receive and pay bills via the Internet.

“Version 2.0 will dramatically enhance MIFST’s functionality,”
said Mack McCauley, online financial services product unit manager at Microsoft.
“With full support for the converged OFX/GOLD specification and electronic bill presentment and payment, MIFST 2.0 will allow financial institutions to brand and offer customers the broadest range of online financial services on either an in-house or outsourced basis.”

The MIFST 2.0 upgrade is scheduled for release by the end of 1998.

Financial institutions that build their Web platforms with MIFST 2.0 will enable their customers to receive and pay electronically presented bills, check account balances, transfer funds, and view banking and brokerage statement information online. More than 100 solution providers and financial institutions around the world, including CoreStates Bank N.A., PaineWebber Inc. and Wells Fargo, employ MIFST.

“Wells Fargo is committed to providing its customers with compelling online products and services, like bill presentment,”
said Sharon Osberg, senior vice president, online financial services group at Wells Fargo Bank.
“The MIFST 2.0 upgrade will give us the tools we need to continue to design, develop and deliver state-of-the-art financial services over the Internet.”

Other financial institutions currently embracing the MIFST platform include AmeriTrade Holding Corp., Accutrade Inc., Nationwide Building Society in the United Kingdom, and Bayerische Vereinsbank, the second-largest bank in Germany. Solution providers implementing the toolkit include ADP Financial Information Services, Andersen Consulting, Applied Communications Inc., Edify Corp., Cap Gemini, First Data Corp., Compaq Computer Corp., InteliData, Unisys Corp. and ALLTEL.

“We’re excited about the future direction for MIFST,”
said Keith Henkel, managing director of ALLTEL’s Delivery Solutions.
“MIFST 2.0’s strong support for the converged OFX/GOLD specification, bill presentment and Microsoft BackOffice® family technology combined with the ALLTEL Service Delivery platform provides one of the strongest offerings for integrated online financial services in the industry. Release 2.0 will further enhance our offering to our customers.”

Helping Financial Institutions Help Their Customers

MIFST 2.0 will provide significant enhancements to the existing components of the toolkit. Specifically, MIFST 2.0 will provide the following benefits:

  • Full support for the converged OFX/GOLD specification. MIFST 2.0 will provide full support for the new OFX/GOLD specification. MIFST 2.0 will enable financial institutions to deploy a single platform that supports requests from clients using OFX 1.02, OFX 1.5 and the new specification. This enables financial institutions to provide seamless service to a variety of consumers without requiring the institution to deploy different physical platforms or requiring their customers to standardize on a single application.

  • Pre-built code for bill presentment. MIFST 2.0 will be pre-wired to support electronic bill presentment and payment with MSFDC and will support other OFX/GOLD bill presentment systems. MIFST 2.0 will provide sample code and pre-written COM objects to provide direct connection to MSFDC for financial institutions interested in implementing bill presentment.

  • Tight integration with all elements of the Microsoft BackOffice platform. Version 1.0 integrated well with the functionality in the BackOffice product family (Microsoft Transaction Server, Microsoft Message Queue, Microsoft SQL Server
    ™
    , etc.). Version 2.0 of MIFST takes full advantage of enhancements and new additions to the BackOffice family to deliver an even more robust set of tools for delivering online financial services.

MIFST 2.0 also will incorporate a number of enhancements to the MIFST Web development toolkit, a set of tools that provides Web server components, sample code and a sample site that developers can use out of the box for creating a transactional Web site. The new version of the toolkit will include additional sample sites, support for bill presentment and several other enhancements to make the job of creating a world-class transactional Web site much easier. The Web development toolkit is designed to work with Microsoft Site Server.

Scheduled Pricing and Availability

MIFST’s estimated retail price is $9,999. A special version of MIFST for solution providers is available for an estimated retail price of $2,000. Pricing for MIFST 2.0 will be announced at a later date. Current users of MIFST will be eligible for a reduced price upgrade.

Additional information about MIFST’s availability, terms and conditions, and licensing process is provided on the MIFST Web site (http://www.microsoft.com/industry/finserv/mifst.htm) .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

The information contained in this press release relates to prerelease software product that may be substantially modified before its first commercial release. Accordingly, the information may not accurately describe or reflect the software product when first commercially released. The press release is provided for informational purposes only, and Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the press release or the information contained in it.

Microsoft and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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