| By Jim Bruene on July 7, 1998 8:24 AM | Comments (0) |
Intuit
Intuit’s latest foray into financial services.
Intuit (Mountain View, CA) continues to expand its presence online with an innovative service matching lenders with businesses looking for financing. It has great potential once the base of participating lenders and/or product offerings is expanded. The service debuted last month with eight participating banks, American Express and a leasing company (see table at right).
Business CashFinder Participating Lenders
| Banks | Others |
| Centura | American Express |
| Chase Manhattan | Colonial Pacific Leasing |
| Citibank | (division of Pitney Bowes |
| Compass | Credit Corp) |
| Crestar | |
| Centura | |
| Keycorp | |
| Southtrust | |
| Union Bank |
Source: company, 6/25/98
How it Works:1. Businesses head to www.cashfinder.com .
2. A seven-part questionnaire is completed online, which takes about 60 seconds if you know your SIC code, a couple minutes if you have to look it up using Intuit’s integrated SIC database.
3. Based on your business type and financing needs, Intuit returns a page showing what type of financing options are available (credit cards, leasing, line of credit, and/or loans).
4. Business owner selects desired loan type (credit card, lease, line of credit, installment loan) and reviews specific lender products available (no rates provided but other costs are disclosed).
5. Business owner selects a desired program.
6. Intuit readies a custom file containing an application form and tutorial specific to the needs of the applicant.
7. Business owner downloads the 2.2 MB software applet and logs off the Net.
8. Business owner loads the Intuit applet and completes the questionnaire on a local PC (must be Win95/98 or NT4.0).
9. Business owner prints the completed application and MAILS it to the lender.
10. Lender contacts the applicant directly with loan options.
AnalysisIn our recent tests (6/25/98) we found the process intuitive, and easy to get started. At first we thought the requirement to download an applet to complete the application was bizarre, but when you consider the nuances of all the different possible loan applications across ten lenders, it begins to make some sense.
Most business owners won’t mind spending a few extra minutes when seeking financing. And it eliminates the privacy and security issues relative to completing an online form. But still, why not offer a choice? Some (many?) owners lack the time, skill, or patience to go through the download process (we admit to falling into this category, but won’t say for which reason).
Intuit should find a workable HTML solution. And while they are at it, we’ve got a few more items on our wish list:
- a fax number to submit completed applications
- some way of querying the lenders regarding rates prior to applying
- email template/form to make it easier to ask questions
The service lacks Intuit’s famous ability to design products from the user’s perspective. It doesn’t answer basic questions like: What’s the rate? What happens if my lender of choice declines me? Who sees my application? What if I change my mind? What if I’m in a hurry? What if I have a Mac? and so on.
Overall, we give Intuit an A for the idea, and a C- for execution. Cashfinder was probably rushed to market to coincide with the release of QuickBooks 6, which includes a hotlink to the Cashfinder site. We’ll take a closer look at QuickBooks, and its new online payroll and direct deposit functions next month (OBR 8/98).
Contact: Erik Dunn is SVP/CTO, (415) 994-6000.
Step #1: A seven-part preliminary questionnaire
is used to determine which loan options are available to prospective
applicants.
Step #2: Choose which financing option to
apply for.
In our hypothetical test (as a small NY firm), we could choose from
three credit card choices, three leasing options, one line of credit,
and one installment loan.
Evaluate specific product terms. Even though we asked for $150,000 to $250,000, we could only choose from Key Bank’s credit line with a maximum line amount of just $35,000, or Union Bank’s which starts at $5,000 and max’s out at $50,000.
Note: Intuit provides estimated turnaround time, 24 hours for Key and 48 hours for Union; and the number of questions on the application, 102 for Key Bank and 95 for Union Bank.
Leave a comment