We just launched a new blog focused on important developments at nearly 100 of the most innovative financial companies on the planet: those chosen to demo at our Finovate conference series. We'll have capsule summaries each week on Netbanker, but for the full post we encourage you to subscribe to the Finovate email list or RSS feed here.

We'll also be keeping you posted on even more Finovate alumni news via our Twitter feed here.

Outright.com Launches New 1099 Tax Filing Service

Free online bookkeeping site Outright.com has added its first fee-based service, shedding light on its business model for the first time. The company's new service helps small business owners manage 1099 tax forms for contractors, charging $5 per. Outright intends to introduce more fee-based services in the future while keeping the core service free.

Along with the launch of its 1099 service, Outright also launched a new tax information website, Right Taxes Now. The new site provides tax advice and offers opportunities to sign petitions regarding small-business tax relief legislation.

Read more about Outright.com and its new offerings here.

BillShrink Expands into Small Business Market with Launch of Credit Card Advisor

BillShrink, which provides money-savings advice on a variety of consumer products, has expanded its offerings to include help for business owners.

The company's new BillShrink for Business service helps businesses find better credit card deals. The company also has online tools in the works for comparing business wireless phone services and savings accounts.

Read more about BillShrink's new business services here.

BrightScope Launches 401(k) Data Tool

On January 19, BrightScope launched a new online tool, the Personal 401(k) Fee Report. The new tool expands on BrightScope's previous 401(k) data offerings by comparing the costs and retirement results of selected plans against alternatives such as IRAs, making the data more useful to financial advisors.

The report also provides detailed information on each 401(k) plan, such as a breakdown of the fees and a list of the associated funds. Read more about BrightScope's new 401(k) product here.

This is one of the better times of year to market tax-deferred accounts. ING Direct targets consumers plotting New Year resolutions with this intriguing headline:

------------------------------------------------
Subject: Is an IRA on your "to do" list?
From: saver@ingdirect.com
Received: 22 Dec 2009, 5:07 PM Pacific
-------------------------------------------------

There's not much to the message. No offer. No graphics. No tease. Just a solid message reiterating the potential tax benefits and emphasizing ING Direct's no-fee options.

Grade: B+

Email screenshot
Note: This message was sent to an existing customer with a savings account and Sharebuilder account, but no IRA.

Landing page (link)
Note: Landing page URL is <retirement.ingdirect.com>

This is the first time we've seen a financial services company reach out and congratulate users for a job well done. In this case, ING Direct's U.S. retail investments unit, ShareBuilder, sent a congratulatory email message to me after two months of investing through its Automatic Investment Program, which pulls money from outside checking accounts.  

The message has several purposes:

• To reinforce the investment decision
• To encourage customers to use ShareBuilder Research
• To incent users to move other brokerage accounts to ShareBuilder with the $100 bonus offer (see landing page, second screenshot)

Analysis
What's not to like here? It's timely, relevant, to-the-point (only 75 words in the main body copy) and makes users feel good about themselves. The same thing could be done with loan payments, debt reduction, savings account balance growth, and so on.

Email: ShareBuilder automated savings congratulations
(3 July 2009, 6:41 AM Pacific Time)

Landing page for $100-bonus offer
Note: The offer is co-branded with Wells Fargo, which is where I originally set up the ShareBuilder account eight or nine years ago.

Side note: Online account opening warning box
When looking at the new account application, we encountered this popup when attempting to leave the unfinished app and navigate to the ShareBuilder homepage (see note 1).  

Note:
1. For more info on the subject of online apps, see our Online Banking Report: Online Account Opening, published two weeks ago. 

After viewing my credit card statement (personal and business) I was greeted with the following retirement planning pitch from Bank of America. I've recently seen similar banners on the bank's homepage (though not today).

It's not easy getting consumers interested in looking at their retirement situation when they are in the middle of an Internet session. There's always something more pressing or entertaining to be done than worry about some distant event. 

So it takes extra effort to entice clicks. BofA has a good approach. The "Stop Guessing About the Future" hook is a good way to grab attention. And the colorful slider-based tool is easy to use and, most importantly, takes only a few seconds to deliver some meaningful results.

1. Bank of America logoff screen (2:25 PM, June 16)

2. Landing page of promo (link)

The BofA tool uses a short bit of audio to get your attention and explain how to complete the short, five-step wizard. Users may turn off the audio using the button in the upper right. 

3. Step 1 of 5

4. Results page

• Calculates your "retirement number," the amount you need to have to bring your cash income during retirement to 85% of today's value (similar themes have been used by Wells Fargo (here) and ING (here))
• Shows range of possibilities based on a range of potential investment returns
• Has two handy boxes showing when you'll run out of cash and how much you need to add to your monthly savings to avoid that (also expressed in ranges)
• Action plan in the lower right leads to some suggested courses of action, that the bank can help with, such as rolling over a 401(k)

Note: For more information see our Online Banking Report on Selling Behind the Password, published in April.

Ah, it's nice to be among the funded (see note 1). Not only can Lending Club afford to push forward with the usual marketing programs such as Google AdSense and affiliate deals, it can support unique efforts such as UnCrunch America and support for self-directed IRAs.

The IRA option, launched today (press release), primarily appeals to serious investors, given the $250 annual maintenance fee (waived the first year) from sponsor EntrustCAMA. The EntrustCAMA IRA allows tax-deferred investments in a variety of assets including single-family homes, private equity, and so forth.

Interested parties can complete the IRA form directly on the Lending Club site. However, the form must be printed and mailed to EntrustCAMA (see landing page below)

Bottom line: While self-directed IRA investors have historically chased higher-yielding investments than the single-digit returns expected from P2P installment loans, in today's environment there should be more interest in the relatively low-risk consumer loan portfolios available through Lending Club. 

Lending Club self-directed IRA landing page (link, 25 March 2009)

Notes:
1. Last week, Lending Club announced a $12-million series-B round of funding.
2. Lending Club will be appearing at our April 28 FinovateStartup conference.