STRATEGIC PARTNERS
December 17, 2001
SEATTLE -- Microsoft Corp. and Bank One are forming a three-year strategic relationship worth $30 million to develop and promote services and products aimed at consumers and small and mid-sized companies, according to an Associated Press report.
Microsoft's .NET platform and services and the MSN network will work with Bank One to help provide new services to existing customers and streamline how they are delivered, Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said in a statement.
Bank One Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon told the AP, "We're trying to make innovation part of our DNA ... the constant process of relentless innovation."
Bank One will use the MSN Advantage Marketing Program to promote its financial service products - and incorporate other Microsoft technologies, including the .NET Alerts Service, so customers can retrieve their banking information any time, anywhere.
Dimon said the arrangement could lead to development of software to, for example, alert a customer that a bill is due and a late-fee penalty just 24 hours away.
Customers would access these services through personal computers or handheld devices and cell phones, said Bob Visse, MSN marketing director at Microsoft, noting that ATMs with such capabilities are still a ways off.
"This kind of thing could be unbelievable in 10 years," Dimon said. "It's one of those very exciting things that might be a seed of great things to come."
