Access Softek, Inc., an omnichannel digital banking platform provider, signed its 150th financial institution customer to its Open Financial Exchange (OFX) Server. OFX makes it possible for small and medium size financial institutions to connect directly with their small and medium business (SMB) customers and members who use Intuit’s QuickBooks.
According to a recent report in the Wall Street Journal, applications for new businesses are rising at the fastest rate since 2007. The report credits the U.S. Census Bureau in stating, “applications for the employer identification numbers that entrepreneurs need to start a business have passed 3.2 million so far this year, compared with 2.7 million at the same point in 2019.”
Access Softek’s OFX server enables financial institutions to offer secure, seamless information exchange with the millions of banking clients using Intuit Quicken™ and Quickbooks™. By supporting this data exchange, the financial institution encourages its commercial customers to perform more of their financial management activities within its user environment.
“Commercial banking represents an opportunity for growth and, by providing a connection to their accounting software, the bank or credit union gains a competitive edge to attract and grow new commercial banking relationships,” said Chris Doner, founder and CEO of Access Softek. “The direct connection between SMBs, QuickBooks and their financial institution saves time, improves accuracy of the accounting department and deepens the relationship between businesses and their financial institutions. Financial institutions looking a commercial banking as a growth area cannot afford to bypass this service.”
The key to attracting these small businesses lies in creating a seamless experience for small business banking between accounting and the financial institution. With millions of users, QuickBooks remains the primary accounting platform for small businesses today, making this connection of utmost importance for SMBs.
“A connection to Quicken and QuickBooks is an important part of the services we offer to consumers and small-to-medium businesses,” said Willis Chang, Enterprise Systems Architect at Kinecta Federal Credit Union. “Small and medium businesses are valued members of our credit union and the communities it serves. For over 10 years, Access Softek has been a valued technology partner and we are pleased with the reliability of the service and the support they provide our IT resources and members.”
In addition to this accounting software connection, Access Softek also provides additional solutions that help banks and credit unions target SMBs such as the Access Commercial, a full-featured business banking and business account opening platform.