Version 2.0, which became available for public download at www.ofx.net this past July, has already won the support of leading financial services companies including Prudential, TD Waterhouse Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price; payroll processing leader Ceridian; and leading technology solution providers including Corillian and Enterprise Engineering.

"TD Waterhouse is committed to making the financial lives of its customers easier," said Stuart Rubinstein, senior vice president, Electronic Commerce, TD Waterhouse Group, Inc. "OFX 2.0 enables our customers to download their TD Waterhouse 1099 information directly into their tax preparation software, including this year with Quicken® TurboTax®, significantly reducing a time consuming and tedious process."

It is this type of benefit that makes OFX the connectivity preference of financial services companies. OFX, the only financial specification widely adopted by both clients and servers, enables financial institutions, technology solution providers and financial software and Web services companies to create products and services that work together more effectively. With OFX, financial information can be efficiently transferred between financial services companies, their technology outsourcers and consumers who use Web and PC-based software.

Enterprise Engineering, utilizing its leading technology platform, EnterpriseFTX, and OFX 2.0, recently enabled Prudential Retirement Services to deliver 401K to Personal Financial Management software over the Internet. "Since it was first released, OFX 2.0 has continued to gain momentum as more and more financial institutions seek to implement a common communication infrastructure for the delivery of Web-based financial services," said Anthony Piniella, vice president of Marketing and PR for Enterprise Engineering. "With the added capabilities of retirement services and tax reporting, and support for XML, OFX can now enable financial institutions to deliver truly integrated financial services."

Financial services companies currently connect with their customers via OFX using server-based services such as the MSN™ MoneyCentral® online personal finance service, Quicken TurboTax for the Web (SM), MyAccounts on Quicken.com, and also popular personal and small business finance software such as Quicken®, Microsoft Money®, QuickBooks® and TurboTax.

Online banking leader Corillian Corporation is an enthusiastic supporter of OFX 2.0. "OFX continues to show that it is the premier communication protocol between client software and financial institutions," said Matt Cone, chief marketing officer at Corillian Corporation. "OFX 2.0's support of XML and added functionality shows that it has become the standard solution that financial institutions look to in determining which transactions to support. Over 30 of our customers have adopted OFX solutions and are excited about the next evolution of OFX."

The XML-compliant version 2.0 includes new extensions to support functionality for 401(k), 1099 and W2 downloads. The new extensions allow financial services companies to offer new services and rich functionality to their customers, such as valuable new 401(k) account details. The 1099 extension facilitates the downloading of 1099 information directly to Web and PC tax software. The W2 extension facilitates the downloading of W2 information directly from payroll service providers into Web and desktop tax preparation software. The companies cited in this release said that they intend to continue recommending additions to the OFX specification that will enhance functionality and facilitate fully automated tax return preparation.

Ceridian, a leading payroll processor, is one such company with experience in developing products using XML standards. "Writing the code in OFX to make W2 data available to the employees of our payroll customers is a natural extension of our business," said David Goodman, vice president of product development at Ceridian. "It is also an opportunity to make otherwise inaccessible electronic data readily available to the people that can use it most."

Ceridian provides W-2 data that is imported via OFX into Intuit's popular TurboTax tax preparation software using the new Automated Tax Return feature. Consumers taking advantage of this feature have their wage data automatically entered into the correct forms in the software, saving time, steps and hassle.

Thousands of consumers are also enjoying the benefits of OFX-enabled electronic bill pay and presentment in products such as Microsoft Money and web services such as Quicken Bill Manager®.

Because XML is a widely accepted format for transmitting data over the Web, its inclusion in OFX 2.0 affords financial services companies an enhanced ability to interact with more Internet content and applications. Version 2.0 of the specification is also backward compatible with previous versions. The companies are working closely with more than 50 technology solution providers to ensure compatibility with existing implementations and to preserve the existing investment in OFX by financial services companies.