ROCKY  MOUNT, N.C., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Centura Bank announced today
that it will offer online banking and bill payment services for small
businesses through QuickBooks 5.0, the latest version of Intuit's #1 best-
selling small business accounting software.  Centura will offer the service by
mid-January, when QuickBooks 5.0 is expected to be available in most software
stores.
    Centura already offers online banking and bill payment services to
personal customers through Intuit's Quicken(R) and Microsoft(R) Money software
programs and Intuit's BankNow(TM) on America Online.  While Centura has long
offered similar services to larger businesses through proprietary cash
management software, Centura Online Money Management for Business through
QuickBooks 5.0 represents a more affordable option to small businesses.
    Centura Online Money Management for Business through QuickBooks 5.0 is
specifically designed for small business owners.  With the service, they can
check account balances, transfer funds between bank accounts and even pay
vendors online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--all with just a few clicks of
the mouse.
    "Many of our business clients have been asking for this service for some
time, and we are pleased to be one of the first banks in the nation to provide
this service," said Cecil W. Sewell Jr., president of Centura.
"This will save business owners a tremendous amount of time and effort and
give them more control over their finances."
    Centura, which was one of a handful of banks to introduce online banking
through Quicken last year, has been one of only three banks testing the
QuickBooks software with customers for several months.  The tests have proved
highly successful, and Centura is ready to launch the service when the new
version of QuickBooks hits stores in January.
    Signing up for Centura Online Money Management through QuickBooks is easy.
Business owners simply need to buy and install the software, enter answers to
a few brief questions and go online to sign up for the service.  Or they can
call 1-800-CENTURA, beginning January 12.
    Transactions are protected with a personal identification number consumers
use to authenticate each banking session.  Security measures also feature
1024-bit master key encryption for session key exchange and 128-bit DES
encryption for data encryption.
    With Centura Online Money Management through QuickBooks 5.0, users don't
even have to print checks -- much less sign them or stamp, seal and mail the
envelopes.  Users can schedule when a payment should be sent to a vendor and
automatically sends a check at the appropriate time.  They can pay anyone,
whether it's a local vendor or the phone company, and they can include invoice
information so vendors know how to apply the payment.
    Using the exclusive EasyStep(TM) Interview and new QuickBooks Navigator,
customers can quickly set up their entire business with QuickBooks, making it
easy to create custom invoices, enter sales, perform electronic banking and
bill payment, record customer contacts, track time, perform job costing,
manage inventory, handle payroll and even prepare for tax time.
    The software is expected to cost $99 for QuickBooks and $199 for
QuickBooks Pro at most retail stores.  Centura will offer the new service to
customers free for the first 90 days.  After the free introductory period,
online banking services, including unlimited access for balance inquiries,
transfers and statement downloads will be $19.95 per month.
    Online banking plus the additional bill payment service, including up to
40 bill payments per month, will cost $29.95 per month.
    With assets of $6 billion, Centura provides a complete line of banking,
investment, insurance and trust services to individuals and businesses
throughout North Carolina.  It provides services through 167 traditional and
supermarket financial centers, more than 230 ATMs at financial centers,
Wal-Mart and Sam's stores, its Centura Highway telephone banking center,
Quicken and Microsoft Money, the leading personal finance software packages,
and America Online, the world's largest provider of online services.
    Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq-NNM: INTU), a financial software and Web-based
services company, develops and markets Quicken, the leading personal finance
software; TurboTax, the best-selling tax preparation software; and QuickBooks,
the most popular small business accounting software.  The Quicken Financial
Network offers news and
information on the Web, and Intuit provides many of the nation's leading
financial services providers with financial transactions services.  Intuit,
Quicken and TurboTax are registered trademarks of Intuit Inc. or its
subsidiaries.  QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro are trademarks of Intuit Inc. or
one of its subsidiaries.

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