CANADA TRUST TESTS PC BANKING
By Adnews Staff
Canada Trust is set to test a software package allowing customers to bank at home using personal computers. The test will take place in Burlington, Ont. with about 150 customers of CT's Easyline telephone banking system. The software, which runs on Windows-based PCs, allows users to hold all their account information in their own computers. They connect to Canada Trust's central computers by modem to make transactions and update accounts. Bank customers can use the data in their PCs to do financial analysis and to make basic charts, all of which can be transferred to spreadsheets or financial planning software. Customers can also use electronic mail to ask the bank for technical help, or for transactions such as buying mutual funds and arranging mortgage prepayments. Computer users can run off cheques on their printers, and the system will keep track of the transactions and balance a cheque book. If all goes well, the software could be available nationally early next year. Canada Trust has a roster of five ad agencies. Three are in Toronto: Doner Schur Peppler, McDonnell Haynes and Wellington West Communications. The other two are Mullen Advertising of Wenham, Massachusetts and Cormark Communications of London, Ont.