Intuit signs bank deals for outsourced payroll

The Reno-based outsourced payroll division of Intuit scored a win with a new strategy as it signed up two big banks to begin delivering Intuit's products.

Neither the deal announced last week nor the new marketing strategy is expected to have any immediate effect on employment at Intuit's northern Nevada operations.

The company employs about 560 people in the Reno area.

Intuit said it struck a deal with National Commerce Financial of Memphis, which will offer Intuit's payroll and human-resources products to more than 80,000 small- and medium-sized business customers.

National Bank of Commerce, one of the Tennessee company's banking subsidiaries, will offer Intuit services through nearly 200 branches in Tennessee, Virginia,West Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi and Arkansas.

A second affiliate of the company, Central Carolina Bank, will sell products from Intuit's Reno division at about 270 branches throughout North and South Carolina.

In a promotion that began last week, the banks are offering Intuit's Complete Payroll service, its QuickBooks financial management software and its TurboTax tax preparation software.

Bank customers won't have to pay setup fees for Intuit's Complete Payroll service.

The banks also will connect Intuit's QuickBooks to customers' bank accounts, allowing them to download their balances directly into QuickBooks without having to wait for their monthly statements.

The promotion will run through the summer.

Lorraine Rossini, a spokeswoman for Intuit at its headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., said the company is just beginning to enlist strategic partners such as National Commerce Financial.

"The company sees these types of alliances as a growth opportunity and expects to sign several more financial institutions as strategic partners in coming months," Rossini said.

Teresa Shappell, vice president of Intuit's outsourced payroll division, said the company believes that delivering its products through banks and other financial institutions is more convenient for its small- and mid-sized business customers.

National Commercial Financial, meanwhile, found that many of its customers currently use Intuit products or want to start, said Jo Sexton, a small business product manager with the company.

The payroll products overseen by the Reno division include do-it-yourself products as well as traditional outsourced payroll services.