The Laurentian Bank of Canada has launched a combined online account aggregation and financial advisory service, MyTotalPicture.com.
Account aggregation services typically provide customers with a view of all of their online accounts from various financial institutions, on a single Web page.
In addition to chequeing, saving, credit card, brokerage and home loan accounts, Laurentian's MyTotalPicture.com also offers data on mutual funds, guaranteed investment certificates (GICs), RRSPs, term deposits and customised consulting services.
Customers signing up for the service can opt for a basic transactional perspective, or tick the box for "customised consulting". For users of this preffered offering a personal advisor can, at the client's request, provide an analysis of their financial situation and recommend an appropriate strategy for their profile.
The service will initially be rolled out to customers who already use the bank's Web site as a financial management tool.
The Laurentian Bank claimed a Canadian first when it announced plans for pilot trials of account aggregation technology last year. CIBC and RBSC Royal Bank have also begun testing the technology.