Online brokerage Charles Schwab is entering a global financial services alliance with Internet service provider America Online.
The alliance will make Schwab a premier financial services company across AOL's redesigned personal finance channels. The combined offering will initially be rolled out to AOL's 28 million strong customer base in the US and will expand into select Asian and European markets at a later date.
Under the multi-year agreement, Schwab will include use of "AOL Keyword: Schwab" in its own online and offline marketing while America Online will promote Schwab's array of services across its online properties and through offline marketing channels. AOL and CompuServe members and visitors to Netscape.com, AOL Digital City and other America Online brands will have easy access to Schwab.com, where they will be greeted by specially developed pages of the brokerage's Web site that will introduce them to special offers, as well as Schwab's investor education and advice services.
The two companies say they will also work together to integrate content across a variety of platforms, including broadband, wireless, online and offline.
"This alliance represents such a good fit - among our current clients, AOL is the most common means of accessing Schwab through the Internet, yet there are literally millions of users of AOL's brands who have yet to experience our services," says David Pottruck, president and co-CEO of Charles Schwab.
The deal is the latest in a series of major tie-ups between global Internet service providers and financial services companies and comes hard on the heels of a pan-European alliance between Credit Suisse and the Microsoft MSN portal.