New Microsoft Money Debuts
Microsoft has revamped its entire Money line of personal finance software. New Deluxe, Premium, Small Business, and Standard editions have been released.
This year's consumer releases take the pragmatic approach by seeking to match customer’s current financial situations by bundling wealth of credit and debt-related tools - more specifically, a credit center, and capital gains tools dubbed the CCH-GainsKeeper service.
A partnership with Experian Consumer Direct enables customers who purchase the Premium, Deluxe, and Small Business version to browse free credit reports for up to one year.
The partnership also enriches the customer experience with ongoing credit monitoring, a summary of debt accounts, educational content, and access to certain "what-if" scenarios that are increasingly important to households and individuals.
To further evidence its focus on maintaining healthy credit, Nicole Rogers, business manager for the Financial Products Group at Microsoft said in a statement, "Credit management is an increasingly crucial personal finance issue, particularly as household debt climbs and the number of refinancing loans hits record highs."
Timely news and alerts from MSN Money coupled with two free years MSN’s online bill-paying for Deluxe customers are also slated to be part of the deluxe package. The full scope of Money’s financial news is gleaned from Briefing.com, CNBC, Forbes, MSNBC, MSN Money, Kiplinger and Reuters.
H&R Block provides Money customers a complementary one time Federal Income tax filing. However, perhaps the most enticing offering to home users is a one-hundred dollar savings bond, as well as a consultation complements of American Express. The bond itself actually exceeds the price of the software.
Money 2004 Small Business targets small-business owners and sole proprietors to manage personal and business financial matters. Business owners will find tools to track inventory, send customer invoices via email, monitor cash flow, and manage payroll.
Online payroll services are provided for one year by PayCycle. The service includes e-mail reminders, instant calculations, local paycheck printing, detailed reports and expert payroll support. It should be noted that this is customer driven and not outsourced.
According to Microsoft, Microsoft Money 2004 Standard is available at an estimated retail price of $29.95 USD with a $10 rebate; Money 2004 Deluxe is available for an estimated retail price of $59.95 USD with a $20 rebate; Money 2004 Premium is available at an estimated retail price of $79.95 USD with a $20 rebate; and Money 2004 Small Business is available at an estimated retail price of $89.95 USD with a $20 rebate.
More information and details of how to order may be found on Microsoft's Money Web site