MoneyCentral Expands to Europe and Japan

Microsoft is expanding MoneyCentral’s reach by developing country-specific financial tools and additional content for France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Microsoft’s MSN portals in those countries already have basic stock market information and financial news, but Microsoft will place the current MSN offerings at those portals under the MoneyCentral banner and will enhance them with country-specific analyst reports, in-depth company data, and tools such as calculators and portfolio managers localized for those countries.

Chris Jolley, product manager for MoneyCentral, said the four countries were chosen because of their rapid growth in consumer Internet use. The new financial tools and content will give MoneyCentral and related MSN services a significantly higher profile in Europe and Japan, and they are intended to distinguish MoneyCentral from other portal-based “cookie-cutter” financial sites by offering a higher degree of customization and relevance to local users.

Microsoft hopes that the new features will also prove attractive to financial institutions in those countries, which will have the opportunity to partner with Microsoft in the same way that U.S. financial institutions partner with the company on the U.S. MoneyCentral site.