Geezeo Gains First Client For Personal Finance Software

Geezeo, the Hartford-based personal finance software services provider, has signed its first major client for its recently released personal finance management software.

California-based Stanford Federal Credit Union, with over 47,000 members and $1 billion in assets, has purchased the rights to offer its members CreditUnion HQ, a personal finance management package created by Geezeo, which offers account aggregation, budgeting, goal setting and tracking functions, as well as closed community forums.

The deal is a major boost to the two-year-old company, which is partially backed by the TheStreet.com, the business Web site co-founded by investing guru Jim Cramer.

“It’s a big win for us,” said Peter Glyman, co-founder of Geezeo. “This positions us as a leader in this space and will help us grow as a company. It’s new and unchartered waters.”

Glyman said Geezeo is also building a mobile banking interface for the credit union and is currently in conversations with at least 30 other credit unions and banks across the country that are showing interest in the product.

Shawn Ward, the other co-founder of Geezeo, said he wasn’t surprised Stanford Federal Credit Union was the first to sign on for the program because it was also the first credit union in the country to offer online banking.

“I think this is the direction of the next generation of online banking,” Ward said. “Banks and credit unions aren’t just going to be a register for your accounts. They are also going to help customers better manage their finances.”

Ali Shafai, vice president of eCommerce at SFCU, said they “selected CreditUnion HQ because it addresses our short-term needs and will scale to include future technological enhancements. Our members gain a familiar but more robust system for managing their money, online and out in the world.”

Glyman and Ward started Geezeo in Framingham, Mass. in 2006 with about $1 million they raised from family and friends and a single private investor.

The duo moved to Hartford last year after recruiting most of their nine-person staff from the region.

It’s a company made up of brash, computer-savvy 20- and 30-somethings and is appealing to the “plastic generation,” those 35 years of age and under who have grown up paying for everything on credit and debit cards.

The Street.com has invested $1.8 million in Geezeo and had an option to purchase the company outright in April.

Ward said TheStreet.com failed to exercise that option. He said the strategic vision of both companies is going in different directions.

“TheStreet.com is about consumer-oriented products,” Ward said. “Our primary focus was originally on consumers, but now we are seeing more movement on the banking and credit union side.”

Banking Company Reports Loss

Southern Connecticut Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for The Bank of Southern Connecticut, recorded a $2.3 million net loss for the first quarter of 2009, compared to a $336,390 net income in the year ago period.

The loss was largely attributed to $2.1 million the company set aside to cover about 10 loans that have gone sour because of the economic downturn.

“Softness in the economy contributed to the poor financial performance of Southern Connecticut Bancorp, Inc. in the first quarter,” said John H. Howland, president and chief operating officer of the company.

Howland said management determined that taking the reserve at this time is the conservative, prudent course of action.

To deal with the losses, the banking company also laid off nearly 10 percent of its staff, according to documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

That helped reduce its core operating expenses by $264,996 or 16.3 percent compared to the first quarter of 2008.

NorthStar Plans Move

NorthStar Planning Group, a financial planning firm in Newington, will be moving its headquarters to West Hartford as it makes room for some recent growth within the company, said Robert Laraia, a partner with the company.

NorthStar, which has over 500 clients, has added five associates since last year and plans on bringing on four to eight new employees before 2010, Laraia said.

Laraia said the recent growth is largely attributed to a rush to independence by investors.

“The downturn in the economy has magnified the need for an independent broad-based company offering more comprehensive financial services,” Laraia said.

Greg Bordonaro is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.