By James Langton
(November 1 – 19:20 ET) – Brokerage firm Charles Schwab Corp. has formed an alliance with America Online in an effort to spread its influence in U.S. and international markets.
The deal makes Schwab the main financial company on AOL’s redesigned personal finance channels. AOL’s 28 million users will be able to access Schwab’s research and trading tools within the AOL community, and the companies will seek other cross-selling opportunities. The Schwab-AOL program will initially roll out in the U.S. and will expand into select Asian and European markets.
“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,” said David Pottruck, president and co-CEO of the Charles Schwab Corp.
“We’re also excited about AOL’s prospects for growth in the advertising world. Our new alliance with AOL represents the perfect example of Schwab’s desire to build a creative, cross-media, global marketing program to support our goals,” he added.