Bank One signs on with Excite -- a $125M deal

The Chicago, Ill.-based bank plans to create a financial services center, linked to the Excite home page, with banking services for customers of Bank One and others.

Bank One will get the exclusive rights to market banking services on the Excite home page, while Excite hopes to draw Bank One customers to its array of free features.

Performance-based deal
The deal is performance-based -- that is, the revenues Excite realizes depend on the number of customers who sign up for Bank One services through Excite.

George Bell, CEO of Redwood City, Calif.-based Excite, characterized the deal as "one of the largest marketing, advertising and distribution agreements Excite has ever reached," in a statement.

"Users who begin their day at their own personalized front page at Excite will be able, through Bank One, to address nearly all their banking needs on the Internet," said Kenneth T. Stevens, chairman of the Bank One Retail Group.

Bank pushing into online
Bank One has made the Internet a key part of a recent marketing push, which Stevens said is part of a drive to become the nation's "most personal big bank."

The bank says it is the largest provider of credit cards online, and the fourth-largest provider of online banking services based on number of customers. First USA, owned by Bank One, recently signed a pact to become Excite's sole credit-card provider.

First USA also recently signed a $90 million, five-year advertising deal with the Microsoft Network (MSN).

Bank One said it will roll out the financial service early next year, with services for non-Bank One customers planned for later.

Excite, one of the most popular sites on the Internet, draws more than 17 million users a month, according to RelevantKnowledge.