Make April 15 a less taxing time for your customers.

• Position: Marketing News

These days, national tax preparation services are acting like financial services companies. Not surprisingly, some financial services institutions are starting to act like tax preparers. Case in point: North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. in Texas.

Earlier this year, North Dallas Bank placed an online version of Quicken TurboTax on its website www.ndbt.com. Browsers are invited to file a federal 1040 return (simple version) for $19.95 or a state return for $12.95.

The bank is offering the online tax preparation service as a result of an alliance with Intuit Inc., makers of the Turbo Tax desktop software program. North Dallas is the first bank in Texas to offer such a service.

"It's a good fit for us," explains Gregory E. Niemeyer, senior vice president of operations and marketing at the financial institution. "It helps to round out our online services."

Simple, convenient online tax preparation is the sort of thing craved by the city's many high-tech employees, Niemeyer says. Those also happen to be the same type of people that North...