Thousands of community banks and credit unions watched big banks build online banking and knew they could not afford to follow. Digital Insight rented it to them. Its hosted service carried each institution's own name and gave members online banking and bill payment. When it filed to go public in the fall of 1999, small institutions feared losing customers to big banks with better websites.

Your Credit Union, on Top

Digital Insight bet that smaller financial institutions would rather rent online banking than build it. It ran the systems in its own data centers and showed them under each client's brand. Customers saw their local credit union, with no vendor in sight. The company earned recurring fees that grew as more account holders logged in. In a market full of uncertain bets, it was a steady, subscription-style business.

Intuit, Then NCR

Digital Insight priced at $15 a share in September 1999. Its business kept growing after the crash, because people came to expect online banking from every bank. It bought competitors and became one of the leading providers to community banks and credit unions. In 2007 Intuit completed its purchase of Digital Insight for about $1.35 billion. In 2014 NCR bought the business from Intuit.

Cover: Old Man with Spectacles, from Life-Sized Heads, Thomas Frye. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for an old man in spectacles (insight, careful reckoning).