PROVIDENCE - Andera Inc., a marketer of technology that enables banking customers to open new accounts online, today announced it has formed a strategic relationship with Yodlee Inc., a pioneer in online banking services.

Andera's partnership with Redwood City, Calif.-based Yodlee will provide retail financial institutions with the most comprehensive online account opening and funding solution in the market, according to a press release issued by both companies.

Under the terms of the agreement, Andera will be the exclusive provider of account opening technology to Yodlee, and Yodlee will be the exclusive provider of account verification and funds transfer technology to Andera, with the combined solution being available from both companies to all financial institutions.

"The ability to verify ownership of an applicant's held-away account prior to initial funding is an increasingly important aspect of the ideal online account opening process," said Charlie Kroll, Andera's CEO. "Unfortunately, well-known approaches have typically required an offline process to complete, significantly increasing abandonment rates. Yodlee's instant account verification technology enables true single-session verification with astonishing consistency and effectiveness, and when integrated with Andera's real-time account opening platform, represents a truly unique offering in the market."

Andera, which Kroll founded in 2000 with help from seed capital from the Slater Technology Fund, now has about 118 financial institutions as customers, 29 full-time employees, and revenue growing roughly 50 percent annually. In May, Kroll said he aims to grow Andera's customer base to 1,000 financial institutions within the next three to four years.