Andera was incorporated in 2000, the same year it received its first round of venture capital financing ($300,000) from Building2 Investments, of Tokyo. Earlier this year, the state-funded Slater Technology Fund led a $500,000 round of capital investment in the company, according to Thorne Sparkman, a managing director for Slater.

Though most banks and credit unions adopted online banking in the 1990s, their customers used the Web primarily for looking over account information or paying bills. Opening accounts on the Internet, however, is a more recent trend in the industry, Kroll explained. In fact, Kroll believes the catalyst to this banking trend was the 2001 passage of the U.S. Patriot Act, which basically clarified the protocol for verifying electronic information.

[President Charles] Kroll noted that 41 institutions have become clients of [Providence-based] Andera, and the company’s client list is growing steadily every month as more banks and credit unions adopt the means to offer people the ability to open accounts online.

“Now what we are seeing is Andera sort of catching the wave,” said Slater’s Sparkman. “The wave is getting big now and Andera’s out front.”