NeoSaej of Burlington, MA, has developed a novel online auction strategy that it says should produce better interest rates for bank depositors. Its proprietary algorithms allow online vendors to engage in sophisticated behind-the-scenes bidding against each other before their offers are presented to customers.

Let's say you want to deposit $20,000 in a six-month CD. You enter that request at NeoSaej's website. Members of NeoSaej's network of participating banks make bids that suit their business objectives--to raise money quickly, say, or to sell certain products. Before the customer sees these bids, NeoSaej sends the best ones back to the network for counter­offers. The process continues automatically, producing progressively better bids until one bank is left offering the best rate. The company will initially apply the system to CDs and high-yield savings accounts but expects to expand into loans.