CheckFree to offer services through ExciteAtHome
NEW YORK, Sept 15 (Reuters) - CheckFree Corp. (Nasdaq:CKFR - news) plans to start offering its online billing services through a major Internet portal and a new online bank before the end of the year, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
CheckFree would let people pay bills and send checks through ExciteAtHome Corp. (Nasdaq:ATHM - news) and WingspanBank.com, she told Reuters, confirming analysts' comments about announcements made at CheckFree's annual meeting for investors and analysts on Tuesday.
CheckFree would provide its services through ExciteAtHome following an arrangement between ExciteAtHome and Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU - news), a designer of personal finance software that owns nearly 20 percent of CheckFree, she said.
CheckFree's stock was off 5/8 at 38-5/8 in midday trading on the Nasdaq market.
A spokeswoman for ExciteAtHome, which acts as a network of Internet media sites as well as a provider of high-speed Internet programing, declined comment.
Officials at WingspanBank.com, one of whose officials was a guest speaker at the meeting held at CheckFree's headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., could not be reached for comment. The bank was recently formed by Chicago's Bank One Corp. (NYSE:ONE - news) -- a client of CheckFree -- in an effort to lure new customers.
Intuit officials were also not immediately available.
A deal with ExciteAtHome would be the third to be signed by CheckFree with an Internet company.
It already has deals with Internet media network Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Quicken.com of Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU - news) to have bills presented and paid through their respective Web sites.
CheckFree's chief executive, Pete Kight, said in a recent interview that the company was in talks with all major Internet companies, but stopped short of acknowledging analyst assertions that it had approached America Online Inc. (NYSE:AOL - news).
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