CheckFree and Equifax Launch Electronic Billing and Payment
-- More Than 40 Financial Institutions Rollout Service --
ATLANTA, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- CheckFree (Nasdaq: CKFR), the leading
provider of financial electronic commerce processing and services, and Equifax
(NYSE: EFX) the leading provider of consumer information management,
transaction processing and knowledge-based products and services, today
announced the launch of electronic billing and payment (EBP) services for more
than 40 financial institutions.
"We are very excited about our clients launching EBP," said Larry Towe,
executive vice president and group executive of Equifax Payment Services.
"The implementation process has gone very quickly, and we were anxious to have
our banks rollout the service so their clients can begin sending and paying
bills."
In March, CheckFree and Equifax E-Banking Solutions announced plans to
work together to provide integrated EBP services for Equifax's customers by
implementing the CheckFree E-Bill(SM) service. Since then, the two companies
have worked closely to implement EBP solutions for financial institutions
currently served by Equifax. Through its relationship with CheckFree, Equifax
and its customers will have access to bills received from more than 60 billers
nationwide, nearly half of which are now actively presenting electronic bills.
Among them: BellSouth, Chase Mortgage, Florida Power & Light, MCI WorldCom and
NICOR Gas.
Pete Sinisgalli, president and chief operating officer for CheckFree,
added, "The CheckFree/Equifax partnership is the type of alliance that we
strive for. Combining their financial institution client reach with our
industry-leading EBP solution and growing biller network brings us one step
closer to making integrated financial services available to consumers anywhere
they want across the country."
According to David McCurrach, vice president of Information Systems at
Franklin National Bank, Franklin, Tenn., "Electronic banking has a strong and
successful track record at Franklin National Bank. We have ever-greater
expectations for those products and services as we transition from direct-dial
systems to the Internet. Bill payment, already enthusiastically embraced by
our dial-up customers, should become even more popular when enhanced with bill
presentment and offered more simply and conveniently over the Internet.
Partnering with CheckFree and Equifax has allowed us to offer the latest in
competitive products and services complimented with the traditional hometown
service of a community bank."
Tom Gryp, president of Bank of the Southwest in Phoenix, added, "We made a
strategic decision to go forward with the complete product suite offered by
Equifax E-Banking Solutions including CheckFree E-Bill. Providing our
customers the opportunity to pay their bills and to have bills presented
online was a critical factor in our overall electronic banking strategy --
to build long-term relationships by being a high-tech bank noted for our high-
touch, personalized service."
According to Jon Ochs, technology director of Bank of Whitman, Colfax,
Wash., "To remain competitive in our industry today, a community bank needs to
offer services that exceed the expectations of the customer. CheckFree Web
billing and payment allows Bank of Whitman to provide this level of commitment
to our customer's requests."
After more than a year of beta testing, CheckFree launched the nation's
first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution, CheckFree E-
Bill, in March of 1997. Today, the Company has multi-year contracts with more
than 60 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing and payment
through the CheckFree distribution network.
About Equifax
Equifax E-Banking Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlanta-based
Equifax, Inc. With approximately 8,000 licensed programs in more than 1,800
financial institutions worldwide, it is one of the largest providers of
electronic banking software in the U.S.
Equifax (www.equifax.com), a worldwide leader in shaping global commerce,
brings buyers and sellers together through its information management,
transaction processing and knowledge-based businesses. Atlanta-based Equifax
serves the financial services, retail, credit card,
telecommunications/utilities, transportation, information technology and
healthcare industries and government. Equifax adds knowledge, expertise,
convenience and security to provide value-added solutions and processes for
its customers wherever they do business, including the Internet and other
networks. Entering its second century in business, Equifax employs more than
13,000 associates in 18 countries with sales in almost 50 and has more than
$1.7 billion in revenue.
About CheckFree
Founded in 1981, CheckFree (www.checkfree.com), the operating subsidiary
of CheckFree Holdings Corp., is the leading provider of financial electronic
commerce services, software and related products. CheckFree designs, develops
and markets services that enable nearly three million consumers to receive and
pay bills over the Internet or electronically through a variety of bill
aggregation points, including banks, brokerage firms, portals and interactive
content sites on the Internet, and personal financial management (PFM)
software. CheckFree's range of services and products are focused on enabling
customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based
recurring financial transactions and conduct secure Internet transactions.
Certain of the Company's statements in this press release are not purely
historical, and as such are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements
regarding management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or projections
of the future. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
including without limitation, the various risks inherent in the Company's
business, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the
Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 1998, Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended March 31, 1999, Form 8-K filed May 25, 1999 and the Company's
Registration Statement on Form S-3 (No. 333-79695) filed June 1, 1999, as
amended June 15, 1999. One or more of these factors have affected, and could
in the future affect, the Company's business and financial results in future
periods, and could cause actual results to differ materially from plans and
projections. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements
made in this document will prove to be accurate, and issuance of such forward-
looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company,
or any other person, that the objectives and plans of the Company will be
achieved. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are based
on information presently available to management, and the Company assumes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
SOURCE CheckFree Corporation
-0- 08/25/99
/CONTACT: media, Laurinda Wilson, 678-375-1608, lwilson@checkfree.com, or
investors, Tina Moore, 678-375-1278, tmoore@checkfree.com, both of CheckFree
Corporation, or Alan Boyer of Equifax, 404-885-8676, alan.boyer@equifax.com/
/Web site: equifax.com
/Web site: checkfree.com
(CKFR EFX)
CO: CheckFree Corporation; Equifax Inc.
ST: Georgia
IN: CPR MLM FIN
SU: PDT JVN |
