CheckFree and Equifax Launch Electronic Billing and Payment --
More Than 40 Financial Institutions Rollout Service --
ATLANTA, Aug. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- CheckFree (Nasdaq: CKFR - news), the leading provider of financial electronic commerce processing and services, and Equifax (NYSE: EFX - news) 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 |
