Meeting with Laurinda Wilson (from Xelance on Yahoo, the first question was from me - What did Laurinda have for Lunch?):
Portobello Mushrooms and Vegtables!
I wish I could tell you about all of the inside infromation I received but then I would be lying.
What I did learn is that Laurinda is on a steep learning curve. She is pleasant and friendly but weak on implementation and strategy.
However, she confirmed:
1] Several nationally recognized billers are on board but do not want to be announced until they (billers) are ready to launch a national campaign.
2] The sale of the software group will free up capital and approx. 200 employees. These resources will be redeployed into electronic commerce where Pete believes is the future.
3] Bill Presentment will accelerate on-line banking and bill payment services. CKFR believes this whole industry will experience explosive growth and they can capture at least 50% market share.
4] Apparently, for bill presentment to really catch on, financial institutions will need to set up their own web site so that CKFR can
deliver biller information that bank customers can access. Alternatively, Quicken users will be prompted to a link where biller information can be retreived.
5] CKFR's strategy is to present a customer's balance due and then prompt us to the biller's web site for detail information.
6] MSFDC's strategy, which is still unproven, is to create a mega web site where billers and payers meet to see their balance due, bill
detail and pay. CKFR doesnt think billers nor banks, nor customers will want to have that much proprietary infromation residing with a
single source.
7] As far as a model, CKFR receives approximately $5.00 per every on-line bank customer per month. This is the consolidation of the
processing fees which is split 50/50 today between paper checks and electronic transfers.
8] As more billers sign on, the % of electronic payments will increase, but apparently CKFR is the only company out there capable of
issuing paper payments providing a total payment solution for banks and their customers.
Well that was about it..... She was non-committal about earnings. I got the impression they are still comfortable with break-even Q3 and
profitable Q4. Everyone is focused on maintaining their lead over other competitors. They think this will be a hugh market and my
impression again was that Sr. Management is poised to build CKFR into a profitable operation and then see if a Prince Charming wants to take Cinderella to the Ball.
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