Same story different spin (At&T):
June 10, 1998
BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY, U.S.A., Newsbytes via NewsEdge Corporation : AT&
T [NYSE:T] residential telecommunications customers will be able to view and pay their
communications bills via the Internet, after Ma Bell signed a deal with e-commerce
software concern CheckFree [NASDAQ:CKFR]. AT&T will use CheckFree's E-Bill
software product which enables fully integrated electronic billing and payment, officials
said.
With E-Bill, AT&T customers will be able to review and pay their communications at
both AT&T's Web site and at any of the hundreds of online financial institutions
supported by CheckFree, including Bank One, Chase Manhattan and Wells Fargo.
In addition, AT&T customers will be able to manage their bills using Quicken 98 for
Windows software, which is also supported by CheckFree.
AT&T will not charge for the electronic bill payment service, although individual
financial institutions might themselves charge for the service.
AT&T will implement the first phase of the agreement in the third quarter of this year,
which will initially benefit AT&T customers who use Ma Bell's World Wide Web site,
officials said. Later this year, customers who use CheckFree- supported Web sites will
be able to use the service.
AT&T's deal with CheckFree is similar to ones his company recently signed with major
"portal" Web sites like Excite and Yahoo to market telecom services, in that AT&T is
aiming for "ubiquity," AT&T spokesperson Jonathan Varman said. "This is another
layer of customer service that we can offer through a variety of locations on the
Internet, " he said.
In addition, an AT&T customer does not have to use AT&T's WorldNet Internet
service provider (ISP) service to view and pay bills, Varman added.
CheckFree will provide the back-office systems and technical components for the
service, including Year 2000 compliance and back-up services for disaster recovery.
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