ORACLE AND CHECKFREE TEAM, TAKE ON TRANSPOINT
December 21, 1998
ITEM PROCESSING REPORT -- LAS VEGAS - In the continuing saga of ways to replace the check, even database provider Oracle [ORCL] is helping write the story.
As part of a stepped-up financial industry strategy, Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle unveiled a series of front- and back- office initiatives at BAI's Retail Delivery '98 show Nov. 30 - Dec. 4. The company's new Bill & Pay system is expected to allow billers and banks to transmit invoices and receive payments electronically.
Oracle also disclosed at the show a new partnership with CheckFree [CKFR], another bill payment service provider for billers and banks. The venture will link the 1.0 version of Bill & Pay to CheckFree's service. A pilot is expected sometime in the first half of 1999.
Improving Revenue
But the company's Retail Delivery presence wasn't limited to Bill & Pay. Its new customer relationship management focus is expected to help banks integrate Internet, call center and automated teller machine delivery channels for improved customer retention, says Tom Humbarger, Oracle financial services applications industry director.
Integrating disparate delivery channels not only unifies customer messages throughout the institution, but also helps analyze customer profitability, which should improve revenue.
Financial institutions traditionally have had difficulty providing a set of consistent customer interactions across various delivery channels due to separate networks. Oracle takes aim at this deficiency and helps banks deliver personalized service and marketing messages consistently, regardless of the delivery channel used, Humbarger says.
Head-To-Head Competition
Oracle's foray into the bill presentment arena offers yet another alternative to TransPoint, which also is promising to release its bill presentment and payment model in early 1999.
Unlike Internet Bill & Pay, which has been described as an in- house billing system for billers, TransPoint will use banks as the primary vehicle for viewing and paying bills electronically, says Matthew Cone, vice president of business development for TransPoint.
Oracle will not "move directly into areas such as payment settlement or financial aggregation or where the company would compete directly with banks, " says Steven Perkins, Oracle's senior vice president for the financial industry.
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