'You've got e-bill!'
Bank One First to Fully Integrate Electronic Bill Delivery Through Integrion
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1999--Bank One Corp.(NYSE:ONE - news), one of the largest providers of online banking services with 300,000 online customers, today became the nation's first company to introduce fully-integrated online bill delivery through Integrion Financial Network.
The new bill delivery service from Bank One connects the scalability of the Integrion Interactive Financial Services (IFS) platform with the network of billers in the CheckFree (NASDAQ:CKFR - news) electronic bill delivery and payment system.
Until now, bill delivery has been a missing link in online banking. The new bill delivery service from Bank One enables Bank One customers to both receive and pay bills online through the Bank One website ( bankone.com ).
''Most online services offer bill payment only,'' noted Bruce Luecke, president of Interactive Delivery Services, a business unit of the Bank One Retail Group. ''Now Bank One online customers are able to receive bills, pay bills and take advantage of one of the Web's most comprehensive banks - all in one place.''
Commenting on today's announcement, William M. Fenimore, Integrion chief executive officer, said: ''What we have delivered here is what others have only been able to talk about. This is real, and it works. The integrated banking, bill delivery and payment solution that Bank One has implemented with the support of Integrion is the right solution for consumers, providing them all the information and transaction capability in a single, secure place - the Bank One website - bankone.com.''
''We are pleased to work with Integrion behind-the-scenes to bring Bank One and America's top billers together to deliver this powerful solution,'' said Pete Sinisgalli, chief operating officer of CheckFree.
Once on the Internet, here's how the new bill delivery service works for customers who have signed up to receive and pay bills online:
-- A click to www.bankone.com -- A click to the online banking area of the Bank One website -- Enter Bank One ATM card number and personal identification
number (PIN), whereupon a message will appear if there are new bills to open
-- A click to open bills -- Review billing detail (bills are identical to the way they
would appear in paper form)
-- Click to indicate payment from Bank One account, or file for future payment.
''This process is designed to give online banking customers convenience and control,'' Luecke said. ''The customer determines how much of the bill to pay and the date of payment.''
Initially, 15 companies have agreed to deliver their bills online through CheckFree to Bank One customers. To date, seven are actually listed on the Bank One website: American Electric Power, BellSouth, Boston Edison, Columbia Gas of Ohio, Consumers Energy, HomeSide Lending and MCI WorldCom. It is expected that the list of billers available through the Bank One website will continue to expand over the next few weeks and beyond.
''In addition, over time, as the popularity of e-billing spreads, so too will the list of companies that want to participate in online billing,'' Luecke said.
E-billing is a free feature of the Bank One Online Bill Payment service, which allows consumers to make electronic payments anywhere in the U.S. for only $4.95 per month.
Since 1997, Bank One has utilized the Integrion IFS platform to deliver its Web banking service to its customers. CheckFree has been providing bill payment service to Bank One since 1991.
Today, Bank One is considered one of the nation's leading online banking providers. Bank One is the largest provider of credit cards online through its credit card subsidiary, First USA. And Bank One is the sole partner in an agreement with Excite, Inc., to create a full-service financial center available to Excite's 17 million monthly users.
The Partners
About Bank One
BANK ONE CORPORATION (NYSE:ONE - news), headquartered in Chicago, is the nation's fourth largest bank holding company, with assets of more than $260 billion. BANK ONE offers a full range of financial services to commercial and business customers and consumers. It is one of the nation's largest credit card lenders, the second-largest consumer and commercial finance company, the third-largest bank lender to small business and the third-largest bank mutual fund company. It is a major commercial bank in the United States and in selected international market. Information about BANK ONE can be accessed at www.bankone.com; through InvestQuest at investquest.com; or through Fax-on-Demand at 614/844-3860.
About Integrion
Integrion Financial Network is a leading provider of interactive banking and electronic commerce services to financial institutions. Through the Interactive Financial Services (IFS) platform, Integrion offers financial institutions a network through which electronic transactions flow from multiple consumer access points to a bank's host system and/or processor. Technology partnerships with IBM and CheckFree Corporation allow for the delivery of flexible, high utility applications that can be employed at a financial institution for the benefit of end customers.
Integrion's operating philosophy allows banks to determine the manner and format in which home banking and electronic commerce services are offered, ensuring consistency with the bank's full range of services, effective branding by the bank and maximum customer benefit. For more information, visit the Integrion website at integrion.net.
About CheckFree
Founded in 1981, CheckFree ( checkfree.com ), the operating subsidiary of CheckFree Holdings Corporation, is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services, software and related products for more than 2.6 million consumers, 1,000 businesses and 850 financial institutions. CheckFree designs, develops and markets services that enable its customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based recurring financial transactions and conduct secure transactions on the Internet.
After more than a year of beta testing, CheckFree launched the nation's first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution, CheckFree E-Bill (sm), in March 1997. Today, the company has multi-year contracts with more than 40 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing and payment through the CheckFree distribution network.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Bank One Retail Group, Chicago
Patricia Shafer, 614/213-9661
or
CheckFree
Laurinda Wilson, 770/840-1608
or
Integrion
Darrell Oliver, 212/684-4440
or
Martin Public Relations
Windy Campbell, 804/698-8824
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
