To: Robert Sloan who wrote (8009 ) 7/14/1999 12:58:00 AM From: Erik T Read Replies (2) | Respond to
Erik T, and I believe Briguy on the Raging Bull board, think an INTUIT/CHECKFREE combine makes sense. Yahoo! buying Checkfree because Intuit has a better chance than Yahoo! of playing the role of a neutral party. Intuit would not be as neutral as Checkfree currently is, though. Intuit would try to force bill pay integration with Quicken in some capacity, and probably via that mechanism insert the Intuit brand. Checkfree does not do this currently. I know many on the thread want Checkfree to brand their product, but I think this would be a mistake. Their power as a neutral player is enhanced by allowing the front-end company to brand the product as their own. When I call customer support and talk to a Checkfree employee, they say, "Thank you for calling Wells Fargo bill payment." So, the bank is not so threatened by Checkfree. Banks may be threatened by the portal strategy, but not by Checkfree per se. If you pay bills through Yahoo! Checkfree rep will say "Thanks for calling Yahoo!." This scenario would likely end if Intuit entered the picture. They would possibly lose Yahoo! as a customer, not to mention many banks. Now you get into all the problems with economies of scale necessary for the business model, and perhaps more important, bankers fear of sending their customers bill/checking information through a competitor (Intuit is becoming quite the full service financial destination.) Remember when Pete Kight was so enthusiastic about MSFDC partnering with Citibank? He knows no respectable bank would send their customers info through a competing bank's system. Similar problem here.
