Capabilities
JACKSONVILLE, Fla., July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- ALLTEL (NYSE: AT) and
CheckFree announced today an agreement to provide lenders with electronic
mortgage billing and payment capabilities via the Internet. This initiative,
which will allow lenders' customers to both view and pay bills easily by
accessing the web, will be available in mid-September. IndyMac's LoanWorks
Servicing will be among the first ALLTEL clients to implement the system.
As part of this electronic billing and payment (EBP) initiative, mortgage
lenders' customers will now be able to receive an electronic summary of their
bill as well as their mortgage statement, complete with graphics, logos and
full billing details.
"The industry's top lenders are quickly recognizing the benefits that
electronic billing provides not only to their customers, but also to their
bottom line," said Pete Sinisgalli, president and chief operating officer for
CheckFree. "The ease and efficiency that customers realize from receiving and
paying their bills online, combined with the reduced costs to the businesses
who issue those bills, makes EBP a winning proposition for everyone."
Electronic billing and payment provides a number of benefits to both the
lender and the borrower.
For mortgage customers, online access to their mortgage bill and other
household bills and the ability to pay all bills via the Internet site of
their choice offer unprecedented convenience. Borrowers also gain more
control over finances because they have the ability to schedule when payments
are made electronically and eliminate postage fees.
For the lender, these capabilities streamline processes and reduce
overhead costs. In fact, according to a recent study by Killen & Associates,
a market research firm in Palo Alto, Calif., traditional paper billing costs
60 cents to $1.40 per bill. On-line bill distribution and payment options can
cut that cost to approximately 50 cents --a significant cost savings.
"An easy-to-use and accurate electronic billing and payment system has
been eagerly anticipated by the mortgage industry, and ALLTEL has been
aggressively pursuing a proven system to offer clients," said Jim Milligan,
president of ALLTEL Residential Lending Solutions. "Our commitment to our
clients is to provide cost-effective automation tools that streamline mortgage
processes -- the goal being to reduce redundancies and increase a lender's
financial standing. EBP is another value-added tool in the ALLTEL suite of
products and services designed to achieve that goal."
Since launching the nation's first fully integrated, market-proven
electronic billing and payment solution in 1997, CheckFree has signed multi-
year contracts with more than 50 of the country's largest billers. CheckFree
E-Bill is currently available through more than 20 integrated Internet sites
including Bank One, First Union and Charles Schwab.
CheckFree, the operating subsidiary of CheckFree Holdings Corp.
(Nasdaq: CKFR), is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce
services, software and related products. CheckFree designs, develops and
markets services that enable nearly three million consumers to receive and pay
bills over the Internet or electronically through a variety of bill
aggregation points, including banks, brokerage firms, portals and interactive
content sites on the Internet, and personal financial management (PFM)
software.
CheckFree's range of services and products are focused on enabling
customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based
recurring financial transactions and conduct secure Internet transactions.
ALLTEL is the leader in the mortgage loan automation industry and the
largest U.S. provider of software and processing services to firms servicing
residential mortgage loans. ALLTEL's Mortgage Servicing Package is an on-line
mortgage loan servicing system that automates all areas of loanservicing,
including loan setup and maintenance, cashiering, escrow administration,
investor accounting, customer service and default management. ALLTEL
currently provides loan-servicing automation for more than 20 million mortgage
loans, with balances exceeding $2 trillion.
ALLTEL Information Services, with customers in 54 countries, provides
information processing management, outsourcing services and application
software to the financial, mortgage and telecommunications industries.
ALLTEL is a customer-focused information technology company that provides
wireline and wireless communications and information services.
SOURCE ALLTEL
-0- 07/26/99
/CONTACT: Lauralee Shapiro, Marketing Communications of ALLTEL,
904-854-5185; or Laurinda Wilson, Corporate Communications of CheckFree,
678-375-3312/
/Web site: checkfree.com
alltel.com
(AT CKFR)
CO: ALLTEL; CheckFree; CheckFree Holdings Corp.
ST: Arkansas, Georgia
IN: CPR MLM FIN
SU: PDT
JP-SA
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8688 07/26/99 10:49 EDT prnewswire.com
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