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Technology Stocks : CheckFree Holdings Corp. (CKFR), the next Dell, Intel? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: noiserider who wrote (8871)	8/8/1999 4:02:00 PM
From: Shane M	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 20297

noiserider, what it will take attract the late adopters (the majority of users) enabling CKFR and it's partners to "cross the chasm" That's my primary concern also; and your characterization of the concerns of the late adopters are also correct with regard to my household. I do all my investing online, but my wife handles the checkbook and billpaying. She's learned to use a spreadsheet I built many years ago and relies on it to do all the balancing, and she doesn't want any further complications. Recently I signed up for AT&T long distance on the internet and selected the billing to charge monthly on my credit card because we don't have ebilling and payment options enabled on our checking account (my wife's choice). AT&T did have the e-billing as an option, but setting up a monthly draft using the credit card was just as easy. We still go to AT&T's website to examine the bill, but that's not a big deal. Keep in mind that my wife was initially very against all of this. She likes getting a paper bill, and she likes controlling the payments. Since I've shown her how easy it is I think she's more open to the idea, but there's still reluctance. If this household is going to convert to ebill and epay however, it's going to be her choice. With that in mind - what pushes the buttons of a consumer like my wife? 1) If she knows there's money to be saved - she'll be more likely to convert. Something like a "billing discount" for using ebill would be nice. If it costs billers something like 90 cents to process each paper transaction, surely a small discount is justifiable for adopters of EBPP. For coupon clippers, a small discount is often the detemining factor in a purchase. Also "Imagine all the stamps you won't have to buy - all the envelopes..." 2) Confindence that the echeck will perform as marketed. Paper checks are familiar and they always work. The last my wife wants is an ebilling nightmare. She doesn't understand the technology is is extremely concerned about losing control of the money if a mistake is made. 3) IMO free trials will help consumers overcome the fear of #2. I suspect that we were all somewhat concerned about online trading until we made a couple trades. My bet is that most of us now can't imagine having to talk to a broker. Free trials for EBPP will allow billpayers to get that same feeling regarding writing and mailing checks. FWIW and all IMVHO. Shane