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

To: StocksMan who wrote (20159)	12/4/2003 5:39:20 PM
From: StocksMan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 20297

CheckFree Announces Bank of America Alliance Agreement Amendment Thursday December 4, 5:00 pm ET ATLANTA, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq: CKFR - News), the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services and products, announced today that its Electronic Commerce division has amended its agreement with Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News), the nation's largest retail bank, to update the terms originally announced in April 2000. The agreement was updated to reflect the rapid growth in consumer adoption of electronic billing and payment at www.bankofamerica.com and future, growth- rate projections ahead of those contemplated in the original contract, as well as the economies of scale, and operational efficiencies that CheckFree has achieved. "Bank of America has taken the lead in electronic billing and payment, as evidenced by our dramatic growth in active online users, e-bill volumes and by the receipt of top honors in numerous industry rankings," said Sanjay Gupta, consumer and small business e-Commerce executive with Bank of America. "As a strategic partner, CheckFree has been instrumental in that success and we look forward to our continued partnership." The terms of the agreement are intended to expand the relationship for the duration of the original ten-year contract, which runs through 2010. Specific terms of the agreement were not disclosed, however primary revisions relate to: * commitments to further mainstream consumer adoption, including e-bill delivery and adoption; * adjustments to long-term service pricing. New transaction-based pricing allows CheckFree and the bank to take advantage of economies of scale CheckFree has realized with rapid consumer adoption; * enhancements to CheckFree's industry-leading service level agreements for systems availability and e-mail response times, which bring ever- increasing quality efficiencies to the customer experience; and, * Bank of America relinquishing its rights to five million of the original 10 million warrants outlined in the April 2000 agreement. The bank's minimum annual revenue commitments remain in place at $50 million per year. "Bank of America has assumed a leadership role in educating consumers about the benefits of receiving and paying bills online, offering the service for free to their customers, and sharing their findings regarding the positive correlation between online relationships and long-term profitability," said Steve Olsen, executive vice president and general manager of CheckFree's Electronic Commerce division. "Both CheckFree and Bank of America share a commitment to Six Sigma quality and productivity processes, which continue to deliver positive results, not the least of which have been millions of consumers who have embraced this convenient way to manage their personal finances. CheckFree believes that a dynamic, interactive online relationship will eventually overtake paper as the primary channel for sharing financial information, especially bills and statements; and together with Bank of America we have made an aggressive commitment toward that goal." CheckFree also reported that there are no changes to its previously announced financial expectations for its current fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2004, or for the second quarter, which ends December 31, 2003. . . biz.yahoo.com