Add Southern Cal Ed. to the list of Billers...
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Tuesday September 1, 8:29 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: CheckFree Corporation
CheckFree and Southern California Edison Sign Agreement for Electronic Billing and Payment
SCE to complete internal testing in preparation for full-market launch
ATLANTA, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- CheckFree (Nasdaq: CKFR - news) and Rosemead- based Southern California Edison (SCE) announced today an agreement whereby SCE -- following internal testing by employees -- plans to offer customers the option to receive and pay their utility bill via the Internet. SCE, a subsidiary of Edison International [NYSE:EIX -news], is the nation's second largest investor- owned electric utility.
As part of the CheckFree E-Bill(sm) implementation process, SCE will conduct a four-month internal beta-testing program to allow its employees the opportunity to visit a central Web site of their choice to both view and pay bills electronically using their personal computers. The service, upon successful testing, will be rolled out to SCE's 4.2 million customers in central and southern California. SCE customers will be able to access their utility bill and receive a full-color electronic replication over the Internet, complete with graphics, logos and full billing details.
''Paying bills will soon become even easier for Edison customers,'' said Bill Reinhold, SCE's director of mass markets. ''Receiving and paying monthly bills on a PC will save our customers time, money and trouble, and it reflects our commitment to top-quality service through advanced technologies. We think a lot of our customers will find this service very useful and convenient.''
''Leading-edge companies like Edison are quickly recognizing the benefits that electronic billing provides not only to their customers, but also to their bottom line,'' said Peter J. Kight, chairman and chief executive officer of CheckFree. ''The ease and efficiency that customers receive from paying their bills online, combined with the reduced costs to the businesses who issue those bills, makes electronic bill presentment and payment a winning proposition for everyone.''
The ability to view and pay bills over the Internet provides consumers with flexibility in managing personal finances with their home computer. CheckFree E-Bill enables the consumer to go to one Web site, receive and pay multiple bills without the cost of postage, and eliminate the hassle of check writing. With the consumer's selected bank Web site as the primary access point, the consumer can, in addition to paying all of their bills electronically, manage their bank accounts, make investment decisions and access additional products and services on-line.
According to a recent study by Killen & Associates -- a market research firm based in Palo Alto, Calif. -- by the end of 2000, almost 8 billion repetitive bills will be presented electronically each year. The study also states that sending paper bills costs 60 cents to $1.40 per bill, while presenting bills on-line can cut that cost to approximately 50 cents. Overall, the Killen report asserts that U.S. utilities could save $1.2 billion in billing costs by using electronic bill presentment and payment.
Companies currently offering electronic bills to their customers through contracts with CheckFree E-Bill include 25 of the nation's larger billers and the nation's largest statement processor. Combined, these companies represent the potential for more than 400 million electronic transactions per month. Recent CheckFree E-Bill agreements include AT&T, Bank One, Intuit's Quicken.com, and the Public Service Co. of New Mexico.
About Southern California Edison
Southern California Edison is the nation's second largest investor-owned utility. Based in Rosemead, Calif., SCE is the largest subsidiary of Edison International. The regulated utility serves a population of 11 million people within a 55,000-square-mile service area that encompasses central, coastal and southern California. Edison International's assets exceed $24 billion.
About CheckFree
Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation, the operating subsidiary of CheckFree Holdings, Inc. (www.checkfree.com), is the leading provider of electronic commerce services, software and related products for 2.4 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.
CheckFree introduced the nation's first live, market-release product for electronic bill presentment and payment in March 1997, after completing a successful two-year pilot program. CheckFree E-Bill is the only fully integrated, end-to-end system for electronic presentment and payment of richly formatted bills over the Internet. CheckFree E-Bill uses existing payment systems and allows consumers to access and pay their bills through the branded home-banking services of financial institutions. A demo of CheckFree E-Bill is available at the CheckFree Web site. For corporate sales information, call 1-800-532-9696.
SOURCE: CheckFree Corporation |
