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

To: AugustWest who wrote (4766)	4/20/1999 7:29:00 AM
From: Benny Baga	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 20297

BankAmerica First With Its Own BPP April 20, 1999 CFO Alert -- BankAmerica made a big splash in the e-commerce world last week when it won the race to be the first bank to introduce its own bill payment and presentment service in pilot mode. Experts said, however, that it remains to be seen if it can execute the service. Chase and Citibank have programs a step behind. "They've proved it can be up and running which is a major accomplishment, " said Avivah Litan, director of research for the GartnerGroup. Litan, an expert in bill payment and presentment, said the development is "a big deal" not only because BankAmerica controls 10% of the consumer deposits in the U.S., but because it means competition for industry leader Checkfree and up-and-comer Transpoint, a joint venture of Citibank and Microsoft. BankAmerica wants to be seen as "a comprehensive alternative to the limited number of other bill presentment options" on the market, said BankAmerica senior vice president Jane Wallace. "If they're successful with this service, they could control where consumers go to pay their bills. They don't want to lose their franchise consumers to other bill presentment providers. They can retain them and attract new ones," Litan said. She added that the big question is whether or not BankAmerica can execute. "Will consumers go to them? Will the billers want to use them?" She said the final, and perhaps most important, question, is what this means to the relationship BankAmerica has with the Integrion Financial Network. That consortium, which recently streamlined its ownership structure, is now controlled by BankAmerica, Bank One, and Washington Mutual Inc., with several other institutions participating. Checkfree is Integrion's "preferred provider" of electronic bill payment and presentment. Litan said it would be interesting to see which bill payment provider gets used--whether the group sticks with Checkfree, or starts using BankAmerica. "They'll probably use both until they see which one is more successful," she said. BankAmerica's system was developed internally and has been tested with employees since late March. Competing against other vendors, BankAmerica wants to be seen as "a comprehensive alternative to the limited number of other bill presentment options" on the market, Wallace said. --E.W [Copyright 1999, American Banker]