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

To: Benny Baga who wrote (4957)	4/27/1999 8:31:00 AM
From: Charlie Smith	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 20297

Benny: Litan believes that in the next four to five years, "middlemen" like CheckFree will be marginalized by technology, leading to the post office model. Middlemen will be replaced by "hubs," which could be banks, Internet portals, or aggressive financial service Web sites like Schwab. The hubs will bring consumers in direct contact with billers and financial institutions. The "flattening of the hierarchy" will be possible because of standardization in the industry, and more connections between billers and consumers and financial institutions, she said. Irony would be overwhelming if she's right. (CKFR slaves for 20 years to get people to adopt and then gets marginalized by it's own success?) Some of this stuff doesn't make sense, though. "...leading to the post office model." What is the post office other than a "middleman"? Who fills this role? How is a "hub" different from a middleman? The flattening...will be possible because of standardization... Assume she means OFX. Pete has said all along that software can't do it alone. She says it can. Seems to me you still need some sort of clearinghouse for service and exceptions. Chicken or egg problem, though. Nobody can make money on service/exceptions without core transaction revenue.