CheckFree Redefines the Online Banking Experience to Help Financial Institutions Build Profitable Recurring Relationships With C

Enhancements to Online Banking User Interfaces at Two Financial Institutions Result in 75% Jump in Online Bill Payment Enrollment Levels 


ATLANTA and LAS VEGAS, Nov. 13  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BAI Retail Delivery Conference Booth #2021 - CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) today unveiled its plans for delivering the industry's most comprehensive, integrated and secure online banking and bill payment solution for the financial services industry.

CheckFree's acquisition of Corillian, which closed in May 2007, has accelerated the company's comprehensive online channel optimization strategy that unifies online banking, bill payment and presentment, personal money management, security and other value-added services.

As one of the initial steps toward full integration, CheckFree partnered with Synovus, based in Columbus, Ga. and Mission Federal Credit Union, based in San Diego, Calif., to implement enhancements to their online banking user interfaces, giving consumers direct access to online bill payment features.

In the first month of the program, consumer enrollments in electronic billing and payment at Synovus and Mission Federal Credit Union jumped an average of 75 percent over rates achieved before implementing the enhancements. During a four-month period, online bill payment enrollments were up an average of 52 percent above prior levels at the two financial institutions. These results signal the significant impact that the integration of online banking and bill payment is expected to have on enrollment, adoption and user experience.

"The program's quantitative results, along with the positive qualitative feedback we received from online banking users, indicate that our customers value a more tightly integrated online banking and bill payment experience," said Shelby Hutcherson, vice president, senior online solutions manager, Synovus. "This test demonstrates that making even small changes to the user interface can have a major impact on user adoption."

These results are an early indication of the opportunities that exist as CheckFree fully integrates online banking, bill payment and presentment, and related capabilities. An integrated online banking and bill payment user experience will enable financial institutions to provide a single point of access and the ability to up-sell additional bank products at relevant points in a customer's online experience.

"Since the acquisition of Corillian, we have made significant strides in executing on our aggressive integration timeline," said Alex Hart, executive vice president and general manager, CheckFree Electronic Banking Services. "The success of even basic user interface enhancements at Synovus and Mission Federal Credit Union signal that we are on the right path to delivering an integrated solution that will take online banking to the next level."

For financial institutions, the new approach has the potential to reduce operating costs, expand cross-selling and up-selling capabilities, and increase consumers' interactions through the online channel. Online banking customers visit their financial institutions' sites an average of 11.2 times per month, according to the 2007 Consumer Bill Payment Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive with the Marketing Workshop, and sponsored by CheckFree. However, customers who use both online banking and bill payment services visit their financial institutions' sites 13.4 times and those who use electronic bills to receive and pay their bills visit the online banking sites an average of 15.1 times, according to the same survey.

Today, online banking and bill payment exist as separate applications on many financial institution websites. CheckFree's integrated online banking and bill payment solution will bring a full menu of capabilities onto a single dashboard, enabling consumers to manage their finances more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

CheckFree's integrated online banking solution is designed to provide the following capabilities:

  -- Electronic billing and payment - CheckFree Web RXPSM, the company's
     premier electronic billing and payment system, will be designed to
     integrate the rich Internet components of online bill payment
     seamlessly into online banking, thus increasing opportunities for
     financial institutions to interact with their customers.
  -- Electronic bills - Recent studies have proven the correlation between
     use of e-bills to receive and pay bills and higher customer
     profitability, retention and satisfaction. E-bills contain the same
     information as paper bills, but are delivered online rather than via
     regular mail.
  -- Online money management - When consumers can both see their account
     balances and understand their financial position in a more compelling
     way, they're better able to make sound financial decisions.
  -- Targeted marketing - The integrated solution will enable financial
     institutions to develop and deliver targeted messaging about products
     and services that address their customers' specific needs.
  -- Online channel scorecard - A data analytics engine will capture key
     metrics to demonstrate the value of the optimized online channel and
     provide a view into the success of cross-selling activities and cost
     savings to drive increased customer profitability and improved return
     on investment.
  -- Security - CheckFree's multi-layered security solutions are designed to
     protect financial institutions and customers from the risk of fraud and
     security breaches. The company's powerful fraud monitoring and
     detection systems provide invisible layers of protection from costly
     security breaches. CheckFree's intelligent authentication solutions are
     helping financial institutions safeguard online banking users from
     unauthorized access and phishing sites.

  About CheckFree (http://www.checkfreecorp.com/)


Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) provides financial electronic commerce services and products to organizations around the world. CheckFree Electronic Commerce solutions enable financial services providers to offer the convenience of online banking, and, along with billers, to offer the convenience of receiving and paying bills online, via phone or in person through retail outlets. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management solutions and outsourced services to hundreds of financial services organizations, which manage about $1.8 trillion in assets. CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software applications that are used by financial institutions to process more than 75 percent of the nearly 16 billion Automated Clearing House transactions in the United States. The division also provides financial institutions and other organizations with payment processing and consulting, reconciliation and exception management, fraud and risk management, cash and logistics management, and compliance software and services.

Certain of the Company's statements in this press release are not purely historical, and as such are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements regarding management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or projections of the future. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including without limitation, the various risks inherent in the Company's business, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2007 (filed August 24, 2007), and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 (filed November 7, 2007). One or more of these factors have affected, and could in the future affect the Company's business and financial results in future periods, and could cause actual results to differ materially from plans and projections. There can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made in this press release will prove to be accurate, and issuance of such forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other person, that the objectives and plans of the Company will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on information presently available to management, and the Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. 

DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation



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CheckFree Corporation



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