CheckFree Redefines the Online Banking Experience to Help Financial Institutions Build Profitable Recurring Relationships with Consumers
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ATLANTA and LAS VEGAS, Nov. 13 -- 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:
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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.
o 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 (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.
CONTACT:
Media,
Sheryl Roehl,
+1-678-375-1682,
saroehl@checkfree.com, or
Investors,
Tina Moore,
+1-678-375-1278,
tmoore@checkfree.com, both of CheckFree Corporation
