CKFR Checkfree Corp (MM)

ATLANTA and LONDON, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) today announced that Australia's sixth largest banking group and fourth largest insurer, The Suncorp Group, has selected CheckFree's Accurate NXG Operational Risk Management solution to improve its reconciliation and exception management processes, and potentially reduce operational risk across its entire insurance, banking and wealth management business. Suncorp, one of Australia's top 20 companies with a market value of around $11.4 billion, required a flexible transaction processing solution that could cope with the diverse business needs of its three main divisions. A proven solution in insurance and banking, Accurate NXG will centralise all of the company's reconciliation and exception management processes, automating workflows and improving management reporting. Using CheckFree's Accurate NXG, which is built on the four core competencies of reconciliation, exception management, workflow, and business intelligence, Suncorp will be able to integrate and streamline its disparate systems onto one central solution, fully automate the reconciliation of thousands of accounts, track related exceptions more efficiently and potentially reduce operational risk. Maree McMahon, Manager, Accounting Operations, Accounting & Tax at The Suncorp Group said: "We wanted a functionally rich reconciliation solution that would significantly improve our ability to complete accurate and timely reconciliations of general ledger and bank accounts, to act upon exceptions efficiently and consistently, and, to report on and monitor the reconciliation function across the Suncorp Group. "We were impressed with the capabilities of CheckFree's Accurate NXG and the professionalism of the Australasian team. They worked hand-in-hand with us from the outset, to ensure they understood the complexities of the Suncorp enterprise, and managed execution professionally throughout including making sure that the different teams were fully trained and self-sufficient as soon as possible." CheckFree Australasia provided consultancy and training support for Suncorp throughout the implementation, tailoring training for different users across the organisation. "With CheckFree's specialised input we were able to achieve our objectives within the timeframe as planned," McMahon said. "It was a great benefit for us to deal with a company where customer service is part of its culture. Through our collaborative approach, the reconciliation function at Suncorp was able to achieve strong operational results in a very short timeframe." Phase one of the implementation went live one week ahead of schedule in November 2004, following an extensive and successful proof of concept exercise. Since then, three phases have been completed on schedule including over two hundred separate reconciliations for the company's insurance, banking and wealth management divisions. The remaining phases, to occur over the following year, will deliver a single automated platform that will cover all interfaces to the general ledger, for the efficient and effective review, control and preparation of reconciliations and for clearing exception items for daily and monthly reconciliation processes. It will also accommodate other data feeds in different formats and time periods so that the solution can cover all reconciliations in the future for longer-term control purposes. Denis McQuade, Executive Vice President at CheckFree Australasia in Sydney, Australia, said: "It is significant that Suncorp, as a sizable financial services group with a wide range of services, has selected CheckFree's Accurate NXG platform to consolidate its transaction processing requirements on a single, operational risk control framework. Through its implementation of the complete CheckFree solution, Suncorp has already achieved significant, measurable benefits that include reduced cost and reduced operational risk." About The Suncorp Group The Suncorp Group is one of Australia's leaders in banking, insurance, and wealth management. The Group focuses on retail consumers and small to medium business. Suncorp-Metway Ltd is one of Australia's top 20 companies and is Queensland's biggest corporation with a market value of around $11.4 billion. The Suncorp Group is Australia's 6th largest bank and 4th biggest general insurance group, covering motor, home and content, workers compensation and commercial. The Group's acquisition of GIO and AMP's general insurance business increased the customer base and diversified the business mix with growth in commercial insurance and workers compensation. Customers have access to 172 Suncorp retail outlets, including branches and agencies and 56 business banking outlets, predominantly in Queensland. There are also 34 GIO agencies in NSW and Victoria. 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 thousands of financial services providers and billers to offer their customers the convenience of receiving and paying their household bills online or in person through retail outlets. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management solutions and outsourced services to thousands of financial services organizations, which manage more than $1.2 trillion in assets. CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software applications that are used by financial institutions to process more than two thirds of the 12 billion Automated Clearing House transactions in the United States. The division also provides operational risk management, financial messaging, corporate actions, and regulatory compliance software to more than 1,500 organizations across the globe. Certain of CheckFree'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 CheckFree's business, and other risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in CheckFree's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including CheckFree's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2005 (filed September 2, 2005), and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2005 (filed November 8, 2005). One or more of these factors have affected, and could in the future affect CheckFree'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 CheckFree, or any other person, that the objectives and plans of CheckFree will be achieved. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on information presently available to management, and CheckFree assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation CONTACT: Media relations, Judy DeRango Wicks, +1-678-375-1595, or , or Investor relations, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, or , both of CheckFree Corporation Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/

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