CKFR Checkfree Corp (MM)

- National retailers can now offer a walk-in bill payment service, even at the check-out line - ATLANTA and LAS VEGAS, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NACShow 2006 Booth #7706 -- CheckFreePay(TM), a business unit of CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR), today announced CheckFreePay Link(TM), a new service that will allow retailers with multiple locations to offer customers the ability to pay bills from leading companies in person. CheckFreePay Link is tailored to meet the needs of large retailers that want to offer consumers the convenience, security and speed of making one or more walk-in bill payments. The service securely transmits payment information to the billing company, allowing retailers to accept payments at their existing Point-of-Sale terminals. Retailers benefit from simplified end-of-day reconciliation and eliminate the need to train specialized personnel. Billers benefit from revenue collection in electronic format that is easy to post the same day or next day. "Until today, retailers with multiple locations were unable to offer a walk-in bill payment service to their customers without installing proprietary hardware and software at each store location," said Steve LaBella, CheckFreePay Business Unit Executive. "CheckFreePay Link leverages web services technology to transmit encrypted payment information, eliminating the need for stand-alone bill-payment terminals and facilitating employee training. In addition, a built-in solution such as CheckFreePay Link allows retailers with numerous locations to reconcile payment data more easily than if they were using a stand-alone solution." Offering a walk-in payment service allows retailers to transform a consumer's store visit into a more valuable experience for both the retailer and customer by attracting more frequent visits and creating new shopping and buying opportunities. With CheckFreePay Link, retailers can select the Point- of-Sale terminals within their store where walk-in bill payments are accepted, allowing them to direct customer traffic to chosen locations. Payment transactions can occur at customer service desks as well as check-out counters or self-service kiosks, providing customers with a more convenient experience. When a customer makes a payment, the transaction flows seamlessly from the retailer to billers via CheckFree's secure network. Retailers collect a fee for each payment, typically ranging from $1.00 to $2.00. Retailers can easily reconcile this fee income because the CheckFreePay Link service is integrated into their existing systems. CheckFreePay enables consumers to walk in to a retail location and pay more than 800 types of bills, including all MasterCard and Visa credit cards. Consumers can also pay bills from the majority of phone, electric and gas companies, including Verizon Wireless, Boost Mobile and SCANA Energy. Additionally, more than 100 of these payment connections post the same day or next day, ensuring bills are paid quickly and on time. Today, CheckFreePay is the market leader in the walk-in payment industry as it powers consumer in-person payments at more than 11,000 agent sites located in check cashing, retail and grocery stores. Americans on-the-go make millions of walk-in payments each year, paying utility, credit card and wireless bills in-person, often using cash. CheckFreePay converts payments made at walk-in agent locations to secure electronic transactions, and customers receive a receipt to verify payment. In addition to the walk-in bill payment services offered through CheckFreePay, CheckFree provides companies with industry leading bill payment functionality online and by phone. CheckFree's electronic bill presentment and payment solutions allow billing companies to deliver more convenience and value to their customers to build loyalty and improve retention. 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 about $1.4 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 14 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 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, 2006 (filed September 8, 2006). 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 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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