CKFR Checkfree Corp (MM)

Tucson Electric and CheckFree Deliver Utility Bills Online to Residential and Small Business Customers -- One of Arizona's Largest Electric Utilities Responds to Customer Demand and Brings Online Billing and Payment to Customers in Southern Arizona -- ATLANTA, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Corporation and Tucson Electric Power (TEP), the principal subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corporation , today announced that TEP residential and commercial customers can now view and pay their electric bills online at the Tucson Electric Web site ( http://www.tep.com/ ). Residential customers of TEP can also elect to receive and pay their utility and other bills online through their choice of financial services Web sites powered by CheckFree. By responding to a growing national trend and increasing customer demand, TEP is enabling its customers to realize the convenience of receiving and paying their bills via the Internet. On the recently redesigned Web site, TEP customers will be able to view their account balance and account history online, as well as pay their electric bills and stop, start or transfer their electric services. The electronic billing and payment service is hosted in CheckFree's state-of-the- art data center and is integrated seamlessly with the TEP site. This payment service not only reduces overall operating costs for TEP, but it also provides the highest level of payment functionality and convenience to Tucson Electric Power customers. Customers who want to receive and pay multiple bills through a single Web site can enroll at their choice of bank, brokerage, credit union, Internet portal sites or personal financial management software providers. At these sites consumers can receive their TEP bills in addition to electronic bills from other leading companies. Customers can also use "pay anyone" services to make payments to any individual or company to whom they would normally write a check. All payment information is stored on a single, secure online site for increased convenience and control for the customer. In addition, consumers who pay bills electronically are protected from unauthorized transactions or processing delays by the CheckFree Guarantee. To find out what bills are available online and to help identify which site is best suited for bill paying needs, consumers can visit http://www.checkfree.com/ . "A growing number of our customers are asking to access and pay their monthly electric bills online to make their lives more convenient," said Steve Glaser, senior vice president and chief operating officer, Transmission and Distribution for Tucson Electric Power. "We have responded to their requests by working with CheckFree, the leader in the industry, to deliver a reliable, high quality and secure billing and payment service that our customers can trust." "By moving their bills to the Internet, Tucson Electric gives their consumers another compelling reason to manage their bills and payments online, and their organization is working with CheckFree to enhance the adoption of its electronic billing service," said Doug Krapcho, senior vice president of CheckFree's Biller Solutions business unit. "In this way Tucson Electric can get closer to their customers in a truly interactive way, which complements its strategy of providing outstanding online customer care." About Tucson Electric Power Company Arizona's second largest investor owned utility, Tucson Electric Power, serves more than 360,000 customers over a 1,155 square mile service territory. For more information about Tucson Electric Power, visit tep.com. About CheckFree ( http://www.checkfreecorp.com/ ) CheckFree (NASDAQ:CKFR) is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services and products. Founded in 1981 and celebrating its 23rd year in e-commerce, CheckFree is comprised of three divisions: Electronic Commerce, Software, and Investment Services. CheckFree launched the first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution in 1997. In the quarter ended September 30, 2003, more than 11 million consumers initiated online payments through services offered by CheckFree's Electronic Commerce division. Electronic billing and payment is available through more than a thousand financial services organizations, including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and personal financial management (PFM) software. At these sites, consumers are able to electronically receive and pay about 300 bills, representing the bills most common to a U.S. household. CheckFree delivers nearly 15 million e-bills each quarter. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management services to thousands of financial institutions nationwide. The division's clients manage more than 1.3 million portfolios totaling more than $700 billion in assets. CheckFree's Software division provides solutions through three operating units: CheckFree ACH Solutions, CheckFree Financial and Compliance Solutions (CFACS), and CheckFree i-Solutions. CheckFree ACH Solutions provides software and services that are used to process more than two-thirds of the nation's nine billion Automated Clearing House payments, while CFACS provides reconciliation, financial messaging, workflow and compliance software and services to more than 600 organizations in banking, brokerage, investment management, insurance and credit card industries, among others. CheckFree i- Solutions is the leading provider of e-billing and e-statement software and services for both business-to-consumer and business-to-business applications, with more billers as clients than all of its competitors have combined. 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, 2003 (filed September 15, 2003), and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2003 (filed November 13, 2003). 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/ http://www.tep.com/ Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/821650.html

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