CKFR Checkfree Corp (MM)

CheckFree Announces Agreement to Provide Real Time Reconciliation for Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro Data Feed ATLANTA and LONDON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree Software, a division of CheckFree (NASDAQ:CKFR), today announced an agreement with Cable & Wireless, the international communications group, to support its Real Time Nostro (RTN) service. This collaboration will enable users of CheckFree cash and securities reconciliation solutions, such as CheckFree Frontier(TM), to reconcile nostro account data in real time using the Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro service, helping member banks to reconcile their currency positions in real time, reducing liquidity risk and improving operational efficiencies. Steve Engdahl, vice president of product management, CheckFree Software explains: "The Cable & Wireless RTN data service will give our customers real time access to their current correspondent bank activity and positions. The ability to run their CheckFree Software reconciliation and exception management operations in real time, alongside live RTN data, has significant benefits. It will enable users to reconcile positions instantaneously against their internal back office systems to manage their currency positions more effectively than ever before." Gerard P. Hammarlund, head of sales, Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro, commented: "As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, banks and their counterparties have an ever greater need for real time information in a uniform format, and this is what our RTN feed provides. When combined with CheckFree's real time reconciliation capabilities, a powerful set of tools is created for the banks to enhance customer service and improve liquidity management." Randy McCoy, executive vice president and general manager of CheckFree Software, adds: "CheckFree's agreement with Cable & Wireless is another major step in our continuing commitment to the development of leading edge reconciliation and STP technology. This relationship promises to deliver industry-leading risk management and operational benefits to our financial services customers." Whether users are downloading RTN data periodically or accessing it live throughout the day, CheckFree Frontier can be running in the background to catch exceptions early in the cycle and speed up the back office settlement process. And because CheckFree's flagship reconciliation solution is STP- enabled, this data can then be made instantly accessible to the banks' departmental or global offices for a real time view of their cash positions -- anywhere, anytime. This capability promises to have a positive impact on both operational risk management and liquidity optimisation. CheckFree Frontier, the product of 35 years of technology leadership, provides a single scalable platform for enterprise reconciliation operations across multiple lines of business. Its centralised infrastructure ensures fast deployment, central financial and management control and ensures that best- practice processes are enforced across the operation in compliance with Sarbanes Oxley, Basel II and other regulatory initiatives. Frontier's comprehensive reservoir of real-time decision data and reliable metrics provides a powerful operational control tool, giving it a strategic place in the global operation. To find out more, visit Cable & Wireless and CheckFree at Sibos 2004, 11- 15 October, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Cable & Wireless: Stand E099 and CheckFree: Stand M242. About Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro ( http://www.cw.com/rtn ) Developed in close conjunction with the banking community, Cable & Wireless Real Time Nostro (Cable & Wireless RTN) offers institutions involved with foreign exchange and other international transactions a new way to share multi-bank, multi-currency "Nostro" account data in real-time. This is in direct response to the banks' need to improve liquidity management, reduce risk, increase operational efficiencies and respond to customer demand. Cable & Wireless RTN is a subscription-based information service, providing Nostro agents and account holders with a single view of their Nostro positions in each currency, across bank accounts, irrespective of time-zones and systems, to help them manage their cash flows intra-day, rather than after the market has closed. Cable & Wireless RTN is a shared repository of information, hosted and managed centrally in Cable & Wireless' hosting facilities and available over an internet browser, SWIFTNet or via an application programme interface. Software from Gresham Computing normalises and aggregates the data into industry-standard XML for ready integration with the banks' existing systems. About Cable & Wireless Cable & Wireless is one of the world's leading international communications companies. It provides voice, data and IP (Internet Protocol) services to business and residential customers, as well as services to other telecoms carriers, mobile operators and providers of content, applications and internet services. Cable & Wireless' principal operations are in the United Kingdom, continental Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, Panama and the Middle East. For more information about Cable & Wireless, go to http://www.cw.com/ . 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 $900 billion in assets. CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software applications that are used by financial institutions to process more than two-thirds of the 10 billion Automated Clearing House transactions in the United States. The division also provides reconciliation, financial messaging, financial transaction management, compliance and electronic billing and statement software to thousands of 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, 2004 (filed September 3, 2004). 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, Judy DeRango Wicks, +1-678-375-1595, or , or Investors, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, or , both of CheckFree Corporation; or Julie Kyte of Cable & Wireless, +44-7957-802-808, or Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/ http://www.cw.com/rtn

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