Customer sign-up for online bill payment from CheckFree-powered
sites to be the fastest and most secure in the industry with Equifax
Secure's Next Generation Authentication Technology
ATLANTA (July 12, 2000) CheckFree (NASDAQ: CKFR), the leader
in electronic billing and payment, and Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX),
a worldwide leader in shaping global commerce, announced today
that CheckFree will incorporate the Equifax Secure authentication
engine into its electronic billing and payment (EBP) enrollment
process to more quickly and securely verify customer identity
as they sign up for the service to view and pay bills electronically.
The multi-year agreement will be exclusive to CheckFree in the
aggregated EBP market, providing CheckFree-powered sites the fastest,
easiest and most secure processes available for consumers who
want to experience the convenience of paying bills online.
For CheckFree, this real-time solution will significantly enhance
ease-of-use and "immediate gratification" as consumers
try the service. The Equifax authentication engine will virtually
eliminate manual authentication processes, including the need
for consumers to enter an authentication code that arrives by
mail. Further, the Equifax technology will protect consumer privacy,
reduce the threat of identity fraud and reduce fraudulent payment
risk for businesses.
This makes the CheckFree Guarantee an even more valuable symbol
of assurance.
"With faster authentication, CheckFree can more closely
meet expectation levels for immediacy that Internet consumers
have come to expect as they try new services, while maintaining
the highest levels of security and privacy required for authorizing
transactions," said Pete Sinisgalli, president and chief
operating officer, CheckFree. "Our relationship with Equifax
as a business partner and a technology partner has led to the
delivery of a single, automated, online process for user validation
and set up. This creates a user-friendly, safe and secure environment
to benefit both business customers who are offering the service
and their customers."
By 2002, more than half of U.S. households will have the ability
to access three or four bills on-line for viewing and payment
online, according to a 1999 Internet Research Group report. Through
this partnership, Equifax will leverage CheckFree's relationships
with more than 120 of the nation's top billers and more than 150
EBP consumer service providers (CSPs), including the U.S. Postal
Service, banks, credit unions, brokerage firms, Internet portals
and personal financial management (PFM) software.
In addition to CheckFree CSP access points, the technology will
be used in CheckFree's next generation payment products announced
earlier this year that will enable consumers to send payments
electronically for person-to-person and person-to-Internet merchant
payments.
"CheckFree's decision to use the power of Equifax's authentication
technology will enhance the consumer experience by minimizing
steps leading to adoption and potentially accelerate e-commerce
activity with greater efficiency and protection for consumers
and businesses," said Rich Crutchfield, executive vice president
and group executive for Equifax's ecommerce initiatives. "For
financial institutions and billers, CheckFree and Equifax offer
a commitment to quality and technology leadership that provide
an outstanding foundation upon which to build customer relationships
through electronic billing and payment."
Equifax's authentication solution is the most advanced online
identity verification solution available in the marketplace that
instantly authenticates online users. By obtaining a more complete
and accurate user profile, Equifax's authentication provides a
superior shield against tampering and identity theft. The privacy
of user information is protected through each step in the authentication
process. Step by step, here's how it works:
Step 1: The consumer completes and submits the enrollment form
providing the requested information. The information is encrypted
and transmitted electronically to Equifax, safely and securely,
protecting the privacy of the consumer every step of the way.
Once the information reaches Equifax, the authentication engine
compares and analyzes multiple elements in the furnished information
against consumer data from Equifax and other consumer and business
information sources.
Step 2: The authentication engine then displays a multiple-choice
questionnaire compiled from information sources listed above.
Step 3: The consumer answers the questions and hits "submit."
If the answers are verified, then the consumer is authenticated.
If the consumer's identity cannot be authenticated, then he/she
will be instructed to complete the process manually.
This process complies fully with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
The process replaces the manual application which required consumers
to submit their information online but wait several days to receive
a pin or authentication code through the mail.
"For Internet-based financial transactions, real-time, online
authorization is critical to enhancing overall ease-of-use and
increased security," said Jeetu Patel, vice president of Research
for Doculabs an independent industry analyst firm specializing
in e-business technologies, based in Chicago. "As this market
evolves toward other types of payments, including person-to-person
payments, this level of immediate access will be demanded by consumers."
About Equifax Authentication
Unlike traditional methods that rely solely on wallet information
such as Social Security number, driver's license number and address
to identify users online, the Equifax authentication engine requests
both financial and non-financial information that should be known
only to the user. The engine compares and analyzes multiple elements
in the furnished information against consumer data from Equifax
and other consumer and business information.
About CheckFree
CheckFree (www.checkfree.com) is the leading provider of financial
electronic commerce services and products. Founded as an electronic
payments processor in 1981, CheckFree (NASDAQ: CKFR) launched
the first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution,
CheckFree E-Bill, in March of 1997. Today, CheckFree services
enable 3.3 million consumers to receive and pay bills over the
Internet or electronically. The Company has multi-year contracts
with 121 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing
and payment through its network of partnerships with more than
150 consumer service providers (CSPs), including banks, brokerage
firms, Internet portals and content sites, and personal financial
management (PFM) software.
CheckFree's Investment Services division provides a range of
investment management services to help more than 255 institutions
provide portfolio management and reporting services to their clients.
CheckFree clients manage over 820,000 portfolios totaling more
than $480 billion in assets. Software and services provided by
CheckFree's Compliance and Financial Service division are used
to process more than two-thirds of the nation's six billion Automated
Clearing House (ACH) payments. In addition, nearly 400 banks and
businesses use reconciliation products and services the division
provides.
About Equifax
Equifax, a worldwide leader in shaping global commerce, brings
buyers and sellers together through its information management,
transaction processing, direct marketing, and customer relationship
management businesses. Atlanta-based Equifax (NYSE: EFX) serves
the financial services, retail, credit card, telecommunications/utilities,
transportation, information technology and healthcare industries
and government. Equifax adds knowledge, expertise, convenience
and security to provide value-added solutions and processes for
its customers wherever they do business, including the Internet
and other networks. Equifax employs about 15,000 associates in
16 countries with sales in almost 50 and has $1.8 billion in revenue.
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 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 Form 10-K/A for the year ended June 30,
1999 (filed July 10, 2000), Form 10-Q/A for the quarter ended
March 31, 2000 (filed July 10, 2000), Form S-3 Registration Statement,
as amended (filed January 14, 2000, and amended on January 26
and April 10, 2000), and Form S-4 Registration Statement (filed
July 10, 2000). 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 document 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.
Statements in this press release that relate to Equifax's future
plans, objectives, expectations, performance, events and the like
are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Future events, risks and uncertainties,
individually or in the aggregate, could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements.
Those factors could include changes in worldwide and U.S. economic
conditions that materially impact consumer spending and consumer
debt, changes in demand for the Company's products and services,
risks associated with the integration of acquisitions and other
investments, and other factors discussed in the "Forward-looking
Information" and "Year 2000 Information" sections
in the management's discussion and analysis included at Part II,
Item 7 in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 1999.
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