checkFree, an electronic bill payment and presentment service based in Atlanta, built a dominant
position in consumer bill payments by providing the back-end services-that is, all the unseen
communication and data transfers-for electronic bill payments. The company was created in
1981 by then twenty-four year-old Peter Kight who, while working at a health club, thought that
fewer memberships would lapse if members did not have to think about renewal and fees, that
were paid automatically. His insight proved correct, and Kight went on to found CheckFree
Corporation, which supplied automatic payment services.