about EBPP, CheckFree built an integrated, state-of-the-art technology platform. The new platform, Genesis, could handle 30 million consumers, allowing CheckFree to process 150 million transactions a month. Such initiatives succeeded in improving CheckFree’s bank retention rate; for example, industry leader Wells Fargo renewed its contract with CheckFree in the first quarter of 2000.
In September 1999, CheckFree launched its Guarantee Program. CheckFree would bear the responsibility for late-payment charges, up to $50, should a payment arrive after its due date, as long as the consumer followed CheckFree’s requirements. In addition, if a consumer suspected an unauthorized transaction and notified CheckFree within two business days, the consumer’s liability, as with most major credit cards, was limited to $50.
In July 2000, CheckFree signed an agreement with Equifax to enable immediate online enrollment. Once the consumer submitted the enrollment form, the encrypted information would be transmitted electronically to Equifax. The Equifax authentication engine would then analyze the furnished information against Equifax consumer data and display a multiple-choice verification questionnaire. Once the consumer “passed” the verification test, the enrollment process would be complete.
While CheckFree made good progress with its quality initiatives, it was not clear whether that was good enough to convince more people to use its service. Michael Killen of Killen Associates, a leading EBPP consultancy, commented:
However, these initiatives have yet to demonstrate that CheckFree will successfully improve quality and increase penetration through the bank’s network of relationships. There are systemic problems with CheckFree’s business model that evolved alongside the United States’ regional ACH system, itself faltering because of historical problems.... As far as international EBPP [is concerned], CheckFree’s capability is far behind what other players could achieve. Most of the people at CheckFree don’t even have a passport.
Revenues
CheckFree had three major divisions: Electronic Commerce, which included electronic bill payment (with or without presentation) and other electronic transfer services; Software Solutions, which included ACH processing, compliance, and reconciliation services for four hundred financial services institutions; and Investment Services for asset managers. Exhibit 5 shows CheckFree’s financial operating data from 1996 through 2000.
The primary source of Bill Payments revenues were CSPs, which paid a one-time setup fee, a monthly fee per consumer account, and a transaction fee, where the per-transaction amount decreased based on payments volume. This came to about $4 per account per month, or 15 to 40 cents per bill paid (CSPs charged consumers about $6 a month per account). Some of the larger
financial institutions paid a fixed monthly fee and a lower payment per account. In addition,
billers paid CheckFree 25 to 40 cents for each bill presented.