CKFR Checkfree Corp (MM)

ATLANTA and LAS VEGAS, Nov. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BAI Retail Delivery Conference Booth #2021 - CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) today announced its expanded OpenChannel strategy for mobile banking and payments. CheckFree's expanded mobile strategy is designed to support multiple technologies for delivering online financial services via mobile devices, including microbrowser-based wireless application protocol (WAP), text messaging (known as SMS for short messaging service), and device-resident applications. Financial institutions can choose from a full range of deployment options, including hosted, software-based, hybrid and flexible component models, to meet their specific needs. "CheckFree's OpenChannel strategy for mobile banking and payments recognizes that financial institutions need the flexibility to choose and implement multiple technologies for the delivery of these services," said Alex Hart, executive vice president and general manager, CheckFree Electronic Banking Services Division. "We are responding to our customers' needs for multiple technologies, infrastructure solutions and professional services to help them implement optimal mobile banking and payment solutions." Celent LLC, a leading financial services information technology and strategy research firm, estimates that 3 percent of all households using online banking in 2007 will also use some form of mobile banking. In 2010, this figure is estimated to rise to 30 percent, the equivalent of 17 million households. "To determine the best technology for mobile banking, Celent regards banks' needs for ubiquity as the biggest driver of mobile banking technology attractiveness. If banks are to build mobile banking channels and derive associated benefits, all bank customers must have access to this channel, not just those using certain mobile carriers or owning particular handsets," said Red Gillen, senior analyst of emerging technologies at Celent. "Given this, it is highly likely that any successful mobile banking implementation will adopt a hybrid model consisting of a minimum of two technologies-SMS plus mobile browser, or SMS plus client application." Since November 2006, CheckFree's primary focus in the mobile channel has been on the device-resident downloadable application, offered through a strategic partnership with Firethorn Holdings, LLC (http://www.firethornmobile.com/). America First Credit Union, Arvest Bank, BancorpSouth, SunTrust Bank, Synovus, and Wachovia Corp. are among the CheckFree customers that have announced their selection of the device-resident approach. CheckFree has already extended support for multiple mobile technologies by working with one of the nation's top five financial institutions as part of a WAP browser-based implementation. CheckFree provides the payment processing infrastructure that enables the bank's customers to view electronic bills and schedule and cancel payments using mobile devices. 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 financial services providers to offer the convenience of online banking, and along with billers, to offer the convenience of receiving and paying household bills online, via phone or in person through retail outlets. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management solutions and outsourced services to hundreds of financial services organizations, which manage about $1.8 trillion in assets. CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software applications that are used by financial institutions to process more than 75 percent of the nearly 16 billion Automated Clearing House transactions in the United States. The division also provides financial institutions and other organizations with payment processing and consulting, reconciliation and exception management, fraud and risk management, cash and logistics management, and compliance software and services. Certain of the Company'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 the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2007 (filed August 24, 2007), and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2007 (filed November 7, 2007). 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 press release 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. DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation CONTACT: Media, Sheryl Roehl, +1-678-375-1682, saroehl@checkfree; Investor relations, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, , both of CheckFree Corporation Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/ http://www.firethornmobile.com/

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