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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(D) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
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DATE OF REPORT: JULY 17, 1997
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CHECKFREE CORPORATION
(EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN CHARTER)
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Delaware 0-26802 31-1013521
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(State or other (Commission File No.) (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of Identification Number)
incorporation or
organization)
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4411 East Jones Bridge Road
Norcross, Georgia 30092
(770)441-3387
(Address, including zip code, and telephone number
including area code of Registrant's
principal executive offices)
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Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
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ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS.
During the fiscal quarter ending June 30, 1997, CheckFree Corporation,
a Delaware Corporation ("CheckFree"), entered into bill payment processing
agreements with three of the 25 largest financial institutions: Barnett Bank of
Jacksonville, Florida (April 30, 1997); KeyCorp of Cleveland, Ohio (April 30,
1997); and Wachovia Operational Services Corporation of Winston- Salem, North
Carolina (June 30, 1997).
The Company completed the conversion of Wells Fargo home banking and
bill payment customers on July 7, 1997, thereby increasing the total number of
subscribers to approximately 1.8 million. Information contained in the Exhibits
attached at Item 7 are incorporated herein by this reference.
ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND EXHIBITS
Exhibits.
Exhibit No. Description
99(a) Press release of CheckFree Corporation issued
May 14, 1997 regarding Barnett Bank.
99(b) Press release of CheckFree Corporation issued
June 16, 1997 regarding KeyCorp.
99(c) Press release of CheckFree Corporation issued
July 14, 1997 regarding Wells-Fargo and
Wachovia Operational Services Corporation.
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
CHECKFREE CORPORATION
By: /s/ James S. Douglass
James S. Douglass, Chief Financial Officer
Dated: July 17, 1997
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Exhibit 99(a)
Media contact: Matt Lewis, CheckFree Corporation
(770)734-3404
[email protected]
Jerri Franz, Barnett Banks
(904)791-5455
CHECKFREE AND BARNETT BANKS SIGN FIVE-YEAR PROCESSING AGREEMENT FOR
HOME BANKING AND BILL PAYMENT
Contract Makes CheckFree a Processor for 18 of the Top 25 Financial
Institutions in the U.S.
Atlanta, May 14, 1997 -- CheckFree Corporation, the nation's leading provider
of electronic home banking and bill payment processing, today announced a
five-year agreement with Barnett Banks Inc., to provide bill payment remittance
processing for the bank's customers. To date, CheckFree has contracts for home
banking and bill payment transaction processing for 18 of the top 25 financial
institutions in the U.S.
Based in Jacksonville, Fla., Barnett is one of the 25 largest financial
institutions in the country, serving more than 2.5 million customers in Florida
and southern Georgia. Barnett is also one of the founding members of the
Integrion Financial Alliance.
Initially, CheckFree will be the remittance processor for Barnett's customers
that bank from home using Quicken and Quickbooks software, or the BankNow Web
site. CheckFree will also allow Barnett customers to pay their bills using
touch-tone phones.
"CheckFree is a leader in the electronic payments industry and choosing them as
our partner allows us to implement quickly a broad menu of home banking
solutions for our customers," said Sam McLimans, Barnett's director of
Electronic and Self-Service Delivery. "In addition to our previously announced
plans to offer Quicken and Home Financial Network choices for our customers,
our partnership with CheckFree will also allow us to add Microsoft Money to our
product line-up."
Customers of banks using CheckFree processing can manage finances and process
transactions by telephone, personal computer and other devices as they continue
to develop. CheckFree's role is transparent as customers interact directly with
their bank -- not with a third-party provider.
"It's important for banks to control the delivery channel," said Peter J.
Kight, president and chief executive officer of CheckFree. "CheckFree provides
the infrastructure and processing reliability to support virtually any
interface and to make electronic home banking a reality for the banking
industry."
Today's announcement highlights a 16-month trend. Since January 1, 1996,
CheckFree's total number of banks under contract to obtain home banking and
bill payment processing has increased from 45 to 248.
Also during the past 16 months, CheckFree's total subscriber base has increased
by more than 600 percent, from 244,000 to over 1.5 million consumers. The
company expects to have as many as 1.8 million home banking and bill payment
subscribers by June 30, 1997.
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ABOUT BARNETT
With more than $40 billion in assets, Barnett Banks, Inc. is the leading
financial institution in Florida and ranked in the top 25 in the United States.
The company provides a complete line of banking and related financial services
to consumers and businesses. Barnett stock (BBI) is listed on the New York
Stock Exchange.
ABOUT CHECKFREE
Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR, www.checkfree.com), is the
leading provider of electronic commerce services, software and related products
for more than 1.5 million consumers, 1,000 businesses and 850 financial
institutions. CheckFree designs, develops and markets services that enable its
customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based
recurring financial transactions and conduct secure transactions on the
Internet.
Certain of the Company's statements in this news release contain
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include,
without limitation, statements relating to plans and objectives for future
operations, the development of the electronic commerce market, the dependence
on strategic alliances, the impact of competitive services and products, the
timely development and acceptance of new services and products, the timely
implementation of client service contracts, and the various risks inherent in
the Company's electronic commerce 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 Transition Report on Form
10-K for the six months ended June 30, 1996. One or more of these factors have
affected, and could in the future affect, the Company's results of operations
for future periods and could cause actual results to differ materially from
plans.
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Exhibit 99(b)
Media contacts: Matt Lewis, CheckFree Corporation
(770) 734-3404
[email protected]
Lucas Delvalle, KeyCorp
(216) 689-3647
CHECKFREE, KEYCORP SIGN PROCESSING AGREEMENT FOR
HOME BANKING, BILL PAYMENT
CheckFree Now a Processor for 13 of the top 15 U.S. Financial Institutions
Atlanta, GA (June 16, 1997) -- CheckFree Corporation today announced an
agreement to provide home banking and bill payment processing for KeyCorp, the
14th-largest financial institution in the country. CheckFree now has agreements
to provide home banking and bill payment transaction processing services for 13
of the nation's 15 largest financial institutions.
Under the agreement, CheckFree will provide services for KeyBank, National
Association; Key's nationwide banking subsidiary. CheckFree will process
KeyBank's home banking and bill payment offerings through Quicken and Microsoft
Money. CheckFree will also provide remittance processing for KeyBank's consumer
and small business electronic bill paying services.
"This agreement assures that we will continue providing the most advanced and
reliable home banking and bill payment services," said Patrick J. Swanick,
executive vice president of Electronic Commerce for KeyCorp. "With CheckFree's
expertise and Key's commitment to world class customer service, the processing
of each KeyBank customer's bill payment will be efficiently and quickly
completed."
"KeyCorp is a leader in the delivery of financial services," said Peter J.
Kight, chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based CheckFree. "They continue to assure
that their customers have the most immediate and convenient access available to
their financial accounts and information."
CheckFree's agreement with KeyCorp continues a 16-month trend. Since January 1,
1996, the number of financial institutions under contract with CheckFree for
home banking and bill payment services has increased from 45 to 249, and
includes 11 out of the 16 members of the Integrion Financial Network. Mr. Kight
said that the current quarter should be strong for new signings as well.
"Financial institutions continue to be the key to the growth of home banking
and bill payment." said Mr. Kight. "They have the range of product offerings
and relationships that can make electronic commerce a fully-integrated option
for customers interested in a new level of convenience. Our job is to make the
processing for all electronic transactions seamless and invisible."
ABOUT KEYCORP
KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY, www.keybank.com) is one of the nation's largest financial
services companies. Through three principal lines of business -- corporate
banking, consumer finance and community banking -- the Cleveland-based company
provides retail and wholesale banking,
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investment, financing and money management services. Key companies have a
presence in 45 states through its network of KeyCenters, 1,900 ATMS, affiliate
offices and four telebanking centers (1-800-KEY2YOU) that provide financial
products and services 24 hours a day every day of the year.
ABOUT CHECKFREE
Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ: CKFR, www.checkfree.com) is the
leading provider of electronic commerce services, software and related products
for more than 1.5 million consumers, 1,000 businesses and 850 financial
institutions. CheckFree designs, develops and markets services that enable its
customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based
recurring financial transactions and conduct secure transactions on the
Internet.
Certain of the Company's statements in this news release contain
forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include,
without limitation, statements relating to plans and objectives for future
operations, the development of the electronic commerce market, the dependence
on strategic alliances, the impact of competitive services and products, the
timely development and acceptance of new services and products, the timely
implementation of client service contracts, and the various risks inherent in
the Company's electronic commerce 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 Transition Report on Form
10-K for the six months ended June 30, 1996. One or more of these factors have
affected, and could in the future affect, the Company's results of operations
for future periods and could cause actual results to differ materially from
plans.
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Exhibit 99(c)
Media contact: Matt Lewis, CheckFree Corporation
(770) 734-3404
[email protected]
CHECKFREE ANNOUNCES COMPLETION OF WELLS FARGO IMPLEMENTATION
Total subscribers climb to 1.8 million at July 7, 1997
Atlanta (July 14, 1997) -- CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) today said it
has completed its conversion of Wells Fargo's bill payment services to
CheckFree. CheckFree and Wells Fargo entered into a five-year processing
agreement on October 3, 1996 and the two companies began the development
process at that time. The implementation was completed over the July 4th
holiday weekend and CheckFree is now processing all bill payment transactions
for Wells Fargo customers. "It's great to have a leading financial institution
like Wells Fargo fully up and running," said Pete Kight, Chairman and CEO of
CheckFree Corporation.
CheckFree now provides home banking and or bill payment transaction processing
services for 1.8 million subscribers as of July 7, 1997. "Financial
institutions are the trusted agent in the delivery of financial services and we
will continue to work to enable them to offer the highest quality home banking,
bill payment and presentment services to their customers."
In an additional statement made today, CheckFree announced that it signed a
three-year processing agreement with Wachovia Corporation to provide remittance
processing for the bank's home bill payment customers.
CheckFree will report financial results for the quarter-ended June 30, 1997 on
August 13 at the close of the market.
Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation (www.checkfree.com), is the leading
provider of electronic commerce services, software and related products for 1.8
million consumers, 1,000 businesses and 850 financial institutions. CheckFree
designs, develops and markets services that enable its customers to make
electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based recurring financial
transactions and conduct secure transactions on the Internet.
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