ATLANTA, Ga., Feb. 23, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE)— CheckFree (CKFR) i-Solutions, a provider of interactive e-billing and e-statement software applications, and Honolulu Board of Water Supply (HBWS), the largest water utility in Hawaii, today announced that electronic billing and payment is now available to over 150,000 HBWS customers.
HBWS utility customers in Oahu can save time while increasing control over bill payments by receiving and paying their monthly electric bills online.
HBWS clients can now pay their electric bills faster and more easily than with conventional payments.
Consumers can access their HBWS bills, view bill details and approve their bill payment in a matter of moments from a bank, credit union or brokerage account of their choice. The HBWS electronic bill is very similar to that of its paper-based counterpart but unlike paper bills, consumers who pay bills electronically are protected from unauthorized transactions or processing delays by the CheckFree Guarantee.
"Our organization is always striving to provide enhanced modern services to our customers, and the Internet offers us another way to offer such services," said Clifford S. Jamile, manager and chief engineer of Honolulu Board of Water Supply. "By working with CheckFree, we are delivering a secure and efficient online bill paying system that provides our customers with the greatest selection of trusted financial services Internet sites where they can pay their bills online."
"Electronic billing and payment enables companies like Honolulu Board of Water Supply to better communicate and interact with their customers while offering them a faster and more efficient way to view and pay their monthly bills," said Tom Stampiglia, president of CheckFree Software Division. "The solution provides consumers a guaranteed service and greater control over their bill payments while consolidating all of their records in one easily accessible online site."
Customers will be receiving additional information about the program through inserts that will be included in their monthly bills. Additionally, customers can enroll at www.hbws.org.
Honolulu Board of Water Supply will deliver electronic bills through CheckFree i-Processing, an electronic bill distribution and payment network of nearly 275 financial services organizations. Once enrolled at one of these sites, HBWS customers can receive and pay bills and also use "pay everyone" services to make payments from their computers today to anyone to whom they would write a check. This includes all bills, even day care centers or lawn maintenance providers, and individuals, such as children in college.
A sample of current online consumer service providers making the HBWS bill available electronically include:
— Bills.com at http://www.bills.com
— Charles Schwab at https://www.mybills.com/schwab
— Citizens Bank at http://www.citizensbank.com/
— Merrill Lynch at https://www.mybills.com/mlol
— Morgan Stanley Dean Witter at https://www.dwdean.com
— Navy Federal Credit Union at
https://www.mybills.com/NavyFederalWebBillPay
— Prudential Securities at
https://www.mybills.com/Prudential/WBP
— Quicken 98/99 software and Quicken.com at
http://www.quicken.com/banking_and_credit/
— U.S. Postal Service at http://www.usps.com/ebpp/splash.html
— WingspanBank at http://wingspanbank.com
— Yahoo! at http://bills.yahoo.com
For a complete list of distribution partners offering CheckFree electronic billing and payment, visit www.checkfree.com/freedom.
About the Honolulu Board of Water Supply
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply is a semi-autonomous agency of the City and County of Honolulu. It provides municipal water supply to over 150,000 residential, commercial, industrial, institutional and agricultural customers on the island of Oahu. It is currently undertaking a major program to improve and expand its services to customers, and the new E-Bill service is just one of many important new programs to be provided. The Honolulu BWS is one of the nation's largest water utilities.
About CheckFree i-Solutions
As a software group within CheckFree Corporation, CheckFree i-Solutions is a provider of end-to-end business-to-consumer and business-to-business solutions for e-billing and payment and e-statement delivery. CheckFree i-Solutions offers CheckFree i-Series software for e-bill and e-statement creation, i-Processing services that include payment and distribution through nearly 275 financial services sites and customer care, and i-Hosting services that accommodate self-hosting or outsourcing.
With 222 billers under contract, CheckFree i-Solutions is committed to helping billers, financial services organizations and biller service providers leverage electronic bills and statements as interactive conduits to customer relationship management, marketing and customer self service applications. For more information about CheckFree i-Solutions, please visit www.checkfree.com/i-solutions.
About CheckFree
CheckFree (www.checkfree.com; NASDAQ: CKFR), is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services and products. Founded in 1981 and celebrating its 20th year in e-commerce, CheckFree launched the first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution, CheckFree E-Bill, in March of 1997. Today, CheckFree services enable 4.4 million consumers to receive and pay bills over the Internet or electronically.
The company has multi-year contracts with 222 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing and payment through its network of partnerships with nearly 275 financial services organizations, including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and content sites, and personal financial management (PFM) software.
