CheckFree Announces Strategic Alliance with Data Support Systems and US Dataworks to Launch First End-to-End Returned Check Conversion System.

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 13, 2000

CheckFree (NASDAQ: CKFR) today announced a strategic business alliance with Data Support Systems of Omaha, Nebraska, and US Dataworks of Houston, Texas, to provide the industry's first end-to-end solution for the conversion of returned checks to Automated Clearing House (ACH) items.

The Standard Entry Class for Re-presented Check Entry (RCK) adopted by NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association allows for the conversion of returned checks to electronic transactions.

The solution will integrate CheckFree's PEP+ (Paperless Entry Processing), US Dataworks' Returnworks system and TRIPS Incoming, the image-based return item processing solution from Data Support Systems. The joint solution will enable companies and financial institutions to convert returned checks into ACH items in order to expedite the clearing process. This practice will result in improved collection rates and increased flexibility in the management of returned items.

The new Returned Check Conversion solution will be generally available in first quarter 2001. CheckFree will market the solution to financial institution clients as an optional enhancement to its PEP+ application software. CheckFree PEP+ is an online, real-time mainframe system run by banks, insurance companies, utility providers and other financial institutions for originating and receiving electronic payments through the ACH. CheckFree's PEP+ is the ACH processing standard for the global banking industry and is currently used by 43 of the nation's top 50 ACH originators. Data Support Systems will also offer the solution to TRIPS Incoming customers.

According to Quinn Thomas, vice president of sales from CheckFree, "The integrated Returned Check Conversion solution will provide our financial institution clients with a synergistic, streamlined process for the conversion of returned checks and will result in higher collection rates and reduced losses for their corporate customers." The Returnworks component of the solution will provide seamless conversion of returned checks to ACH items, as well as enhanced MICR parsing and consolidated return reporting. It will also eliminate the need for additional check transports and data entry.

"This approach will provide an end-to-end solution for the bank," said Carl Bortol, president of Data Support Systems. "Combining Returnworks with our image-based TRIPS system will reduce manual efforts and capture time on the sorter, improving a return item department's operational efficiency."

"We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with two industry leaders in electronic payments to launch this important solution," stated Terry Stepanik, president of US Dataworks. "A key benefit for our clients is that the check returns staff will handle checks, while the ACH staff will handle all ACH processing. This allows current processing responsibilities to remain unchanged within each banking organization."

About DSS 

Data Support Systems, located in Omaha, Nebraska, is the developer of the T.R.I.P.S. image returns product suite, including TRIPS Incoming, TRIPS Outgoing, TRIPS Exceptions, TRIPS ANS (Advanced Notification System) and TRIPS Track. Founded in 1987, Data Support Systems was the first company to develop and successfully implement an image-enabled return item processing solution. This year, T.R.I.P.S. software will process more than 79 million return items nationwide. For more information, please contact Data Support Systems at 800-506-0055, or visit their corporate web site at http://www.datasupport.com/.

About US Dataworks

Established in 1997, US Dataworks, Inc. (USD), which has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Sonicport.com, Inc. (AMEX:SPO), develops, markets and supports transaction processing software for Windows NT computer systems providing solutions for check conversion applications including the redeposit of returned checks, lockbox check truncation, point of purchase truncated checks, internet initiated debit entries and telephone electronic debits via ACH. The transaction processing software, licensed by USD, allows companies the benefit of in-house processing. Its customer base includes many of the largest financial institutions as well as credit card companies, government institutions and high volume merchants.

Strategic alliances include CheckFree Inc. (NASDAQ:CKFR) to license US Dataworks software as a module to its industry standard ACH processing system, PEP+, and Thomson Financial Publishing to incorporate their EPICWare database into all US Dataworks' products. The company's proprietary MICR parsing algorithms and validations, utilizing EPICWare, provides exceptional paper to electronic transaction conversion minimizing administrative returns.

For more information, contact Terry Stepanik at 713-934-3856, [e-mail], or Kathryn Ponce de Leon at 713-460-4905, [e-mail].

About CheckFree

CheckFree (www.checkfree.com) is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services and products. Founded in 1981, CheckFree launched the first fully integrated electronic billing and payment solution in 1997. Today, CheckFree enables 4.1 million consumers to receive and pay bills electronically. The company has multi-year contracts with 210 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing and payment through nearly 250 consumer service providers (CSPs), including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and content sites and personal financial management (PFM) software. CheckFree's Software Services division provides solutions that are used to process more than two-thirds of the nation's six billion Automated Clearing House payments, and reconciliation products and services to 400 banks and businesses. Also within the Software Services division is CheckFree i-Solutions, which enables billers to create electronic billing and payment applications that transform bills and statements into interactive conduits for customer relationship management, marketing and customer self service. CheckFree's Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management services to thousands of financial institutions nationwide. The division's clients manage more than 1,000,000 portfolios totaling more than $500 billion in assets.

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 Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2000 (filed September 26, 2000). 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 document 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.