First Commerce Technologies Inc. (FCT) and CheckFree signed an agreement whereby
CheckFree will provide ACH (Automated Check Handling) processing and bill
payment services for FCT.
FCT provides transaction processing
services for more than 250 community banks located in the Midwest,
Southeast and South Central United States. FCT will integrate CheckFree’s
latest technological advances in ACH processing and bill payment. Financial
terms were not disclosed.
Under the seven-year agreement, CheckFree will support the back-office
systems and technical components for the 12 million ACH transactions
conducted by FCT each year. FCT will continue to manage all relationships
with its clients, and provide them information on their technical needs.
Among the customer benefits of the business alliance are: a fully year-2000
compliant ACH system, automated file confirmation and acknowledgments,
improved risk monitoring, and enhanced EDI services, the companies said. FCT’s
future plans for ACH services include enhanced information delivery and online
service for customers.
For electronic bill payment, a five-year processing agreement with CheckFree
will enable FCT banks to continue offering state-of-the-art telephone bill
payment capabilities integrated into their online banking services.
Sean Feeney, president of CheckFree Software, said: “CheckFree is in the
payment processing business and ACH is one of our core competencies, so we
will offer FCT distinct competitive and financial advantages. This strategic
alliance will enable FCT to expand its ACH processing capacity without
investing in expensive hardware upgrades. Processing capacity for FCT
customers will now be virtually unlimited.”
Founded in 1981, CheckFree is a provider of electronic commerce services,
software and related products for more than 2.4 million consumers, 1,000
businesses and 850 financial institutions.