Checkfree To Handle E-Banking Services For Integrion

Computergram International, March 12, 1998

CheckFree Corp has signed an outsourcing agreement with the IBM- led banking consortium Integrion Financial Network that will see it take over Integrion's Herndon, Virginia operations sometime in late summer. CheckFree will handle electronic billing and payment services for the Herndon unit's roughly 50 financial institution customers.

The agreement comes as part of a last October's deal between the two in which Integrion's interactive financial services and electronic commerce software was to be integrated with CheckFree's processing software (CI No 3,281). The October agreement is scheduled to last for 10 years and involves Integrion taking a stake in CheckFree, with warrants for 10 million shares. Integrion has now exercised the first three million of the warrants at $20.9375 per share. As a result, CheckFree says it will take a $30m-$40m charge during the first quarter. The exercise of the remaining seven million options will be carried out in conjunction with the delivery of certain performance targets.