E-commerce Leader CheckFree Selects SAP to Provide Business Software Solutions for Its Growing Administrative Infrastructure

Business Wire, Oct 6, 1999

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 6, 1999--

SAP(tm) America, Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of SAP AG (NYSE ADR: SAP), the leading provider of inter-enterprise software solutions, today announced that CheckFree (NASDQ: CKFR), the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services, software and related products, has selected SAP business software solutions to manage and build its administrative infrastructure, in anticipation of significant growth.

"As the trend for electronic billing and payment continues to grow with consumers, CheckFree will require more cost-effective strategies to leverage our administrative infrastructure to address external demands," said Gary Luoma, CheckFree vice president and chief accounting officer. "The SAP suite of software solutions, which met our rigorous standards and selection process, will also be critical in managing the expected increase in company staff resulting from growth."

Through the SAP software suite, CheckFree will streamline financial operations and facilitate greater visibility into company information. For example, with SAP financial, materials management, sales and distribution, and treasury solutions, CheckFree will leverage more accurate purchasing data to enable better supplier negotiations, improve information flow between purchasing and accounting and centralize critical purchasing activities. With SAP Human Resources(tm) and SAP Employee Self-Service(tm), CheckFree Human Resources will benefit from applicant tracing and flow, training, competency-based management and benefits and compensation management.

"These solutions will help us provide top-notch services to our associates and make sure we have the talent we need, in the right job at the right time, so we manage this growth effectively," explained Katy Owen, vice president of CheckFree Compensation and Benefits. "Our associates will also jump at the opportunity to use the employee self-service options that will free them to perform benefits allocation throughout the year."

"With SAP solutions providing a robust, integrated enterprise infrastructure, CheckFree will be poised to take advantage of its tremendous growth opportunities as companies and individuals continue to transact business over the Internet," said Keith Peterson, senior vice president, SAP America, Inc. "It's a true validation of the mySAP.com collaborative business environment that CheckFree, an early Internet player, has chosen SAP solutions to help it achieve its goals."

About CheckFree

Founded in 1981, CheckFree (www.checkfree.com), the operating subsidiary of CheckFree Holdings Corp., is the leading provider of financial electronic commerce services, software and related products. CheckFree designs, develops and markets services that enable nearly three million consumers to receive and pay bills over the Internet, or electronically through a variety of bill aggregation points, including banks, brokerage firms, portals and interactive content sites on the Internet, and personal financial management (PFM) software.

CheckFree's range of services and products are focused on enabling customers to make electronic payments and collections, automate paper-based recurring financial transactions and conduct secure Internet transactions.

About SAP

As the market leader of inter-enterprise software solutions, SAP is leveraging its strength in industry-focused business software and the world's largest enterprise software customer base to deliver mySAP.com. mySAP.com provides an open collaborative business environment of personalized solutions on demand. This enables companies of all sizes and industries to fully engage their employees, customers and partners to capitalize upon the new Internet economy.

mySAP.com allows people to harness the power of the Internet to work smarter, better and faster by optimizing supply chains, managing strategic relationships, reducing time to market, sharing virtual information, and increasing productivity and shareholder value. SAP is listed on several exchanges including the Frankfurt stock exchange and NYSE under the symbol "SAP." The SAP World Wide Web site can be found at http://www.sap.com.