National Life Insurance Company Selects CheckFree Software to Automate and Streamline Manual Processes

Business Wire, March 14, 2001

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2001

CheckFree enables one of the nation's oldest providers of financial

products to improve efficiency of reconciliation process and

regulatory compliance

CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ: CKFR) today announced that National Life Insurance Company has selected its CheckFree RECON-Plus(TM) for Windows(R) to automate manual processes and support daily account reconciliation.

National Life is also implementing CheckFree APECS(TM) to ensure compliance with abandoned property reporting requirements nationwide.

Over the past several years, National Life has experienced a growing customer base of over 300,000 policyholders. Coupled with strategic acquisitions and joint ventures, National Life is handling an increasing volume of transactions across different operations and among various banking relationships in all 50 states. National Life chose CheckFree's RECON-Plus for Windows to streamline the reconciliation process. By automatically balancing account information from across the organization this solution can deliver a truer picture of the organization's cash position and deliver timely access to business information. Importantly, this solution enables National Life to tailor the reconciliation process to meet its specific operational requirements.

Seamlessly integrated with CheckFree RECON-Plus for Windows, CheckFree APECS provides a total solution for the management, tracking and reporting of abandoned property. The system is a robust, fully three-tiered solution, putting information at the user's fingertips, with ease of navigation and processing. CheckFree APECS also provides regular updates on new state requirements to ensure National Life remains in compliance with ever-changing regulations.

"These CheckFree solutions will enable our organization to streamline and simplify operations in several areas of the company," said Robert Cotton, director of Treasury Services, National Life Insurance Company. "By working with a trusted provider such as CheckFree, we are confident that these solutions will allow us to maintain our commitment to growing our client relationships through value-added products and customer-centric service."

"We are pleased that National Life has joined other market leaders in choosing both RECON-Plus for Windows and APECS. The combined strength of these solutions can significantly improve processes and reduce costs across the organization," said Mark Zill, senior vice president and general manager of CheckFree Financial and Compliance Solutions.

About National Life Insurance Company

Established in 1850, National Life Insurance Company is one of the country's oldest providers of insurance, annuities and other financial products and serves more than a quarter of a million customers throughout the United States.

The flagship of the enterprise, National Life Insurance Company, was established in Montpelier, Vermont in 1850 and is licensed in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. From its very beginnings, National Life has been one of the innovators of life insurance in America, having introduced a number of improvements that are now regular features of policies sold by a number of insurers. Over the years, the company has made available a variety of new types of coverage and provided progressive improvements in underwriting and service practices.

About CheckFree

CheckFree (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 in 1997. Today, CheckFree enables 4.4 million consumers to receive and pay bills electronically. The company has multi-year contracts with 222 of the nation's top billers to provide online billing and payment through nearly 275 financial services organizations, including banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and content sites and personal financial management (PFM) software. CheckFree 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 and compliance products and services to 400 banks and businesses. This division includes CheckFree i-Solutions, the leading provider of interactive e-billing and e-statement software and services that enable companies to transform bills and statements into interactive conduits for customer relationship management, marketing and customer self service. CheckFree 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. For more information visit www.checkfree.com.

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 the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2000 (filed September 26, 2000), Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2000 (filed November 14, 2000), and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2000 (filed February 13, 2001). 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.