Bill payment service provides opportunity to establish relationships with unbanked consumers
Brookfield, Wis., June 9, 2008 (www.AllPayNews.com) — Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading provider of information technology services to the financial and insurance industries, today announced that Nuestro Banco is now offering CheckFreePay™ walk-in bill payment. Using the CheckFreePay service at Nuestro Banco, consumers can now pay more than 1,000 bills, and no account is required to make a transaction. Nuestro Banco is a de novo financial institution with a business plan dedicated to serving the Hispanic customer, and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
According to Nuestro Banco, one of the financial institution's goals is to accelerate the integration of Hispanics into the banking system. Offering the CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment services will allow the bank to meet the needs of the many local unbanked Hispanics who pay bills using cash, while introducing them to the concept of transacting at a bank branch. Nuestro Banco views the service as a way to begin earning the trust of consumers who may eventually become loyal customers.
“Nuestro Banco is on the leading edge of financial institutions with their decision to offer walk-in bill payment to their customers at the branch,” said Paul Harrison, senior vice president and general manager of CheckFreePay. “The CheckFreePay service is one that many cash-preferred consumers are familiar with and may have used at a retail location. Providing this service in the branch is a way for the institution to round out their financial services offerings and allow consumers to become more comfortable conducting financial activities at their local bank.”
Consumers can visit Nuestro Banco to conveniently pay common household bills such as utility, mobile phone, auto, insurance and credit card bills, including MasterCard and Visa bills. Consumers can choose to make a standard payment, which will be delivered within three business days, or a NextDay payment, which will be delivered the next business day. Payments can be made using cash, and all consumers receive a receipt as proof the bill has been paid.
According to industry analyst firm TowerGroup, approximately 40 million households in the United States are unbanked or underbanked, meaning they use few traditional banking services. Many of these consumers prefer to pay bills with cash, and offering an in-branch, walk-in bill payment option may provide an opportunity for financial institutions to develop relationships with this untapped demographic.
Nuestro Banco currently operates one branch in Raleigh, NC and has an aggressive growth plan that includes two branch openings a year for the next several years. The expansion plans reflect the bank's intention to play a prominent role in the Hispanic banking sector throughout the southeastern U.S. The bank also has an existing relationship with Fiserv as a user of the Fiserv ITI Premier® core processing system.
CheckFreePay is a leader in the post-paid walk-in bill payment market, processing payments for more than 1,000 billers at more than 12,000 locations nationwide. In addition to financial institutions, CheckFreePay agents include convenience stores, grocery stores, drug stores, retail shipping and postal stores.
About Fiserv, Inc
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides information management and electronic commerce systems and services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006 FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.
For more information contact:
Ann Cave
Public Relations Manager
CheckFree, now part of Fiserv
678-375-4039
ascave@checkfree.com
Fiserv Corporate Contact:
Lori Stafford
Assistant Vice President Corp. External Comm.
Fiserv, Inc.
262-879-5130
Lori.stafford@fiserv.com