CheckFree Reports Double-Digit Growth Trend in E-Bill Delivery

The electronic delivery of bills to consumers grew 11% in the second quarter at CheckFree Corp., continuing a trend of double-digit growth in e-bill delivery for the Atlanta, Ga.-based bill-payment processor. The company distributed 41 million e-bills in the quarter, up from 36.8 million in the first quarter and 58% from the 25.9 million delivered in the year-ago period, according to its quarterly earnings report released last week. Quarterly growth rates in the volume of e-bills has ranged between 11% and 15% over the past five quarters, the company says. CheckFree attributes the growth to greater marketing by banks, which are finding that e-bill recipients tend to be even more loyal customers than those who pay bills online. Customer loyalty has had much to do with driving the growth in online bill payment, with banks increasingly waiving fees for the service to cement ties to consumers. At the same time, consumers are becoming more comfortable with electronic bill payment and presentment generally, CheckFree says. Overall, CheckFree's electronic-commerce operation processed 244.9 million transactions in the quarter, a 4% increase over the first quarter and a 48% jump over the same period a year ago. The unit processed a total of 904.5 million transactions for the 12 months through June 30, up 55% over the 583 million processed in the previous year.