America Online, Inc. (NYSE: AOL), the world's leading interactive services company, and e-finance leader Intuit Inc. (NASDAQ: INTU) today announced the launch of Quicken® Bill Manager on AOL and CompuServe, helping consumers find a convenient solution to the recurring chore of bill paying. Now consumers can receive all their bills online in one convenient location, access their bills anytime, cut the time they spend paying bills each month and better track their monthly finances -- all from the popular Personal Finance Channels on AOL and CompuServe.
Quicken Bill Manager on the America Online brands offers a wide range of features available to make online bill management fast, convenient and complete with virtually any biller, from the utility company to the gardener. In addition to receiving and paying electronic bills, members can have all of their paper bills sent to Quicken Bill
Manager, where they are automatically scanned and presented online, providing the ability to easily manage household bills. Consumers can pay bills from up to 10 different payment accounts (checking accounts, brokerage accounts, etc.) and easily track and store all their payment records. In the coming months, Quicken Bill Manager is also expected to be available on AOL.COM.
To enroll in the service, AOL members can simply go to the Banking & Loans department of AOL's Personal Finance Channel and click on Quicken Bill Manager, or go to AOL Keyword: Bill Manager. CompuServe members can go to the Banking Center and the Family Finance Center, or CompuServe Go Word: Bill Manager.
Once enrolled, members can find a complete snapshot of their bills, including their billers, amounts due and due dates. Consumers can then manage all their bills online -- anytime -- receiving bills, making payments and, if they choose, scheduling recurring payments. AOL and CompuServe members can pay up to 20 bills each month with Quicken Bill Manager for as little as $5.95 (with additional bills costing 30 cents each).
According to the 2000 AOL/Roper Starch Cyberstudy, 54 percent of online consumers are interested in paying bills online. Forrester Research forecasts that 20 million households will use online bill management services by 2004, up from approximately two million in 1999.
Customer data transmissions on Quicken Bill Manager are protected with SSL encryption technology. Infrastructure for Intuit's online bill payment and presentment services is provided by CheckFree (NASDAQ: CKFR) and CyberBills. CheckFree also provides the routing, tracking and payment engine to support the billers that present bills online and receive online payments. Customers who pay bills through this service are protected by the CheckFree Guarantee, which limits a consumer's liability for unauthorized transactions to $50, much like major credit cards, and covers a consumer's responsibility for any late payment-related charges up to $50 should a payment arrive late.
"We're pleased to add yet another convenient financial service to our already robust personal finance offerings. Paying bills can be a time-consuming chore, but Quicken Bill Manager will enable our members to completely automate the process and cut the time spent to a few minutes every month," said Barry Schuler, AOL's President of Interactive Services. "In addition, online consumers benefit from strength and experience that Intuit's Quicken brings to personal finance and bill management."
"Intuit's mission is to deliver financial solutions that are so easy and innovative that people can't imagine ever going back to the old way," said Steve Bennett, Intuit's president and chief executive officer. "Online bill management is a great example of how a mundane, time-consuming process can be revolutionized through technology -- giving people more information and control, while also saving them time."
Quicken has been the trusted brand in Personal Finance Management since 1984, and has provided bill payment services since 1988.
About America Online, Inc.
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.
