ATLANTA -- CheckFreePay, a business unit of CheckFree Corp., has introduced CheckFreePay Link, a new service that will allow retailers with multiple locations to offer customers the ability to pay bills in person.
CheckFreePay Link is tailored to meet the needs of large retailers that want to offer consumers the convenience, security and speed of making one or more walk-in bill payments. The service securely transmits payment information to the billing company, allowing retailers to accept payments at their existing point-of-sale (POS) terminals.
Retailers benefit from simplified end-of-day reconciliation and eliminate the need to train specialized personnel, the company said, and billers benefit from revenue collection in electronic format that is easy to post the same day or next day.
"Until today, retailers with multiple locations were unable to offer a walk-in bill payment service to their customers without installing proprietary hardware and software at each store location," said Steve LaBella, CheckFreePay business unit executive. "CheckFreePay Link leverages web services technology to transmit encrypted payment information, eliminating the need for standalone bill payment terminals and facilitating employee training. In addition, a built-in solution such as CheckFreePay Link allows retailers with numerous locations to reconcile payment data more easily than if they were using a standalone solution."
Offering a walk-in payment service allows retailers to transform a consumer's store visit into a more valuable experience for both the retailer and customer by attracting more frequent visits and creating new shopping and buying opportunities. With CheckFreePay Link, retailers can select the POS terminals within their store where walk-in bill payments are accepted, allowing them to direct customer traffic to chosen locations. Payment transactions can occur at customer service desks as well as checkout counters or self-service kiosks, providing customers with a more convenient experience.
When a customer makes a payment, the transaction flows seamlessly from the retailer to billers via CheckFree's secure network. Retailers collect a fee for each payment, typically ranging from $1 to $2. Retailers can easily reconcile this fee income because the CheckFreePay Link service is integrated into their existing systems.
CheckFreePay enables consumers to walk in to a retail location and pay more than 800 types of bills, including all MasterCard and Visa credit cards. Consumers can also pay bills from the majority of phone, electric and gas companies, including Verizon Wireless, Boost Mobile and SCANA Energy. Additionally, more than 100 of these payment connections post the same day or next day, said the company.
CheckFreePay powers consumer in-person payments at more than 11,000 agent sites located in check cashing, retail and grocery stores, it said.
Atlanta-based CheckFree provides companies with bill payment functionality online, by phone and in person.
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