CheckFree

CheckFree is a brand historically associated with a software and services company that specialized in electronic bill payment and related financial processes for financial institutions. The company developed electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP), ACH processing, and payment workflow solutions designed to help banks, credit unions, and other lenders offer their customers online and mobile bill payment capabilities. Its platforms were built to integrate with core banking systems and payment networks to support timely settlements and improved customer experience.

During its heyday, CheckFree played a significant role in popularizing online bill payment by providing the infrastructure and interfaces that banks could offer to their customers for viewing and paying bills electronically. The solutions commonly covered consumer bill pay, merchant payment processing, account-to-account transfers, and data interchange with payment networks.

In 2007, Fiserv, a major provider of payments and financial technology, announced plans to acquire CheckFree to expand its digital payments capabilities. The acquisition, which was completed that year, integrated CheckFree’s EBPP and related services into Fiserv’s broader payments platform. After the acquisition, the CheckFree name was used within certain product lines for a period before more comprehensive branding under Fiserv’s umbrella became standard.

Today, CheckFree is generally referred to as part of Fiserv’s legacy and legacy-branded payments technology, with the former CheckFree solutions continuing to influence Fiserv’s electronic bill payment offerings and digital payments ecosystem.