MARLBOROUGH, Mass. , Oct. 14, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Cyphermint, Inc., a leading provider of secure electronic payments, today announced an agreement with American Payment Systems (APS), a market leader in walk-in bill payments and a business unit of CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq:CKFR). With the relationship the companies will provide electronic bill payment services for Cyphermint's PayCash(tm) and Kiosk Integration Solutions.
APS bill pay services will be available on the PayCash One Stop(r), a self-serve, 24-hour kiosk with ATM capabilities among other retail kiosk projects from Cyphermint. The agreement will provide a cash alternative for consumers, who do not want to pay with money orders, credit cards or checks, to make bill payments. With a bill payment enabled kiosk, a consumer can walk into any participating supermarket or convenience store, insert cash in the kiosk and pay their bills quickly, securely and conveniently.
Today APS's bill payment services are available in thousands of retail locations across the country, and Cyphermint's bill payment enabled kiosks automate simple financial transactions. For supermarket and convenience store merchants, this provides a secure and efficient method for their customers to pay bills quickly and privately. In addition to cash, these kiosks also accept credit and debit cards for transactions other than bill payments. The kiosks display an on-screen opportunity for the merchant to market in-house promotions and will provide affiliate partners with eCommerce coupon advertising opportunities. These features provide merchants a quick return on their investment.
"The addition of APS's leading walk-in bill payment services to our kiosk solutions ultimately enhance the value we can deliver to our base of retailers and the consumers they serve," said Joseph Barboza, President and CEO, Cyphermint, Inc. "By offering bill payment options in their retail locations, merchants can offer a service to enable their customers to quickly and conveniently pay their bills in a self serve fashion."
"Our technology partnership with Cyphermint will offer APS an excellent opportunity to provide the under banked market place with a self serve solution for in person bill payment," said Todd Lasher, director of business development, American Payment Systems. "By enabling Cyphermint's kiosk solutions with new capabilities, we are jointly increasing the convenience of walk-in bill payments with new customer channels."
As a market leader for walk-in bill payment solutions, American Payment Systems (APS) has been processing in-person payments since 1990. Through over 10,000 retail locations, APS reaches about 7 million households, and annually processes about 125 million payments, representing hundreds of billers.
About Cyphermint
Headquartered in Marlborough, Mass., Cyphermint is a privately owned provider of Global Electronic Cash Payment and eCommerce infrastructure/integration solutions. Our core technology, PayCash(tm) is used in three major areas: (1) Internet Cash Payment Systems, for B2C eCommerce via the Cyphermint PayCash System, (2) Kiosk Solutions - delivering Web-enabled self-service B2C merchandising systems, and (3) The PayCash Now(tm) Debit Visa(r) Stored Value Card. Cyphermint's Kiosk Integration Division provides solutions to online retailers enabling full integration with kiosk networks and also sets up existing kiosk networks with eCommerce capabilities. Cyphermint's core technology, the PayCash System provides businesses complete turnkey solutions.
About American Payment Systems
As a market leader for walk-in bill payment solutions, American Payment Systems (APS) has been processing in-person payments for numerous billers since 1990. Through more than 10,000 retail locations, APS acts as the authorized payment agent network for billers whose customers want or need to pay their bills in person. APS offers billers either a real-time or a batch payment solution. Real-time payments post to the biller within seconds of being entered at the retail location, while billers utilizing the batch system receive transactions at intervals throughout the day. APS maintains agents in all 50 states, and operates as a licensed money transmitter in the 36 states that require such licenses to process walk-in bill payments. APS is a business unit of CheckFree Corporation.
About CheckFree (www.checkfreecorp.com)
Founded in 1981, CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq:CKFR) provides financial electronic commerce services and products to organizations around the world. CheckFree Electronic Commerce solutions enable thousands of financial services providers and billers to offer their customers the convenience of receiving and paying their household bills online or in person through retail outlets. CheckFree Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management solutions and outsourced services to thousands of financial services organizations, which manage more than $900 billion in assets. CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software applications that are used by financial institutions to process more than two-thirds of the 10 billion Automated Clearing House transactions in the United States. The division also provides global trade processing, reconciliation, financial messaging, compliance and electronic billing and statement software to thousands of organizations across the globe.
The Cyphermint, Inc. logo is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1267
APS Press Contacts: Steve LaBella 203-679-4526 Judy DeRango Wicks 678-375-1595
For more information about Cyphermint's Kiosk Solutions or any other PayCash product, contact Kenneth Stempler at 508-787-4811 or by email kstempler@cyphermint.com. Visit Cyphermint at www.cyphermint.com.