KeyBank has provided a secure electronic bill payment service since 1999. The agreement includes a significant joint investment in consumer education on the benefits of electronic bill payment services, from timesavings to financial control and more.

"More customers are recognizing the many benefits of electronic bill payment services," said Paul Graning, senior vice president, National Channel Management at Cleveland, OH-based KeyBank. "Working with CheckFree, the industry leader, has helped us develop a loyal, growing base of online users, and also enabled us to provide the highest-quality service available. We look forward to teaming with them on our new educational programs that promote the value of paying bills online."

By using a consolidated banking site, customers are able to manage and organize their finances in one convenient location. Consolidated site users benefit from the service's convenience, ease of use and improved control over payment timing.

"CheckFree is committed to offering the highest-quality electronic billing and payment technology services to its consumer service provider (CSP) partners such as KeyBank," said Jeff Weikert, senior vice president of the CSP business unit in CheckFree's Electronic Commerce Division. "CheckFree will devote significant resources to educating the bank's customers about the benefits of electronic billing and payment as the bank expands its technologically savvy user base."