STAR COMPLETES BILL PAYMENT PILOT FOR INSURANCE BILLERS

More Than 80 Billers Using STAR Service, Transaction Volume Expected to
Double by Year’s End

Maitland, Fla. (September 3, 2003) -- Star Systems®(STARsm), a Concord EFS, Inc. company, today announced the successful completion of a pilot program for insurance billers. This achievement marks another milestone in STAR's expansion of bill payments from the traditional utility payments market to insurance, secured loan, education, and government payments.

With the insurance pilot and eight months of insurance payment transactions completed, STAR has already exceeded by 20 percent the number of bill payments processed in total last year, bringing to 84 the total number of billers nationwide who are using STAR's service. STAR's bill payment transaction volume was 2.4 million in 2002, and based on current volumes is expected to more than double by the end of 2003.

STAR's pilot for insurance companies began in December 2002 and was completed last month. The following insurance companies, all clients of BillMatrix Corporation’s outsourced payment processing service, participated in the pilot:   

  • Civil Service Employees Insurance Company

  • Western United Insurance Company

  • Western United Insurance Company Alaska
  • Superior Insurance Company

    • “We have been an innovator in phone and Internet bill payment since we began offering the service in1997, and are proud to have added the insurance sector to our roster of billers,” said Ronald V. Congemi, president of STAR. “STAR bill payment is a win-win for everyone: it's fast and easy for consumers, provides a real-time funds payment solution to the billers ­ reducing NSF returns and expanding their payment acceptance channels ­ and brings more transactions and revenue to issuers. What's more, requiring billers to verify their relationship with their customers means a secure transaction without the level of fraud associated with traditional check payment.”

    “BillMatrix and STAR have been diligently working together to further develop the market for this convenient payment service,” said Scott Walker, President and CEO of BillMatrix. “Our many utility and telecommunication clients have benefited from the reduced costs and instant good funds provided by this channel. The successful expansion into insurance is a model of cooperative innovation that we look forward to repeating in other industries.”

    Customers of companies participating in the STAR bill payment program can pay their bills quickly and efficiently in four easy steps:

  • Call the company or visit its Web site;

  • Provide or enter their billing account number;

  • Confirm the amount to be paid; and
  • Choose ATM/debit for payment, and then enter their STAR card number.

    • The PIN-less bill payment transaction is processed by STAR just like a point-of-sale debit purchase and is routed online to the cardholder’s financial institution for approval. The debit appears on the customer’s next checking account statement as an ATM/debit card transaction. The billing organization or its payments processor must also authenticate the customer by validating data that the biller has provided to the customer.

    About STAR
    STAR, a Concord EFS, Inc. company, is a pioneering electronic payments network and an expert in secure, real-time electronic transactions. In addition to processing ATM and PIN-secured debit transactions, STAR develops market-expanding innovations in areas such as check electronification, Internet and telephone bill payments, deposit risk management, micropayments and ATM check imaging to help financial institutions, retailers, check acceptance companies, and independent sales organizations better meet their customers' needs. STAR processes more than 6 billion transactions a year at nearly 6,200 participating financial institutions and more than one million participating ATMs and retail locations. Visit www.Star.com for more information.

    About BillMatrix
    BillMatrix Corporation provides outsourced payment services for the nation’s largest companies using the latest automated consumer interface technologies. Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Dallas, BillMatrix enables corporations in the telecommunications, utility, insurance, mortgage and financial services industries to replace expensive, paper-based methods of remittance with a set of convenient, labor- and cost-saving electronic transactions. Consumers are able to make payments in a private and secure manner, via the Internet and telephone, using a variety of credit card, debit/ATM card, and electronic check payment options. BillMatrix maintains a fully staffed customer service organization to support both its clients and their consumers with any payment issues. For more information, visit www.BillMatrix.com.