More than Three-Fourths of Online Americans Bank and Pay Bills Online

Fiserv survey finds more households pay bills online than paper
checks for second consecutive year
BROOKFIELD, Wis.--(Business Wire)--
More Americans than ever, an estimated 63.1 million households or
three-fourth of those online, are paying their bills online rather
than writing paper checks, according to a survey sponsored by
CheckFree, now part of Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) a leading provider
of information technology services to the financial industry. The 2008
Consumer Banking and Bill Payment Survey, the eighth conducted by
CheckFree since 2002, highlights Americans' growing use of online
banking and bill payment services to help manage their personal
finances.

The survey indicates that consumers are more confident about
online security as more Americans are gaining experience in using
Internet services, making security concerns less of a barrier to
online bill payment adoption than in the past. In the latest survey,
only 13 percent of respondents cited online security as the top reason
for not using the online bill payment service, down from 17 percent in
the 2007 survey. Overall, online security ranked third among barriers
to online bill payment adoption this year, compared to its number-one
ranking in 2007. The primary barrier (15%) in the new study was "I
don't know enough about how it works."

For the second year in a row, American consumers who go online
each month paid more of their household bills online at bank and
billing organization websites than by any other method, according to
the survey fielded by Harris Interactive and sponsored by CheckFree.

An estimated 31 million households are using online banking
websites to pay bills, 47.9 million households are using biller
websites and 16 million are using both online banking and biller sites
to receive and pay bills. Approximately 63.1 million of Internet-using
households pay at least one bill online in an average month, up from
61 million in the 2007 survey. These households collectively paid 934
million bills in a typical month, according to the survey results.

Online bill payments continued to outpace check bill payments for
the second consecutive year. Online bill payments made at both bank
and biller websites rose to 42 percent of the total volume of
household bill payments made each month, up from 39 percent in the
2007 survey. Online bill payment adoption has significantly grown
since the 2002 survey, when only 14 percent reported paying their
bills online.

Check payments among survey respondents who use the Internet fell
to their lowest level in six years, accounting for only 31 percent of
the total volume of household bill payments - down from the 34 percent
recorded in the 2007 survey. Check bill payments have fallen by half
on a percentage basis since January 2002, when Internet-connected
Americans made 61 percent of their bill payments by check. Still, 59
million online households pay at least one of their household bills
each month by check.

"As more consumers gain experience and become more comfortable
using the Internet, their confidence in online security grows and we
see an increase in the adoption of online banking and bill payment
services," said Todd Lesher, division president, CheckFree electronic
Banking Services, now part of Fiserv. "For a minority of users who
haven't used the Web as long, we see that security concerns remain a
significant barrier to online banking and bill payment adoption. We
continue to work closely with our financial institution customers on
joint programs that help educate consumers that online financial
services are safer and more convenient than traditional, paper-based
methods."

Survey findings include:

-- Internet-using households pay an average of 11 bills per
month. Consumers use an average of three different ways to pay
bills, with online, check, automatic debit and in-person
topping the list of popular bill payment methods. Online bill
payments at bank and biller websites comprised 42 percent of
total monthly payments, followed by 31 percent of bills paid
by check. (See Chart, "How Consumers are Making Their Monthly
Bill Payments.")

-- Fifty-one percent of survey respondents cited the environment
as a reason why they chose to view and pay bills online. Of
these, 72 percent identified paper and clutter reduction as
chief benefits, followed by tree conservation (19 percent) and
reduction in gas consumption (16 percent).

-- Saving time and gaining control over their finances were major
online bill payment benefits cited by 44 percent of
respondents. Consumers surveyed also cited other important
reasons for paying bills online, including eliminating the
hassle of writing checks, enabling them to pay all bills in
one step and saving the cost of stamps.

The 2008 Consumer Banking and Bill Payment Survey, fielded by
Harris Interactive, polled 3,031 U.S. consumers who use the Internet,
were at least 21 years of age and were at least partly responsible for
household bill payments. The online survey has a margin of error of
plus or minus 2 percent. The results are considered representative of
the nation's 85.1 million Internet-connected households. For more
information, additional survey findings and to download charts on
consumer trends, please visit www.checkfree.com/banksurvey. For more
information about online banking, electronic billing and payments and
how to get started paying bills online, visit www.eBILLPLACE.com.

About Fiserv, Inc.

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a Fortune 500 company, provides
information management and electronic commerce systems and services to
the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include
transaction processing, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and
presentment, investment management solutions, business process
outsourcing (BPO), software and systems solutions. Headquartered in
Brookfield, Wis., the company is the leading provider of core
processing solutions for U.S. banks, credit unions and thrifts. Fiserv
was ranked the largest provider of information technology services to
the financial services industry worldwide in the 2004, 2005 and 2006
FinTech 100 surveys. In 2007, the company completed the acquisition of
CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic commerce services. Fiserv
reported nearly $4 billion in total revenue from continuing operations
for 2007. For more information, please visit www.fiserv.com.

FISV-G

Sheryl Roehl
Director, Public Relations
Fiserv Internet Banking & Electronic Payments Group
678-375-1682
saroehl@checkfree.com
or
Lori Stafford-Thomas
Assistant Vice President Corp. External Comm.
Fiserv, Inc.
262-879-5130
lori.stafford@fiserv.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008