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'Revolutionizing the Way Payments Are Made Online'

A chex Inc.'s recently announced Merchant Payment Service is designed to open up to online merchants a previously untapped market of more than 110 million United States consumers by giving them the ability to make purchases from an existing checking account with no need to set up or fund a special online account.

What's more, the service is free to consumers and small-business buyers.

In addition to paying online merchants, customers also can make payments to one another; these top-line benefits are complemented by the bottom-line decreased costs for merchants using Achex.

"Achex is revolutionizing the way payments are made online. With its customer-focused business model and a unique technology infrastructure, Achex makes it easy and secure to shop online using an existing checking account," said Elaine D. Bolle, president and CEO of Achex.

"To adequately serve customers, online merchants need effective and easy-to- implement payment options that serve all potential buyers; Achex has the best payment solution available to serve the millions of consumers and small businesses who use their checking accounts for online purchases."

The Merchant Payment Service helps avoid lost sales by letting customers pay the way they want to pay, and the system easily integrates into the merchant's Web site free of charge. Once it's integrated, the words "Achex Online Checks" appear as a payment option on the merchant's checkout screen.

Using Achex, the merchant can control the cost associated with processing online payments. Merchants typically pay 2 to 5 percent to process online payments and often pay set-up and monthly fees. Achex charges a flat fee per transaction that will cut processing cost by at least half.

Among the more than 40 merchants participating in the Merchant Payment Service pilot program are 1-800-flowers.com, BlueLight.com, Kozmo.com, Outpost.com, Overstock.com, Peapod, TheRightStart.com, uBid.com and Webvan.

Two comments:

"Our online store now offers its customers the same payment options that we have in the checkout lines at Kmart's retail stores." - Janet Ball, director of advertising, BlueLight.com.

"To continue to serve our customers effectively, we need a check solution. Our customers are used to paying for groceries by check. Achex provides a cost-effective, convenient, check-based solution." - Yoram Evan, CFO and VP operations, Netgrocer.com.

To find out more about Achex's Merchant Payment Service, contact Margaret Weichert at (650) 228-7000 or mweichert@achex.com.