Jack Henry & Associates Establishes Strategic Alliance with BillShrink

MONETT, Mo., March 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of computer systems and electronic payment solutions primarily for financial services organizations, today announced that it has established a strategic alliance with BillShrink, a provider of purchase rewards and personalized bill analysis services. BillShrink's sophisticated search engine and transaction identification technology delivers these offerings through financial institutions' Internet banking websites and electronic statements.

This alliance positions Jack Henry & Associates to support the financial institutions using its NetTeller Online Banking™ platform and the online bill payment solutions offered by its iPay Technologies division, and ultimately those institutions' customers with BillShrink's transaction-based StatementRewards(SM) solution which consists of two components – purchase rewards and personalized bill analysis.

Purchase rewards are tailored to customers' existing shopping preferences as indicated by their recent transactions. BillShrink has worked with the country's leading national and local retailers to create an extensive network of valuable customer rewards. During online banking sessions, customers have the opportunity to view and redeem rewards from merchants and service providers within their trusted bank environment.  

Personalized bill analysis uses BillShrink's proprietary technology to automatically review and make personalized money-saving recommendations on customers' largest recurring monthly bills such as wireless plans, TV service, and gas purchases. Customers can save an average of $1,000 annually by right-sizing their expenses to fit their needs.  

Intuitive dashboards enable financial institutions to access detailed reports to show customer engagement, control the presentation of online rewards and money-saving recommendations on their websites, and allow promotions for merchants to be generated.    

BillShrink's merchant network, which is the cornerstone of the StatementRewards platform, currently includes 93 of the top 100 national merchants, and new retailers are continually being added to its network.  

According to Pete Hopkins, general manager of Internet Solutions for Jack Henry & Associates, "Partnering with BillShrink is a winning proposition for our company, our clients, their customers, and the participating merchants. StatementRewards is another integrated, innovative solution that further enhances, differentiates, and adds value to our online banking platform. StatementRewards generates a new, low risk revenue opportunity that can help our bank and credit union clients create consumer-friendly revenue to offset fee income eliminated by recent regulatory changes. Consumers can take advantage of discounts on the products and services they are already buying. And participating merchants can put their promotional messages and discount offers in front of highly targeted consumers. We looked at the marketplace and selected BillShrink based on its sophisticated technology, financial services experience, superior merchant base, and the flexible integration options that allowed us to take this offering to market quickly."  

Bill Ready, president of iPay Technologies, said, "Integrating BillShrink's offering into our online bill payment solutions further demonstrates our fundamental goal to provide a one-stop payments platform to financial institutions and their end users that continually advances through the strategic integration of evolving online services. Our alliance with BillShrink is yet another example of how iPay's online bill payment solutions can drive revenue, profitability, and deeper customer relationships for the financial institutions that use our services."

Schwark Satyavolu, CEO and co-founder of BillShrink, said, "With StatementRewards, we've built an effective platform to deliver value to banks and credit unions, their customers and members, and merchants. Our solution delivers the most meaningful rewards and savings advice as it covers customers' most frequent transactions, as well as their largest monthly expenses. We do this by offering both relevant merchant discounts tailored to customers' purchase history and customized savings advice on large household bills. These two components can deliver as much as a thousand dollars in savings to consumers each year. We're excited to bring our merchant network and our savings technology to Jack Henry & Associates' clients."

StatementRewards is a next-generation customer loyalty solution that complements Jack Henry & Associates' BIG Rewards and jhaPassPort Extra Awards solutions. BIG Rewards enables banks to offer high-interest checking, cash-back, and merchandise incentives based on customers' entire banking relationships and transaction activity. jhaPassPort Extra Awards is a loyalty awards program based on credit, debit, and ATM transactions.

General availability of StatementRewards is expected during the second calendar quarter 2011 for all financial institutions using NetTeller Online Banking and iPay's online bill payment solutions. There is no charge for financial institutions that elect to offer StatementRewards. Institutions implementing the savings recommendations solution will enter into a revenue sharing agreement with Jack Henry & Associates and BillShrink.

Jack Henry & Associates will also support its financial institutions' clients that implement StatementRewards with customizable marketing materials and campaigns.  

About BillShrink  

Since BillShrink's launch in 2008, the company has helped 1.5 million Americans save more than $1 billion by delivering personalized money-saving recommendations on their most common household bills. In an era when eight out of 10 people overpay on their everyday bills, BillShrink sorts through millions of products and services – a billion cable and satellite packages, 10 million cell phone plan combinations, and 150,000 gas stations – to provide unbiased recommendations so users can get exactly what they need at the best price. With the launch of StatementRewards, BillShrink brings the power and breadth of its money-saving platform directly to users within their online bank statements. BillShrink is working with the country's leading merchants and financial institutions so that users can now receive and customize money-saving deals from their favorite merchants and service providers directly within their online bank sessions or electronic statements. BillShrink was listed among the "Top 20 Best Money Websites" by Money Magazine and named one of the "Best Web Sites" by Kiplinger's. The company has been featured in the country's leading news sources including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, American Banker, Consumer Reports, Fortune, The Dr. Oz Show, The Today Show, CNN, ABC and CBS. BillShrink is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information, please visit http://corp.billshrink.com.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY) is a leading provider of computer systems and ATM/debit card/ACH transaction processing services primarily for financial services organizations. Its technology solutions serve more than 11,200 customers nationwide, and are marketed and supported through four primary brands. Jack Henry Banking™ supports banks ranging from de novo to mid-tier institutions with information processing solutions. Symitar™ is the leading provider of information processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars® provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. iPay Technologies operates as a leading electronic bill pay provider supporting banks and credit unions with turnkey, highly configurable retail and small business electronic payment platforms.  Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.

Statements made in this news release that are not historical facts are forward-looking information.  Actual results may differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking information.  Specifically, there are a number of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by any forward-looking information.  Additional information on these and other factors, which could affect the Company's financial results, are included in its Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings on Form 10-K, and potential investors should review these statements.  Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking information.

SOURCE Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.