Technology: Microsoft Veterans Launch "E-Payment" Platform.(Brief Article)

CheckSpace, a provider of "ePayment" capabilities for small businesses and their service partners, is offering financial companies the opportunity to brand its electronic invoice and payment system in their own name.

CheckSpace recently announced that it will license its "ePayment" system to financial institutions and e-commerce providers so they can offer it to consumers or business partners under a private-label arrangement.

Brian Riseland, director of marketing at CheckSpace, said this will help banks and other financial companies attract new customers through what is known as "viral marketing," which is something akin to word-of-mouth.

For instance, a bank could send out e-mails to home loan borrowers that allow the customers to "click here" in order to make an electronic payment. That helps a financial institution establish a new or deeper relationship with customers that start using the e-payment service under its own name.

Mr. Riseland says that CheckSpace sees itself as a software company, not a financial firm.

"Consumers, in the end, expect to get this type of functionality from their bank, not an Internet company," he said.

The company's e-payment technology was built with the goal of helping small businesses move their invoice and payment systems online, but it can be used in both business-to-business and business-to- consumer contexts, Mr. Riseland said. It allows consumers or businesses to make electronic payments from their existing banking accounts.