« Back to News

Founder of CheckFree, now Vice Chairman of Fiserv, to Speak at Venture Atlanta

Entrepreneur, Fortune 500 Leader, Financial Technology Figure to Inspire Local Startups

ATLANTA - September 30, 2009 - Peter J. (Pete) Kight, founder of CheckFree, now Vice Chairman of Fiserv, a pioneer in financial services technology, will share his insight with conference attendees at this year's Venture Atlanta, to be held October 13 - 14, 2009 at the W Hotel in Midtown Atlanta.

Kight joined Fiserv in 2007 as a result of the acquisition of CheckFree which he founded and served as its chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Fiserv, Kight was focused on electronic funds transfer, online banking and electronic billing and payment. Today, he focuses on driving industry innovation and leading strategic development, new product direction and the complete integration of Fiserv and CheckFree.

CheckFree, founded in 1981, was developed in Kight's grandmother's basement. His initial vision of providing electronic funds transfer services to businesses and consumers expanded to building infrastructures to support new services that enabled the electronic movement and management of personal and business finances. Today, these products and services have become pervasive, particularly the ability for consumers to view and pay bills online.

Under Kight's leadership, CheckFree expanded its scope to encompass multiple types of payments and processing infrastructures. The organization leveraged business intelligence to detect and prevent fraud, enable electronic billing, reconciliation and operational risk management capabilities through a combination of internal development and acquisitions.

Kight was recognized as one of 10 financial heroes by Money magazine and featured in FORTUNE magazine, where CheckFree's e-payments functionality was named one of the "Seven Silver Bullet Technologies." In 2007, he received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and was the first recipient of the Peter J. Kight Lifetime Achievement Award from Bank Technology News.

"I had the privilege to work with Pete Kight at CheckFree for over 20 years," said Mark Johnson, Venture Atlanta Conference Chair and Partner at Total Technology Ventures. "Pete has been at the forefront of the banking industry and a top visionary for the financial technology community."

Venture Atlanta is co-hosted by three top business organizations in Georgia: the Atlanta CEO Council, the Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). Currently in its second year, Venture Atlanta is well-known for exemplifying Georgia's dynamic technology ecosystem as well as attracting top-tier venture firms including Arcapita Ventures, C&B Capital, Canaan Partners, Council Ventures, Greenhill SAVP, Grotech Ventures, H.I.G. Ventures, IDEA Fund Partners, Intel Capital, Kinetic Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners, Novak Biddle Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures, SSM Partners, TechOperators, Trident Capital, Total Technology Ventures and Wellington Financial.

For more information on Venture Atlanta 2009, or to register for the event, please visit: www.ventureatlanta.org.

About Venture Atlanta
Venture Atlanta, Georgia's technology innovation event, is where Georgia's top technology innovators meet the country's top-tier investors. As the state's largest investor showcase, Venture Atlanta connects local entrepreneurs with venture capitalists, bankers, angel investors and others who can help them raise the capital they need to grow their businesses. The annual nonprofit event is a collaboration of three leading Georgia business organizations: Atlanta CEO Council, Metro Atlanta Chamber and the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). For more information, visit www.ventureatlanta.org.

About Fiserv
Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is the leading global provider of information management and electronic commerce systems for the financial services industry, driving innovation that transforms experiences for financial institutions and their customers. Ranked No. 1 on the FinTech 100 survey of top technology partners to the financial services industry, Fiserv celebrates its 25th year in 2009. For more information, visit www.fiserv.com.