Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) is now enabling members to pay their healthcare premiums in person via its CheckFreePay® solution. CareFirst offers a comprehensive portfolio of health insurance products and administrative services to 3.4 million individuals and groups in Maryland, the District of Columbia and Northern Virginia.

With the implementation of recent government policy changes in healthcare, a growing number of participants in the healthcare marketplace are part of the more than 1 in 4 households that do not have bank relationships or do not use traditional payment methods such as checks, credit cards and debit cards. It is important for insurers to have a cash-based payment option to reach this segment of the population that needs to pay their premium.

With the CheckFreePay walk-in bill payment network, CareFirst members have access to a secure, convenient method to pay their monthly medical and dental healthcare premiums in person, using cash.

The CheckFreePay network consists of 28,000 retail locations nationwide, which include supermarkets, drugstores and convenience stores, along with hundreds of independent and chain store retailers. Members can locate their closest authorized location by visiting the CareFirst website or the CheckFreePay Agent Locator.

“CareFirst serves a wide variety of individuals, and working with Fiserv will allow us to provide a new payment option,” said Wanda Oneferu-Bey, executive vice president of CareFirst’s Consumer Direct division. “Our customers can now pay their premium at a nearby walk-in location, delivering convenience and time savings, particularly to those who prefer to make a cash payment.”

Fiserv is the largest provider of walk-in payments, electronic bill presentment (e-bills) and electronic bill payment in the U.S. according to Aite Group.*

“Fiserv is uniquely positioned to play a pivotal role in the healthcare billing and payment transformation by offering our flexible, single-source solutions and our billing and payment expertise,” said Robert R. Craig, senior vice president, Biller Solutions, Fiserv. “A walk-in payment option is a key part of an integrated and omnichannel healthcare billing and payment strategy for the post-Affordable Care Act world, and can help to accelerate payments, reduce costs and increase customer satisfaction”

*Walk-in bill payment services are provided by CheckFreePay Corporation, a licensed money transmitter, CheckFreePay Corporation of California, and CheckFreePay Corporation of New York which is licensed and regulated as a Money Transmitter for payment services by the New York State Department of Financial Services, each a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc.