Online Deposits is a secure, seamless service that allows customers to scan paper checks from their desktops and electronically send the images to Wachovia for deposit. Bad Check Recovery is another new service that helps small-business customers recover funds from clients who have insufficient funds.

Online Deposits

Online Deposits is an outgrowth of the Remote Deposit Capture solution offered to larger commercial customers through Wachovia's Treasury Services. It extends the convenience of WBO to include the ability to make electronic check deposits 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without leaving the office. Online Deposits is ideal for businesses with five or fewer accounts and less than 50 deposited items per account each month. Small business owners will also:

• Use an Internet-based application eliminating costly and complicated software installation.
• Add this service to any Wachovia Small Business checking account.
• Make the first 50 deposits at no additional charge.

Once set-up, customers no longer need to make daily trips to the financial center. Instead, they simply sign into WBO and click the Make Deposits tab to create new deposits. Customers then enter the total amount of the deposit, scan the checks, confirm the balance of the scanned checks and click submit. The system automatically creates a virtual deposit ticket. Online Deposits submitted by 8 p.m. Eastern time are processed the same business day.

"Online Deposits is a safe, convenient service for our customers," said Robert Ash, national sales director for Wachovia Small Business banking. "This is something our customers have been asking for, and I'm happy to say that Wachovia is the first national bank to make this service available to this customer segment through our retail/small business online banking platform.

"Some customers have been using courier or overnight services to make deposits because they are unable to get to the financial center, while others hold their checks longer than they would like because they cannot find the time in their business day to get to the bank. Online Deposits saves time and money and helps improve productivity by allowing them to make deposits from the convenience of their offices."

To qualify, customers must have been in business for at least one year and have a Wachovia deposit account. Online Deposits also requires the use of a Wachovia-approved check scanner, which can be purchased or leased through a third party vendor at Wachovia's preferred pricing, prior to service activation. Most customers activate the service and begin using it within three to five business days. To sign up for Online Deposits or learn more, customers can speak with their banker or call Wachovia Business Services at 800-566-3862 Monday thru Friday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern time.

Bad Check Recovery

Whether a business receives checks routinely, occasionally or rarely, the new, free Bad Check Recovery service will provide a better return:

• Customers don't have to spend time, effort and money writing letters or making phone calls to bad-check writers.
• They can recover the full face value of returned checks.
• Recovered funds are deposited directly to their account on the next business day.

"Recovering bad checks can be time-consuming, tedious, costly and sometimes fruitless. Wachovia is the first national bank to offer small businesses the ability to recoup more funds when their customers bounce a check through our Bad Check Recovery system," said Ash.

This system also allows small businesses to opt out and manage some situations personally. For example, if an important customer bounces a check, the owner may want to manage the recovery process to maintain a valuable relationship or partnership. Wachovia has engaged Federal Automated Recovery Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Infinity Business Group, Inc., to accept and manage the process of electronic re-presentment of returned items.