AFS Direct Merchant brings the convenience and cost savings of distributed image capture directly to Wachovia's corporate and correspondent banking clients.

With a desktop check scanner and secure Internet access, Wachovia's clients will deploy AFS Direct Merchant to capture images of payments at their business locations in a "back-office" type environment. These images are electronically delivered to Wachovia for posting, and subsequent clearing through either bank-to-bank image exchange, or substitute checks. With geographic boundaries virtually eliminated, AFS Direct Merchant enables corporate and correspondent banking clients to consolidate their payments with a single preferred institution and to gain all the full financial advantages of "local processing" - through improved cash flow.

"Wachovia becomes one of the first financial institutions to take full advantage of the benefits of Check 21 through its ability to move image capture out to the transaction source," said Gary Nelson, president of AFS. "Distributed capture will provide Wachovia and their clients with lower payment processing costs, by eliminating the need to physically transport payments to the bank, reducing overall bank fees, and improved cash flow through earlier deposits."

"AFS Direct Merchant provides Wachovia with a solid solution to support the receipt and processing of image-based deposits and payments from corporate and correspondent banking clients," said Michael Daley, senior vice president and manager of Wachovia's Treasury Services Product Solutions. "We are pleased to be able to provide our clients with a low cost and effective solution for image-based payments processing. This technology is an integral part of Treasury Services' global strategy around Check 21."