Since Check 21 became federal law in October 2004, financial institutions have worked to put systems in place to efficiently and accurately manage increased check image flow.

"Reaching this milestone reflects Wachovia's enthusiastic embrace of Check 21 goals," said Michael Daley, a senior vice president in Treasury Services Product Solutions. "Our innovation and leadership in image exchange is due to the strength of Wachovia systems and our ability to respond to trends impacting our customers."

Image exchange technology allows Wachovia to clear checks faster, making funds available to customers sooner. With image technology, return items can be transmitted to the sender more quickly, reducing the possibility of fraud. Images can also be archived electronically, and this gives Wachovia customers the ability to easily view check images online.

Wachovia was one of the first major U.S. banks to have a fully integrated back-office process for imaging, including the ability to process images through all operational areas - check processing, correspondent banking, exception item processing, incoming and outgoing returns, adjustments and fraud management. Wachovia's image services also earned A+ ratings in the 2006 Phoenix-Hecht Survey in check imaging for retrieval of archived images, quality of images and overall features and capabilities.

Other Wachovia services enabled by Check 21 legislation include Treasury Services' Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) and Image Cash Letter (ICL) products, both of which allow customers to create their own images of checks through a scanner and electronically deposit checks to their Wachovia account from their desktop. From July 2005 through February 2006, Wachovia's Image Deposit Products reached $17 billion in dollars deposited with over 800 customers.