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Leah Dering
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October 30, 2003
WACHOVIA'S TREASURY SERVICES DIVISION INTRODUCES NEW CHECK FRAUD PREVENTION SERVICE
Payee Match for Positive Pay developed in strategic alliance with Mitek Systems
Charlotte, N.C. - Wachovia's Treasury Services Division announced today the availability of a new service that can provide another layer of protection against check fraud by adding payee information to the existing check issue file. The Payee Match for Positive Pay service was developed through Wachovia's strategic alliance with Mitek Systems.
"Payee Match, a complementary service to Positive Pay, provides an additional level of protection against unauthorized disbursements and fraudulent checks," said Michael Daley, Senior Vice President and manager of Wachovia's Treasury Services Product Solutions. "At Wachovia, we continue to invest in technology and remain dedicated to creating solutions that address our customers' concerns, including those involving check fraud. We are pleased to be able to offer our customers Payee Match."
To prevent check fraud, the payee name is "matched" against the captured images of Wachovia's Treasury Services customers' issue files using Mitek Systems' Payee Match technology. These files are sent to Wachovia on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Any un-matched items are automatically reported to the customer, electronically, through Wachovia Connection® for decisioning. Wachovia Connection® is Treasury Services' Web-based information and access solution.
Payee Match is also applicable at the retail customer level. When a check is presented for payment in a Wachovia financial center, the teller will compare the check information against the issue file payee name. If the information does not match, the item will be declined to the presenting payee.
Linda Mula, Manager of Cash Management and Treasury Accounting for Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries, Inc., says, "At PPG, we write 3,000 - 4,000 accounts payable and T&E checks per day. In recent years, we have seen an increase in instances where MICR line detail meets the positive pay requirements but the payee field has been altered. Not surprisingly, we want to protect ourselves as best we can against check fraud, and we feel that the payee match concept will do that for us. In addition, payee match will also reduce administrative costs related to completing and filing affidavits to recover funds from checks that have cleared with fraudulent payees."
About Wachovia's Treasury Services Division
In a recent survey of middle and large corporate customers by independent surveyor Phoenix Hecht, 15 out of 18 of Wachovia's treasury service products ranked "A" or "A+". Additionally, ten of the Bank's 12 key treasury product capabilities are ranked in the top three for market share in Ernst & Young's survey. Wachovia Connection®, ranked first in that survey. Recently, Wachovia Connection® was also voted the "Best Corporate/Institutional Online Cash Management Service in North America" by Global Finance, and the most recent Bank Leader Survey placed Wachovia's Treasury Services Number 2 for "Overall Satisfaction" and "Overall Quality of Customer Service".
About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation, with assets of $389 billion and stockholders' equity of $33 billion at Sept. 30, 2003. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 9 million households, including 900,000 businesses, primarily in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C. Wachovia is also the nation's second-largest treasury management services provider for both domestic and international treasury management and consulting services. Cash flow solutions include, among other products, e-commerce, integrated payables and receivables, information reporting via Web or PC, and risk management. Its broker-dealer, Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients in 48 states. Global services are provided through more than 30 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.
About Mitek Systems
Mitek Systems is a leading provider of check imaging software for financial institutions and an established global supplier of embedded software recognition engines. These engines process over 8 billion checks and other documents per year for a variety of OEM and reseller partners. Mitek helps reduce operating costs by automatically reading, classifying and processing high volumes of checks and documents. Mitek applications also help customers implement new image document Web services for Internet and intranet configurations. For more information about Mitek Systems, contact us at 14145 Danielson Street, Suite B, Poway, CA 92064; 858-513-4600 or visit our Web site at www.miteksys.com.
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