Press Releases

Businesses can use Wachovia’s Direct Pay to deposit payroll funds for employees who do not have a traditional bank account and do not participate in a direct deposit program. This service reduces the costs associated with processing, printing and mailing paper checks and can help eliminate the expenses related to replacing and reconciling lost or stolen checks.

“Direct deposit of payroll is more secure than paper checks and employers of all sizes can realize long-term cost savings from sponsoring a payroll card program,” according to Michael S. Daley, Senior Vice President and Head of Product Solutions with Wachovia’s Treasury Services Division.  “Wachovia’s Direct Pay cards are funded via standard ACH direct deposit transactions and require no changes to a company’s direct deposit file.”

For employees without bank accounts, payroll cards provide quicker, safer access to their money than a paper check by eliminating the check cashing fees incurred by non-account holders and saving time by not having to wait in line to cash their payroll checks.  Payroll cards give employees a convenient way to securely access their funds 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Wachovia Direct Pay cards are accepted worldwide at ATMs, including more than 5,300 Wachovia ATM locations as well as more than one million ATMs in the Visa/Plus network. In addition, employees can maximize their purchasing power by using the card to pay for goods and services at the 24 million merchant locations that accept Visa debit cards.  Cardholders can access account information 24 hours a day via the Web, via Interactive Voice Response (IVR) or by speaking directly to a customer service agent.

Wachovia supplies its clients with marketing materials to help promote this service and card use to their employees.  With its fast and easy implementation process, the service can be set up within a few payroll cycles.  “When employees do not have a bank account, Wachovia Direct Pay provides employers with an easy option that allows them to deposit their pay electronically. Cardholders benefit by having access to their funds more quickly than with a paper check,” says Dana Blaylock, Vice President and Card Products Manager with Wachovia’s Treasury Services Division.  “A payroll card is a secure option for an employee and is cost-effective for the employer.”

As payroll cards continue to evolve, Wachovia continues to evaluate features and functionality to enhance and expand its prepaid card offerings.

About Wachovia’s Treasury Services Division
As part of Wachovia's Corporate and Investment Bank, Wachovia's Treasury Services Division offers a comprehensive suite of integrated payables and receivables solutions, including electronic check conversion, accounts receivable conversion, a full range of ACH services, image technology, a national wholesale and retail lockbox network and international treasury solutions. In recent Phoenix Hecht surveys, 20 out of 26 of Wachovia's treasury services products were ranked "A" or "A+" by upper-middle and large corporate customers, and 16 out of 32 were ranked "A" or "A+" by middle market customers. Additionally, ten of the bank's key treasury product capabilities are ranked in the top four for market share in Ernst & Young's survey. Wachovia's Information and Access product, Wachovia Connection®, ranked first in that survey. For the second year in a row, 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, with retail operations from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas, and retail brokerage operations nationwide. Wachovia had assets of $511.8 billion, market capitalization of $78.2 billion and stockholders’ equity of $47.9 billion at June 30, 2005. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management, and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 13 million household and business relationships primarily through 3,126 offices in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its full-service retail brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, LLC, also serves clients through 699 offices in 49 states and five Latin American countries. The Corporate and Investment Bank serves clients primarily in selected industries nationwide. Global services are offered through 40 offices around the world. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.