PRESS RELEASES

“We are excited to be among the first to pilot a solution that has value for the entire SWIFT community.  Since Internet connections can be subject to disruptions, many SWIFT member banks would prefer to use the current messaging infrastructure when transmitting cash letter images.  Our successful receipt of a check image via SWIFTNet FileAct confirms the flexibility of the SWIFT network, and opens up an opportunity for correspondents to clear dollar payments more efficiently,” said George Doolittle, Managing Director and Head of Wachovia GFI Payment Services.

SWIFT, Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, is the financial industry-owned co-operative supplying secure, standardized messaging services and interface software to 7,800 financial institutions in more than 200 countries.  SWIFTNet FileAct is the messaging service that allows for the transmission of batches of structured financial messages and documents over SWIFT’s network. The successful pilot between Wachovia and BPE confirms that correspondent banks can create and transmit files of US dollar payments, drawn on US banks, directly to Wachovia through SWIFTNet FileAct.

“SWIFT is pleased that Wachovia has taken a leadership position with us on implementing SWIFTNet FileAct for Check 21," said Ed Adams, SWIFT Regional Director for the Americas. "SWIFTNet FileAct provides state-of-the-art security, reliability and support for the image formats being sent to Wachovia over SWIFTNet."

Using infrastructure within its check processing operations, BPE elected to create and transmit files directly to Wachovia in a predefined format.

“We have a long-standing partnership with Wachovia, in many areas, in a mutually rewarding way," said Rafael Duarte, Director and Global Head of International Financial Institutions at BPE.  “Choosing to work closely with Wachovia on this project made sense for us, and with this successful transmission, we now have another option for transmitting payments to Wachovia that utilizes the SWIFT network, our preferred method for transmission.”

Wachovia is a participant in the Sibos 2005 conference in Copenhagen. In addition to hosting a booth at location C366, representatives from Wachovia will present information about the Check 21 cash letter transmission via SWIFTNet FileAct in three SWIFT Sessions called “Getting started with SWIFTNet FileAct.”  These sessions will take place in the theater at the SWIFT booth on Tuesday, September 6th from 14:00-15:30, Wednesday, September 7th from 10:00-11: 30, and Thursday, September 8th from 10:00-11:30.  All times are in CET.

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. Our Corporate and Investment Bank serves clients primarily in 10 key industry sectors nationwide. Global services are offered through 33 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through Wachovia.com.