CHARLOTTE, N.C., and SAN FRANCISCO – CHARLOTTE, N.C., and SAN FRANCISCO – Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC) have announced plans for a joint venture that aims to create the largest U.S. processor of automated clearinghouse payments.
The new entity, called Pariter Solutions LLC, will create a single, more efficient platform for ACHs and will make it easier for innovation investments, the companies said. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Stephanie Sturgis-Griffin, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, will be CEO of Pariter Solutions. Walter Taylor, a senior vice president at Bank of America, will be chief operating officer. The new company’s board will consist of the CEO plus one executive representative from Wells Fargo and one from Bank of America. Payment-processing operations are expected to begin in late 2009.
An automated clearinghouse payment (ACH) is a mechanism for electronic funds transfers such as direct deposit, direct payment, business-to-business payments, e-checks, e-commerce payments and tax payments.
The volume of such electronic payments has been doubling every five years, according to Herndon, Va.-based NACHA, The Electronic Payments Association. In 2007, nearly 14 billion ACH payments were made.
Currently, Bank of America and Wells Fargo top NACHA’s ACH payments rankings: Bank of America No. 1 for receiving payments, while Wells Fargo is No. 2. The companies rank second and third, respectively, for electronic payment originations.
Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC)is one of the world’s largest financial institutions with clients in 175 nations, including 98 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 and 80 percent of the Fortune Global 500. In the United States alone, it serves more than 56 million consumers and small businesses via more than 5,700 retail offices and 17,000 ATMs. To learn more, visit www.bankofamerica.com.
For more information about Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC), based in San Francisco, visit www.WellsFargo.com .
NACHA, The Electronic Payments Association, is a nonprofit trade association that oversees one of the world’s largest electronic payment networks: the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network. Its members include more than 11,000 financial institutions and 19 regional payment associations. The Federal Reserve and the Electronic Payments Network act as ACH Operators, central clearing facilities through which financial institutions transmit or receive ACH entries. To learn more, visit nacha.org.
