Chicago Clearing House Association (CCHA), which provides check clearing and
settlement services totaling more than $2 billion daily, and Texas-based EDS signed an agreement to provide
a line of secure, intranet-based electronic commerce services.
The companies said the new services will enable the more than six million
small and mid-size businesses and companies in the United States to implement
electronic payment and procurement processing systems, moving away from
paper-based methods. Financial details were not disclosed.
The new electronic commerce service allows businesses to transmit payment and
remittance information electronically and exchange key documents, such as
purchase orders, invoices and requests for bids, with their commerce
partners. Participants can also display their catalogs and use electronic
bulletin board and mail facilities.
“This joint project between two leaders in electronic commerce, CCHA and EDS,
marks a milestone in efforts to streamline business and payment processes,”
said Robert M. Fitzgerald, CCHA president.
CCHA and EDS said they will provide services through a global, high-security,
intranet system with authentication, encryption and acknowledgment features.
The new services are an expansion of the electronic data interchange services
currently provided by the Electronic Data Interchange Bank Alliance Network
Exchange (EDIBANX), a division of CCHA.
The EDIBANX network was launched in 1994 and is owned and operated by CCHA.
It was developed by major U.S. treasury management banks in the Chicago area,
including American National Bank & Trust Company of Chicago, Bank of America,
First Chicago NBD Corp., Harris Trust and Savings Bank, LaSalle National
Bank, NationsBank, The Northern Trust Co. and PNC Bank.