Wells Fargo Sets the Stage

Taking some steps to solidify its position in the e-payments and billing
space, the venerable Wells Fargo signed two deals in two
days, one with PayPal and the other with CheckFree Corp.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo , the fourth-largest U.S.
bank, said its deal with Mountain View, Calif.-based PayPal makes it the
provider of secure Internet payment-processing services on the popular P2P
transaction service.

Separately, Wells Fargo signed a multi-year contract with Norcross, Ga.-based
CheckFree for online
banking, e-billing and payment processing services.

Wells Fargo replaces the Electronic Payment Exchange subsidiary of
financial services software maker InterCept as PayPal’s
credit card processor.

For the six months ending May 31, EPX is said to have recorded average
monthly revenue of about $185,000 from processing PayPal’s domestic and
international transactions. InterCept has said its earnings will not be
materially affected.

PayPal, which just signed a deal
with UPS to combine its online payment process with digital shipping
tools, employs e-mail to let senders notify recipients of a payment. Money is
then directly transferred to the recipient’s account using Wells Fargo’s
secure payment processing service.

PayPal reportedly does not plan to transfer its international credit card
services. Financial specifics of the Wells Fargo deal were not disclosed.

Meanwhile, the multi-year deal with e-commerce financial services company
CheckFree calls for Wells Fargo to provide online banking, e-billing and
payment processing via CheckFree.

CheckFree and Wells Fargo have had a business relationship since 1996, and
this agreement, which includes unspecified monthly revenue commitments, will
allow CheckFree to participate in the latest version of Wells Fargo’s bill
pay service.

CheckFree’s services will help offer increased Electronic Bill Presentment
and Payment (EBPP) options for Wells Fargo customers, alongside the bank’s
other partners including MasterCard, Metavante and Spectrum. The relationship
with CheckFree will give Wells Fargo customers access to CheckFree’s network
of more than 200 national and regional billers.

Wells Fargo, a $312 billion diversified financial services company, says it
has three million active online users.