The Electronic Payments Network (EPN) has added Carolina First Bank and Citrus Bank to its privately-owned, nationwide automated clearing house (ACH) network for domestic commercial payments.
The banks made the decision to move their payments from the Federal Reserve Bank to EPN earlier this year.
John DuBose, president of South Financial Technology Group, which owns the two banks, says: "Partnering with EPN allows our Technology Group to provide ACH services at a lower cost while meeting operating, scalability and business recovery requirements."
Quintin Sykes, executive vice president of South Financial Technology Group, says: "Our ACH transaction processing costs will continue to decrease as the other financial institutions in our markets complete their migrations to EPN.
"The flexible membership options with EPN allow us to utilise them for processing and settlement while continuing to use our local ACH association, SOCACHA, for training and rules support."
More banks are planning to use EPN over the next year. These include Bank of America, Bank One, Comerica Incorporated, Key Bank, Mellon Bank, PNC Bank, U.S. Bancorp, Wachovia and Wells Fargo Services Company.