How Many Zeroes in One Trillion?

O ne trillion dollars in Fedwire transfers. Three billion dollars in wire transfers processed daily on behalf of more than 100 U.S. financial institutions. Two million electronic checks (e-checks) and one million Fedwires handled annually.

These are impressive figures, but it took BankServ of San Francisco only five years to reach these milestones in electronic payments processing. Since its start-up in September 1996, BankServ has become one of the nation's leading providers of Federal Reserve Wire Network (Fedwire) and Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payments processing for financial services companies and businesses. BankServ began with two employees and now has a staff of 45, placing it among San Francisco's 100 largest employers.

In five years, BankServ has accumulated other impressive business statistics. Five of the most profitable banks in the U.S. use BankServ electronic payments products. It has become the only non-bank company with coast-to-coast Fedwire access. BankServ customers operate in 11 of 12 Federal Reserve Districts in the country. One-quarter of the nation's 12 Federal Home Loan banks have adopted BankServ's GFX system to provide their automated wire services.

According to BankServ president David F. Kvederis, the company's growth can be attributed to several factors, including the development of cost- reducing products, implementation of state-of-the-art ACH payments software and the recent economic downturn. BankServ has survived where most dot-com payments processing companies have not. Also, said Kvederis, now that the economy has stumbled, businesses are finding that outsourcing their funds- transfer activities makes sense.

"BankServ can eliminate the need for entire wire transfer computer departments, the need to handle and move paper checks, and we can turnkey a bank's entire wire funds transfer business through our GFXN (Global Funds Transfer Network) product," Kvederis said. "In some cases, where a bank is unwilling to give up its investment in hardware, we can still reduce their costs by offering funds transfer software."

BankServ recently introduced "Just-In-Time Payments" service for consumers. With JIT Payments, businesses create, clear, settle and reconcile eChecks, whether the eChecks and transactions originate over the phone or Internet.

Kvederis said BankServ has invested in enterprise-wide ACH payments systems software and has continued to develop its Fedwire product line, including the addition of book entry securities processing, international funds transferring and feature enhancements. Improvements in data centers include adding additional site, data and telecommunications redundancy.