Asia PR News

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ –

TradeXchange Streamlines, Automates and Provides Visibility to Import
and Export Trade Operations Across Trading Partners

Wachovia Bank, N.A., today announced the launch of TradeXchange, a secure,
Web-based messaging platform designed to provide greater visibility throughout
the financial supply chain from purchase order delivery through invoice
settlement.

"As one of the first banks in the world to initiate letters of credit over
the Internet, we continue to focus on innovation and technology — particularly
relating to the evolution of the financial supply chain," said Steven Nichols,
managing director and head of Global Trade Services in Wachovia’s Global
Financial Institutions and Trade Services division. "Buyers, sellers and their
banks must navigate an increasingly complex international trade environment,
including new challenges created by the movement to open account transactions.
TradeXchange will facilitate this process by providing critical supply chain
tools in a fully collaborative and real-time environment."

Wachovia designed TradeXchange to be intuitive and easy to use, while
adding enhanced functionality, including facilitating pre- and post-export
financing, indemnities for buyer default, purchase order
delivery/acknowledgement, document preparation, electronic document management
and document compliance.

Wachovia’s philosophy is to be a partner supporting its global financial
institution clients, as opposed to competing with them in their geographies. In
keeping with this philosophy, Wachovia will leverage its leadership in trade
outsourcing to provide TradeXchange to its international correspondent banking
clients on a private label basis.

"TradeXchange does not just Web-enable old processes," said John McFadden,
managing director and head of Wachovia’s Global Trade Services’ product
management. "TradeXchange allows a seller’s local bank to collaborate online
and to provide pre- and post-export finance to its customers. Similarly, a
buyer’s bank can benefit by providing value-added purchase order delivery,
credit indemnities and document compliance management. Our goal in providing
TradeXchange on a private label basis is to re-intermediate our partner banks
into the financial supply chain."

William Fitzgerald, managing director and head of Wachovia’s Global
Financial Institutions and Trade Technology group, states that, "Building
TradeXchange is one more example of leveraging our Corporate and Investment
Banking technology platform to provide innovative trade solutions to our
correspondents. TradeXchange represents a key component of a major strategic
development initiative that eventually replaces the core platform with a
GRID-based Service Oriented Architecture framework called TradeWorks. The
combination of TradeXchange and TradeWorks will enable Wachovia and our trade
insourcing partner banks to offer a highly extendible array of trade finance
products to their respective customers."

About Wachovia Global Financial Institutions and Trade division
Wachovia’s Global Financial Institutions and Trade division has a 200-year
legacy in International correspondent banking. FImetrix Research has ranked
Wachovia the No. 1 correspondent bank provider in Asia and Latin America in
market share, No. 4 in Western Europe, and No. 1 worldwide in overall customer
satisfaction. Wachovia is a global leader in correspondent banking and trade
services and maintains more than 3,000 correspondent relationships in more than
130 countries through a network of 44 offices, including eight overseas
branches.

About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE: WB) is one of the nation’s largest diversified
financial services companies, with assets of $719.9 billion and market
capitalization of $97.5 billion at June 30, 2007. Wachovia provides a broad
range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and
corporate and investment banking products and services to 13 million household
and business customers. Wachovia has 3,400 retail financial centers in 21
states from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California, and
nationwide retail brokerage, mortgage lending and auto finance businesses.
Globally, clients are served in selected corporate and institutional sectors
and through more than 40 international offices. Our retail brokerage operations
under the Wachovia Securities brand name manage more than $795 billion in
client assets through approximately 10,800 registered representatives in 774
offices in 48 states and through service affiliate offices in Latin America.
Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and
services at wachoviasec.com; and investment products and services at
evergreeninvestments.com

In May 2007, Wachovia announced an agreement to acquire A.G. Edwards, Inc.,
a financial services holding company whose primary subsidiary is the national
investment firm of A.G. Edward & Sons, Inc. A.G. Edwards and its affiliates
employ 6,623 financial consultants in 741 offices nationwide and two European
locations in London and Geneva. This proposed acquisition is expected to be
completed in the fourth quarter of 2007, pending the approval of A.G. Edwards
shareholders and applicable regulatory approvals.

SOURCE: Wachovia Corporation

CONTACT: Victoria Wolfram of Wachovia Corporation,
+1-704-715-3915

Web site: http://www.wachovia.com

(WB)