Harris Trust and Savings Bank is testing a pair of cash management services for its corporate customers.
One pilot involves the new EDI Bank Alliance Network, or Edibanx, a financial electronic data interchange service that began operating last October.
Harris is also testing Multilink, which gives corporate customers direct access to the bank's information reporting services.
Chicago-based Harris, an affiliate of Bank of Montreal, is one of the 13 banks that developed Edibanx, which is a payment and electronic data interchange system operated by the Chicago Clearing House Association.
The financial EDI service, combining payments with electronic transmissions of purchase orders and other trade documentation, is seen as a way to prevent further nonbank incursions into payment systems.
Theresa Falconer, vice president and senior EDI product manager with Harris Bank, said thus far there have been no glitches, other than some minor internal changes, in making Edibanx "transparent" to customers.
Richard Beckwith, an associate accountant with Motorola Inc.'s information systems group, one of 25 pilot participants, said it has used Harris' EDI services for over two years. The unit makes about 35 payments daily, 40% electronically.
"We don't see any difference at all" between the new and old EDI methods, Mr. Beckwith said.
The volume remains limited -- around 25 transactions daily. Ms. Falconer said customers are interested in the Edibanx Trading Partner Directory, a nationwide listing of companies that are able to conduct electronic commerce.
"It's like a matching service," she said. "It not only helps a company in identifying a potential trading partner for EDI transactions, but it also directs them to the right people within that organization."
Besides the directory, users get the ability to exchange EDI transactions between banks without reformatting or re-enveloping, and all the participants in the network can originate and receive EDI transactions, something that is not guaranteed with automated clearing house transactions.
Edibanx participants settle their payments daily. After the Chicago Clearing House calculates the net credit or debit positions, banks send funds via Fed Wire to an Edibanx settlement account or receive wire transfers.
Multilink, a Windows-based product developed over the past 14 months, lets corporate users of the bank's Cash Manager service "see the details associated with transactions posted to their accounts," Ms. Falconer said.
Dennis Chapman, Harris Bank's manager of electronic services, said customers can also use Multilink to initiate transactions in multiple payment systems.
Multilink includes formatting to create small volumes of EDI transactions. Fed Wire and ACH transfers can also be initiated.
Mr. Chapman said Multilink interfaces with Lotus 1-2-3 or Excel spreadsheet software so that customers "can use the tools they are currently familiar with."
