CASH MANAGEMENT SERVICES

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Cash Management Services are designed to save you time and money by helping your business run more efficiently. These services will help you accelerate the collection of receivables, manage disbursements, invest surplus cash, reduce borrowings and gain access to banking information day or night.

DEPOSITS & COLLECTIONS

As a business, one of your biggest challenges in managing funds is speeding the collection of your accounts receivables so that you can invest your money or pay down loans faster. Let Benjamin Franklin Bank's collection and deposit products help you make the most of your money as fast as possible.

ACH Collection
Business Sweep Account
Express Deposit
Merchant Services
Retail and Wholesale Lockbox
Zero Balance Account

Automated Clearing House (ACH)

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions offer an electronic alternative to paper checks. ACH Debit is ideal for insurance, rent, dues, other fixed payments and collecting payments from your trading partners. ACH transactions can be initiated via our Business online banking system.

Benefits of ACH to your company:

Cost effective method of quickly converting receivables into working cash
Eliminates check and mail float
Reduces the workload and expense associated with issuing checks
Reduces the possibility of check fraud
Improves your ability to forecast cash flow

Business Sweep Account

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Sweep Accounts combine a Ben's business checking account with an investment account to make certain your money is invested where it can work the hardest for you. Here's how the sweep account works:

You and your Cash Management Officer work together to determine a minimum threshold to maintain in your Ben's business checking account. Most commonly, this threshold is established at the estimated dollar amount needed to offset your service charges.
Each night, Benjamin Franklin Bank automatically sweeps the excess funds from your checking account into the Business Sweep account.
The funds remain in your Business Sweep account until needed, then are swept back into and are available in your checking account.
The funds never leave the Bank, therefore your sweep is fully FDIC & DIF insured.

Because transfers are automatic, your excess funds are put to good use every day and you don't have to spend time managing daily investments. Idle balances in your checking account do not produce profit, but investing your operating funds each evening through these sweep accounts assures liquidity, generates interest income, safeguards capital, and saves time.

Express Deposit:

If you routinely receive check payments through the mail, your business can benefit from Benjamin Franklin Bank's Express Deposit Capture service. This service provides your office with the ability to make check deposits from the convenience of your office and eliminates the need to make time consuming trips to the bank branch each day.

The process is simple. You access the Express Deposit Capture system through a secured website. Utilizing an approved check scanner, you scan the checks being deposited. After correcting any checks that could not be read and balancing your deposit, you submit the deposit to Benjamin Franklin Bank for processing. You securely store the original checks for a short period of time before destroying them. Information on your deposits and checks deposited is available on-line for a period of time.

Benefits of our Express Deposit Capture Service to your company:

Eliminates the time and expense involved in daily trips to the bank to make deposits.
Extended same day credit deposit deadline of 6:00 p.m. EST.
Accelerates the availability of deposited funds - you never have to carry over a check for a next day deposit because your daily deposit has already been made.
Consolidation of bank accounts to Benjamin Franklin Bank. Remote Deposit Capture allows your offices outside of the Bank's branch footprint to conveniently make deposits to your Benjamin Franklin Bank accounts.
Eliminates the need to photocopy all of the checks being deposited.
Deposits can be captured/processed for multiple accounts.

Merchant Card Services

No aspect of your operations is more crucial to your success than the card payment processing system you select. Through our Merchant Card Services, you can accept any or all charge and credit cards, including MasterCard^®, VISA^®, American Express^®, and Discover^®. All forms, supplies and equipment necessary to implement your credit card program are provided. Also all card systems feature a 24-hour, toll-free phone authorization service that operates 365 days a year.

Benefits of Merchant Services to your company:

Processing your debit and credit card transactions at a low competitive rate
Receipts are deposited directly to your checking account
Comprehensive monthly statement summarizes all of your activity

Retail and Wholesale Lockbox:

If you routinely receive payments through the mail, your business can benefit from Benjamin Franklin Bank's Lockbox services. These services provide a cost-effective and efficient means of processing your receivables. This process speeds the collection and handling of your customers' payments and guarantees same day deposits.

The process is simple. Your customers mail their payments to a special Massachusetts post office box. Benjamin Franklin Bank collects the remittances directly from the post office daily and processes them according to your instructions.

Benefits of the Lockbox Service to your company:

Minimize your receivable processing cost by reducing clerical activities involved in receiving, preparing, and delivering deposits to the bank.
Maximize your investment opportunities and minimize borrowing expenses because you have quicker access to your receivables on a daily basis.
Accelerate the availability of your funds with daily mail pick-ups to speed the processing of receivables.
Increase the internal security and control of your receivables by receiving timely, accurate, and complete payment information. Since Benjamin Franklin Bank is processing your receivables; your enhanced audit trail makes it easier to conduct internal research.
Daily reporting of your receivable details through an electronic file transmission and our online lockbox service.

Zero Balance Account:

The monitoring of company accounts can be time consuming and inefficient when there are multiple checking accounts maintained for different applications or separate company divisions. Benjamin Franklin Bank solves this problem with Zero Balance Accounts.

Through this system, checks clear against and deposits are credited to individual subsidiary accounts. At the end of each business day, all disbursements are funded by and deposits transferred to one master account. With Zero Balance Accounts, you can maintain several accounts for internal control purposes but have only one cash fund to manage, allowing you to make more informed borrowing and investment decisions.

This account is ideal for businesses that operate at more than one location or maintain separate accounts for payroll, operating expenses, and accounts receivable.

Benefits of Zero Balance Accounts to your company:

Cash is concentrated into a master account for improved control
Funds are automatically transferred daily
Maximizes your investments and minimizes your borrowings

ONLINE BANKING - bUSINESS (INFO EXPRESS)

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Business Online Banking puts the latest services and technology at your fingertips, enhancing speed, security and accuracy as you manage everything from a small business checking account to direct deposit payroll.

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Business Online Banking brings the power of the Internet to your desktop - giving you quick, easy access to services and information meaningful to your business. Track, transfer and transact anytime, anywhere.

Contact your Benjamin Franklin Bank Cash Management Representative to identify the online business banking services most appropriate for your business.

Benefits of Business Online Banking to your company:

Convenience of Internet connectivity from various locations
Secure access to your accounts with paid check images
Full functionality of banking tools
Multi-layer security features
The ability to receive EDI Translation

DISBURSEMENTS

To effectively manage your company's cash flow, you must be able to accurately know when funds will clear your operating accounts. Benjamin Franklin Bank gives you a variety of disbursement products that help you manage the timing of disbursements to benefit your business.

Account Reconcilement

Benjamin Franklin Bank's Account Reconcilement saves you time and improves accuracy when balancing your corporate checking accounts. As a result, it reduces clerical effort and gives you greater control over your disbursements.

Take advantage of the reconcilement service that is best for your organization:

Partial Reconcilement provides you with a file of all checks paid during the reconcilement period. The check number, as well as the amount and date paid are contained in the file. The paid file is loaded into your accounting system to initiate the reconcilement process.
Full Reconcilement provides a complete reconcilement of the check activity in your account each statement period. You provide the bank with your check issue information, and we compare it to items that have cleared your accounts(s). A final list of the check number and dollar amount of all outstanding and paid checks is generated, along with all voided checks and stop payments.

ACH Payments
Benjamin Franklin Bank's Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions offer an electronic alternative to paper checks. ACH Payments are ideal for expense reimbursements, cash disbursements to business units and making payments to your trading partners. Direct Deposit facilitates electronic payroll checks - a benefit to your employees and to you. ACH Tax Payments allow you to easily deposit your tax funds into the account of a local, state or federal taxing authority.

Business VISA^® Debit Card

The Benjamin Franklin Bank Business VISA^® Debit Card looks like a credit card, but it works like a check. That's because it draws funds directly from your business checking account without the hassle of writing a check.

The Business VISA^® Debit Card can be used to purchase supplies, pay for travel expenses, get quick cash at an ATM, or pay for dinner with a client. You can use it just like a credit card, but you don't have to pay the high interest rates associated with them.

Benefits of Business VISA^® Debit Card to your company:

Eligible for Points Express Rewards program
Reduce accounting time paying small invoices
Purchase business supplies and services directly
Use the card for transactions at millions of locations worldwide

Image Express CD-ROM

The Image Express CD-ROM service allows you to easily access images of checks paid against your account. The CD-ROM is mailed with your monthly bank statement. Searches for check images may be initiated by check number, dollar amount, and/or posting date. Because checks are stored so efficiently, one person could keep a year or more worth of checks within arms length for quick retrieval. Image copies of the checks appear on your screen in a matter of seconds for review and printing.

Benefits of Image Depot CD-ROM to your company:

Quick access to archived disbursement information
Reduced storage space for paid check information
CD-ROM copy can be stored offsite for disaster recovery purposes

Wire Transfers

Wire transfer remains the quickest and most reliable method for sending money to any bank account throughout the world. Benjamin Franklin Bank offers you a variety of methods for using this efficient funds transfer tool.

Wire transfers provide available funds to your payee on the same business day when you meet processing deadlines at both banks. You can initiate the payments through our Business Online Banking system or in person through any of our banking centers.

Benefits of using wire transfer to your company:

Same day availability of funds to receiver - Payment finality
Better forecasting of cash flows than paper payment methods
Secure payment origination