Shaw's Supermarkets Selects Solutran to Improve Check Management.

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 2002

Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc., New England-based supermarket chain chose Solutran(R), a leading provider of treasury management services, to provide returned-check management and loss-prevention services. Under terms of the agreement, Solutran will handle returned-check consolidation (RCC), electronic check re-presentment (RCK), and service fee recovery services for all of Shaw's locations.

"We were looking for a vendor that could provide a complete returned-check management solution," said Steve Duarte, manager of accounts payable and check recovery, Shaw's Supermarkets. "We chose Solutran because of their demonstrated client commitment and innovation in helping us speed and improve the returned-check process for both Shaw's and its customers."

Shaw's will rely on the full suite of Solutran's check management services, including: Consolidated Returns - Consolidated Returns, or RCC, routes all returned-check items, regardless of the paying bank, to Solutran for consolidation. Returned checks are received up to six days earlier, allowing retailers to get bad check writers into a negative file database sooner. This closes the window of opportunity for bad check writers to write more checks, resulting in fewer check losses.

-- Electronic Check Re-Presentment -- Electronic Check Re-Presentment, or RCK, converts paper-check information to electronic information allowing Solutran to re-present checks for payment electronically via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. RCK speeds collection on NSF checks, allowing retailers to enhance collection strategies, reduce bad debt and save operating time and money.

-- Service-fee recovery - Service fee recovery service is a consumer-friendly way for retailers to more effectively collect service fees on returned checks through Solutran's Double PostCard Service. Once checks processed through RCK change to a cleared status, a double postcard is automatically mailed to the customer requesting payment of the returned-check service fee. Consumers sign the postage-paid double postcards and drop them in the mail, authorizing an electronic debit, via the ACH network, for the returned-check service fee from their checking accounts. Retailers collect the service fee as a partial offset to the expenses associated with check acceptance.

About Shaw's

Shaw's Supermarkets, Inc., manages 187 Shaw's and Star Market store locations and two distribution centers throughout the six New England states. The company serves more than four million customers each week and has nearly 30,000 associates. During the most recently completed fiscal year, total sales were $4.4 billion. Shaw's is a wholly-owned subsidiary of J Sainsbury plc.

About Solutran

For nearly 20 years Solutran has provided a full range of treasury management solutions to businesses that process a high-volume of low-value transactions. Solutran's customized solutions span the payment spectrum, from paper check processing and conversion to fully electronic payment processing. Services offered include depository processing, accounts receivable truncation, controlled disbursement services and returned check management and conversion services. Headquartered in Minneapolis, Solutran has 65 employees at its corporate office and maintains relationships with ten affiliate processing centers across the United States and Canada.