Wells Fargo Kicks Off Online B2B Service

Wells Fargo has rolled out WellsXchange, a suite of online services designed to help e-marketplace buyers and sellers complete financial transactions online. It's also inked a deal with Oracle that will bring its financial services-including electronic payment and settlement, credit, and digital certificates-to users of Oracle's B2B Exchange software.

WellsXchange offers four services: an unsecured revolving credit line, letters of credit that can be used to pay foreign sellers, escrow services and documentary collection, whereby Wells Fargo transfers shipping documents to overseas suppliers and collects payment.

WellsXchange will focus on providing services to smaller, more local, or industry-specific exchanges, which are geared toward Wells' small and midsize business customers. Wells has signed three exchange customers: AgEx (agricultural), GemConnect (gemstone and jewelry) and MeetChina (imports from China).

Wells had been talking to customers for a year about the need for integrated payment services through a single gateway. Keeping financial services "simple, easy, and integrated is the way to go," said James Van Dyke, an analyst at Jupiter Communications.