Clients of Bank of America Merrill Lynch who have SWIFT Standardised Corporate Environment (SCORE) membership are to be offered electronic bank statements or e-statements (view press release).

The e-statements are delivered electronically through the SWIFT FileAct file transfer system negating the need for paper or CD-ROM distribution of monthly bank statements to clients.

"Our development of eStatements was a collaborative effort with SWIFT and GE," said Cindy Murray, head of Global Treasury Product Infrastructure, Platforms and eCommerce for BofA Merrill. "This new offering will simplify and automate the handling of statements and provide a blueprint for future efficiencies in any treasury team."

Elie Lasker, head of Corporate Market at SWIFT said: "By working closely together, BofA Merrill and SWIFT were able to implement an innovative solution to help GE's treasury department achieve operational efficiencies and reduce compliance risk. The eStatements project effectively eliminates the requirement to issue paper statements, and is therefore more reliable, cost-effective and environmentally friendly."