Wells Fargo joined a national ‘lock box’ network.

The San Francisco-based bank announced that it and nine other banks around the country will form us$net (pronounced U.S. dollar net), a nationwide payment-collection system for businesses. The new service provides “lock box” collection of checks for immediate deposit to a company’s account. Lock box service allows banks to intercept payments from creditors at the post office, saving time and mailing costs. The other banks are in Hawaii, Missouri, Maryland, Ohio, New York, Washington, Alaska, Colorado and Arizona.