Bank of America has announced the launch of its Trade Direct Services (TDS), a web-based international trade activity management service. This is the latest component of Bank of America Direct, the bank's transaction and information platform that allows clients to manage payments, receipts and treasury activity via the internet.

TDS will provide straight-through processing for the full range of international trade products including import, export letters of credit (L/Cs), standby L/Cs, collections and purchase order processing.

Bank of America has incorporated several security features in TDS, including digital certificates and firewalls. Services for exports and collections are already available to US clients and will be rolled out to clients in Asia in the near future, according to a bank spokesman.

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