Two years ago, Chico's, a clothing chain with 1,100 stores and $1.7 billion in annual revenue, faced the traditional retailer's dilemma–vast numbers of depository accounts scattered across the U.S. More than 1,200 paper statements arrived in the mail each month, detailing fees totaling more than $1.2 million a year. Chico's seven treasury staffers could give the statements no more than a cursory look.

But with new automation, Fort Myers, Fla.-based Chico's now gets all but 10 of its bank statements as electronic transmissions and can analyze its fees. Chico's saw a 23% reduction in bank fees that is saving it nearly $300,000 a year, says Jeanne Peaslee, manager of cash management. "The software more than paid for itself in the very first year."

Chico's cure was two Chesapeake System Solutions products–Internet Data Manager for the electronic transmissions and SmartAnalysis for fee monitoring.