FleetBoston Financial Corp.'s Internet Strategy Group, launched last year, is only now offering its first product. But FleetBoston hopes customers will think the wait was worth it.

FleetBoston is offering a virtual safe-deposit box, a central repository for securely storing and sharing documents online. FleetBoston's virtual safe-deposit box is mainly for small and midsize businesses. The company will charge from $7.95 to store 20 Mbytes per month up to $143.95 for 600 Mbytes per month. The virtual "lock boxes" run on Microsoft .Net Exchange 2000 servers; FleetBoston worked with Compaq, EMC, StorageNetworks, and others on security feature such as encryption.

"If people are trusting their money with us, they should trust their data with us," says Cindy Ho, FleetBoston's VP of global Internet strategy. But the offering targets new customers who aren't necessarily using FleetBoston for financial purposes as well, Ho says. While a few smaller banks have used Web service providers to offer similar products, no major bank has offered its own homegrown virtual safe-deposit boxes before, Ho says.

Building a network that meets federal banking regulations and passed FleetBoston's internal tests took time, Ho says, which is why the bank's Internet Strategy Group is only now coming to market with the product. But FleetBoston is banking on business owners feeling comfortable that their information is secure, since the legal requirements for banks on the Internet are so stringent.