Challenges, Trends, and Solutions in Global Payments
Security, efficiency, visibility and operational control over payments are critical to effective business management. Enterprises require an integrated platform that supports internal processes to produce instant, useable analyses and pricing trend forecasts for our organizations.
Further, in today’s increasingly globalized business environment, the need for compliant and secure platforms to manage international payments becomes more urgent. But what keeps enterprises from reaching this unified, platform-based approach to processing global payments? Often, fragmented back offices and mono-payment engines (whether those engines are housed internally or at the bank) lead to complexity, a lack of automation and significant operational risk. The innovation, automation, and analytical capability that savvy treasury and finance professionals demand today requires a different approach.
Payment gateways can normalize, analyze, and truly enable the payment. Global payment gateways are designed to simplify consolidation of domestic payment multi-media (checks, cash reporting, ACH, wires, card) and also multi-national payments, which of course are subject to currency reconciliations, exchange rates, and other variables.
Stakeholders evaluating potential platforms should look for a solution that checks each item off the list below effectively:
- Reduced Costs
- Improved information management
- Real-time reporting and analytics
- Improved risk management
- Bank agnostic strategic payment independence
- Increased control, compliance & governance
An optimally efficient payment gateway must be the main, centralized “hub” that enables straight-through processing (STP) for accuracy, real-time information availability, and improved risk management. This means integration with the financial processes like accounts receivable and payable (AR & AP). By leveraging such an approach, organizations with disparate payment methods and distributed operations can lower routing costs and achieve higher data security for cleaner posting.
Enterprises that take such an approach instantly distribute payment messaging to the accountable party in their organization. Other key features can include multi-channel payment capabilities, invoice consolidating, process automation for presentment, and accurate, real-time cross-border currency conversion. As mentioned, some of these online, true “payment hub” platforms can integrate with current company operations. Because of their cloud-based, online nature, the gateway provider can offer real-time support, an inventory of best practices, and easy-to-update approaches.
Utilities and insurance companies have been among the first to reap the benefits of implementing a payment gateway/payment hub. The proof that their efforts and the upfront costs are paying off, is a look at their “before and after” payment flows, as well as reviewing their unit costs in processing payments. EVERY project has a winning ROI, and thus, now is time for the entire finance, treasury and payment industry to leverage this experience.
