For approximately 5,000 years, physical notes and coins have served as a reliable medium of exchange, enabling commerce to take place with relative ease due to their widespread acceptance and trustworthiness. In modern times, the older financial instruments, such as checks and promissory notes hindered the settlement process, as clearing often took significant time. 

However, in the digital age, such payments moved to online platforms. They expanded further, minimizing the friction associated with physical financial transactions, expanding geographic access, and more with the emergence of mainframe computers revolutionizing electronic payments.

With the rise of e-commerce and digital transactions, online payments have become integral to modern business transactions, providing convenience, speed, and security to customers and businesses alike. 

Online and real-time payments enable customers to purchase from anywhere and anytime, allowing businesses to reach a global audience. In addition, online transactions provide a streamlined payment process, eliminating the need for physical cash and checks. 

Understanding Real-time Payments 

Real-time payment (RTP) (also known as “immediate payment” or “instant payment” due to its speedy nature) refers to an account-to-account funds transfer. It enables immediate availability of funds for the recipient and instant transfer for the sender. With real-time payments, the balance is confirmed in real time, and the payer's account is debited instantaneously upon authorization of the payment. Although settlement timing may vary across systems, it typically takes only a few seconds to complete. Real-time payments are also known as immediate payments or instant payments due to their speedy nature.

It's worth noting that real-time payments are irrevocable, which means that once the payment is initiated, the payer cannot cancel the transfer. In the past, early RTP systems were limited by nightly, weekend, and holiday restrictions. However, the latest versions offer round-the-clock access, every day of the year.

 

Benefits of Real-time Payments Over Traditional Payment Methods

1. First and foremost, they enable immediate availability of funds to the recipient, eliminating the need to wait for payment clearing or settlement. This feature is particularly useful for time-sensitive transactions, such as bill payments or emergency transfers.
2. Real-time payments also provide a high level of payment certainty, as the payer's account is debited instantly upon authorization of the payment. This reduces the risk of fraud or non-payment, as the payer cannot cancel the transaction once it has been initiated.
3. Furthermore, real-time payments offer increased convenience and flexibility for both consumers and businesses, enabling transactions to take place at any time and from any location. This can result in improved cash flow for businesses and increased customer satisfaction.
4. Finally, real-time payments can lower transaction costs, as they are often more efficient and streamlined than traditional payment methods. This can result in cost savings for businesses and increased financial inclusion for consumers who may not have access to traditional banking services.

How Does Real-time Payment Work?

Real-time payment enables near-instantaneous transfer of funds between accounts, with the recipient receiving the payment immediately upon authorization. The exact process for real-time payments can vary depending on the payment system being used, but the following steps provide a general overview:

1. The payer initiates the payment using a payment system or app, which connects to their bank account or credit/debit card.
2. The payment system verifies the payer's identity and funds availability before authorizing the payment.
3. The payment is transmitted to the recipient's bank or payment system in real time.
4. The recipient's bank or payment system verifies the recipient's identity and account details before crediting the payment to their account.
5. The payer's account is debited instantly upon authorization of the payment.
6. The payment system or bank provides confirmation of the payment to both the payer and the recipient.

Real-time payments are typically processed within seconds, offering a fast and secure way to transfer funds between accounts. To ensure the safety and security of online transactions, various measures such as encryption, authentication, and fraud prevention are employed to protect both customers and businesses during these transactions. 

Real-time payments are changing the world by revolutionizing the way we exchange money and conduct financial transactions. Get in touch to learn more.

The finance and banking sector is evolving rapidly due to changing consumer behavior, technological advancements, and increasing competition. One of the most significant changes is the shift towards digitalization. As a result, many traditional banks invest heavily in digital channels and mobile banking apps to offer customers more convenient and personalized services. 

Additionally, the rise of fintech startups and the adoption of new technologies like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning are disrupting traditional banking models and introducing innovative products and services. Companies are leveraging AI-powered solutions to enhance their customer service through tools like OpenAI, advanced analytics for trend analysis, and reports that aid in better decision-making.

In the banking and finance sector, AI has emerged as a crucial technological advancement that not only helps businesses stay competitive but also caters to customer demands. Do you know AI technologies could add up to $1 trillion in extra value to the banking industry annually? And are you utilizing AI to its maximum potential?

Overall, the finance and banking sector is undergoing a transformational shift, and you should stay up-to-date. So here’s a great read - PluggedIn - What 2023 Has In Store for Banking and Finance. Learn all about Open Banking, the expansion of Neobanking, future predictions, and the rise of AI in Banking and Finance. 

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There are many complexities with the financial operations in businesses. With so many uncertainties in the market right now, business leaders are taking a closer look at their treasury operations to find better ways to optimize costs and increase savings.

The global economic crisis is expected to increase the demand for finance and accounting outsourcing. According to BusinessWire, the global finance and accounting outsourcing market is expected to reach $53.4 billion by the year 2026. Compared to the $37.9 billion for 2020, that is a CAGR of 5.9%.

Because the treasury function includes so many different processes, it's not uncommon for a business to have several different systems and services in place. However, there may be a way to better optimize financial operations, using one service for multiple processes rather than using many services for each process. By scaling services down into a simple unified structure, companies stand to gain more savings, increase efficiency and have optimized treasury operations.

The Importance of Liquidity and Cash Flow

During this economic uncertainty, businesses are taking a hard look at their finances, particularly liquidity and cash flow. These are two important factors that can help a company ride the waves during tumultuous economic times. 

Liquidity is the amount of cash a company readily has available, whether it's through an easy-to-sell investment or cash itself. The more liquidity a company has, the easier it is for the company to meet financial obligations. With high liquidity, companies are more protected from negative turns in the marketplace.

Cash flow, on the other hand, refers to the amount of money coming into a business. Cash needs to move in and out of the company at a healthy rate to continue growing at a steady pace. Cash flow will continually wax and wane and while liquidity can provide a cushion if a company experiences negative cash flow for a time, it's important to ensure that cash flow goes back to a healthy position.

The Many Systems Within the Operations

The treasury function is a major area to assess when considering liquidity and cash flow. As mentioned before, many companies have multiple systems and outsourced services in place for many treasury operations.  Here are a few examples of different services or systems companies may be using.

Bill Presentment

Whether using traditional or electronic presentment, it's common for a company to use a platform, service, or both. Companies may choose to outsource bill presentment or use an in-house team. Either way, bill presentment is an imperative part of the treasury function as it ensures the bill gets to the correct recipient with the correct information for a timely payment.

Payment Processing

Processing the payment often includes another system in place that can process checks, credit cards, ACH, and more. With the many different ways customers want to pay, companies need to ensure that they have the right system in place that accepts various types of payments. 

Communication

When the payer receives the bill, they may have questions regarding it. Billers will frequently use a completely different system or service for each type and method of bill presentment. This can create confusion as the payer usually needs to have the invoice number on hand or other information to identify themselves and the bill they're referring to. In certain urgent billing scenarios (e.g., shutoff notices in utility bills or loss of coverage notices for insurance), it is very useful to communicate with payers in real time, through a secure, verified delivery system to exchange specific and contextual information while discussing an invoice or an overdue payment.

Remittance/Lockbox Processing

At the end of the process, the money from the payer needs to be deposited into the biller’s bank account, which is typically a whole other service or system in place.

So as you can see, from bill presentment all the way to remittance, companies could be using four different services and systems. The more services and systems are in place, the more work there is for the treasury employees to navigate the systems, resulting in more confusion and higher spend.

Treasury as a Service Meets Financial Operation Needs

Exela’s Treasury-as-a-Service (TaaS) solution provides solutions for the entire spectrum of the processes listed above. This means companies can use a single provider to streamline their financial operations. Exela's end-to-end service integrates outbound bill presentment and payment processing while enabling a mobile solution, using our eXchange for Bills and Payments (XBP) platform. Exela takes the financial operations and streamlines them for a quicker, more optimized, and more accurate process. 

For traditional presentment, Exela employs nearly 1,000 print and mail professionals across a network of print and mail processing facilities strategically located throughout the United States to manage print production and distribution of your invoice and bills. 

For e-presentment, our advanced technology enables electronic delivery of payment data for a paperless trail, along with same-day deposits. Our XBP platform is a user-friendly and intuitive interface that serves as a way for billers and payers to communicate and transact in a seamless manner. 

As a leader in billing and payments services, we operate 14 payment processing centers located across North America, processing over seven million payments and depositing over one trillion dollars annually.  

It’s Time to Optimize Financial Operations

With so many Business Leaders looking for ways to reduce costs and optimize treasury functions, it's time to provide them with what they need. Our TaaS solution is a one-stop shop for your financial operations. Experience quicker payments and deposits, more accuracy, and an enhanced process that can improve cash flow. 

Learn more about our TaaS solution today.

Exela Technologies is paving the way for the future of billing and payment in the UK through our Request to Pay solution platform, or RtP. In order to shed some light on RtP, we decided to share details about Request to Pay, its implementation, industry challenges, and more during our webinar, “Request to Pay: In Action!”

RtP software emphasizes communication and transactional efficiency for both payor and payee, allowing for secure messaging to take place before bill payment. The service is meant to overlay on top of the existing payments infrastructure to help businesses, organizations, and individuals handle bill payments with more ease, flexibility, and efficiency.

How Request to Pay Works

RtP allows a biller or payee to send an electronic request for the payment to the debtor account directly. The payor receives this request via an electronic interface such as a mobile banking app, reflecting the requested amount and the due date of the payment request.

On the payor side, the platform offers options that include making the payment in full, sending a partial payment, sending messages, raising requests for an extension, and more. 

A Request to Pay solution offers both sides of a transaction greater flexibility while making payments. It also increases transaction transparency, reduces the cost for billers, and gives both parties a better transaction experience.

Integrated communication and payment platforms are poised to become far more commonplace. Join us to learn more about this exciting technology! 

Request to Pay: In Action!

In our upcoming webinar, “Request to Pay: In Action!” you can get a look at this exciting new technology and learn more about how it will reshape the payments landscape. On Thursday, June 24, join Exela’s moderator Chris Vincent and a group of experts and panelists including:

• Martin Kirby - Head of Order to Cash | Business Stream 
• Simon Brooks - Faster Payments Service Line Manager | Pay.UK
• Richard Lean -  RtP Product Expert | Exela Technologies 
• Paul Horlock - Chief Payments Officer | Santander 
• Paul Fairless - Director Business Development, Payments and Banking | Sage

The webinar will include demos of Exela’s RtP app, an in-depth look at the benefits for billers and payors, a discussion about the future of billing and payments, and plenty of time for Q&A with the panelists.

Register for the webinar today!

Every year, our reliance on technology grows. Software, automation, and instant gratification at the click of a button have become the norm, and many of our brightest minds work to innovate and create new technology that meets and exceeds our expectations.

While it may not be the most exciting technology sector for some, modern payment architecture is being shaped by these same forces. New mobile and desktop applications through banks and service providers make it possible to transfer money at the click of a button. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual exchange of money took on a greater purpose -- helping us avoid unnecessary in-person contact. 

Payment innovation is an essential driver of digital transformation in banking and financial services. One of the latest developments with a potentially massive impact is the introduction of Request to Pay (RtP) services. 

Request to Pay: What is it?

Request to Pay software places emphasis on communication and transactional efficiency for both payor and payee. According to Pay.UK’s official RtP website, the service is meant to overlay on top of existing payments infrastructure and can serve to help businesses and organizations handle bill payments, as well as settle bills between friends. The unique feature RtP brings to the table is allowing the payor to communicate with the payee even before the bill payment. The US and India have similar services, often called Request for Payment and UPI payments, all of which are changing the payments industry and placing an emphasis on interoperable payment systems.

The Request to Pay ecosystem consists of three parts, the Biller portal (or the payee side), the central repository managed by accredited financial institutions and the payor app. It works on the principles of Open Banking, which means different financial institutions, billers, and payor apps on the RtP system can interoperate creating an open, flexible network that benefits all. 

What does this mean for businesses?

This past year has been defined by change, due in no small part to the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. In the face of stay at home orders and social distancing guidelines, unprecedented emphasis was put on digital solutions that could empower newly remote workforces and help organizations strive to continue operating at full capacity. By adding a level of communication between payor and payee, Request to Pay provides full visibility into the audit trail and helps to avoid issues brought upon by a lack of communication during the process.

This offers a number of benefits for businesses. First, Request to Pay can speed up transactions - always a goal in today’s fast-paced world of instant gratification. It also provides greater visibility and transparency for all parties, offering insight into where bottlenecks are occurring, and helping to minimize errors in the process. For example the payee or the biller has better visibility on the payment behaviour of each payor, giving them a chance to send reminders to the later payors, provide a payment plan to those with financial shortfall, or offer rewards or incentives to those who always pay on time. For the payor too, it is possible to see all the invoices in one app making it easy to have more control over their finances. 

Perhaps most importantly, Request to Pay offers potentially enormous cost savings. The time and effort businesses spend chasing down late payments, tracking a payment lost in the midst of the billing process, and sending follow-up statements isn’t often top of mind, but these costs can add up quickly. The communication enabled by RtP is designed to significantly reduce this spend.

Request to Pay will also help realize some of the potential benefits of other payments technologies, like electronic invoicing. Unlike the many “closed” networks that are currently unable (or unwilling, due to lack of incentive) to interface with other competing network, creating a siloed and disjointed payments infrastructure, RtP will allow everyone to exchange data and communicate - much like email users can send and receive emails from people using entirely separate email services.

Register for the Request to Pay Webinar

Why should you care about Request to Pay?

Adding touchpoints and communications to payments software takes greater advantage of the influx of connected devices to increase efficiency and provide better service to clients and customers. Request to Pay is one way that the payments ecosystem is adapting to new demand. It is an agnostic solution with use-cases spanning across industries such as utilities, government or federal businesses, insurance, telecom, and more. 

RtP adds to the ever-increasing stable of software solutions that are updating and optimizing previously manual business processes through automation. In this case, providing instant payment requests, communication, and visibility of the process brings the speed and efficiency of payment processing to a new level. Digital transformation is taking place in all parts of business, and RtP is a great example of how it’s being done in the UK’s financial services industry.

Register for the Request to Pay Webinar to learn more about Exela’s Request to Pay Biller portal and to hear industry experts discuss the benefits, its implementation and the demo in detail.

Payments are a fundamental part of business – from the local mom-and-pop shop all the way up to global enterprises. So, technology changes occurring in the payments industry tend to have a big impact. And make no mistake, changes are coming. Check out the latest edition of PluggedIN: The Future of Payments for a look at some of the biggest trends in payments technology, including:

• The Past, Present, and Future of Payments
• Request to Pay: Payment Meets Communication
• The Rise of Real-Time Payments
• Integrating and Automating: From Procurement to Payment

PluggedIN is Exela's thought leadership publication, providing fresh insights from the cutting edge every quarter. Subscribe to get plugged in.
 

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Partnering with specialized, external suppliers is a time-tested, highly effective way for enterprises to free up resources, enabling them to focus on core business objectives. In fact, 57% of executives interviewed for a recent Deloitte survey on the subject noted that exact reason as their motivation for engaging an outsourcer originally.

As organizations evolve, they are looking to off-load business critical daily operations to specialty providers - accelerating performance and innovation, reducing costs, and streamlining business processes across the enterprise.

In particular, two growth areas have emerged; enterprise information management (EIM) and transaction processing services (TPS). In this information-driven age, it is crucial that businesses  effectively manage the growing amounts of information and data, as well as efficiently process payments, transactions, enrollments, applications, and statements—allowing them to focus on revenue-generating activity.

When an organization is evaluating whether to outsource a business process or keep it in-house, the number of vendors that would need to be involved in a successful outsourcing initiative should be one of the first considerations.

If you're managing multiple vendors in relation to your TPS and EIM needs, many of the operational efficiencies, cost savings, and management streamlining that these partnerships provide can be negated by the complexities of managing multiple relationships. If you need multiple vendors to handle your organizations business processes, is there really an advantage over simply managing multiple internal departments?

But, by partnering with a single-source provider; your enterprise can achieve optimal efficiency, maximum cost savings, and the ability to streamline operations to refocus more exclusively on customer service and growing your business. Read on for five reasons why partnering with a true end-to-end TPS/EIM provider is the optimal approach:

1. TPS & EIM are Inherently Linked

   Partnerships with specialized companies have become a go-to strategy for enterprises trying to refocus on core, revenue-generating work. Yet, many benefits of this approach can be negated by complicated vendor management scenarios. For example, EIM platforms can facilitate the exchange, consolidation, organization, and analysis of large amounts of structured and unstructured data that are crucial to an enterprise's ability to effectively manage decisions, and enable the presentment of critical customer information through unified communication services.

   TPS offerings then use the structured data output from shared EIM platforms and apply industry and customer specific rules-based data validation, management of exceptions, business automation, and outcome resolutions to complete transactions, client interactions, and other operational processes. From there, these fully integrated EIM and TPS platforms, help facilitate reliable information workflows through data aggregation, seamless connectivity, and automated processes to significantly reduce cycle times and improve quality.

   When platforms are integrated and supplied by the same provider, these types of workflows are made possible. When multiple partners are providing disparate platforms to manage payments, communications, and more – management scenarios can balloon in terms of complication.

2. Linking EIM & TPS Outsourcing Services can Provide Optimized Cost Savings

   Having established the inherent connections between TPS and EIM services and solutions, we can begin to see the inherent value in keeping these activities under the same roof. Single sourcing, defined as the practice of using only one vendor to handle the entirety of outsourced processes -  is widely recognized as a beneficial approach producing far greater advantages. Single sourcing offers various benefits such as lower production costs, and can help create better value for customers and stakeholders by keeping the amount of governance required to a bare minimum. Working with a single vendor is often more cost effective as it enables better utilization of resources – both managerial and financial. It also cuts down the interoperability issues significantly. In this case, two metaphorical heads are not better than one.

3. Increase Delivery & Efficiency of Service

   Working with a single vendor to handle the entirety of your needs can streamline service delivery in several ways. A single-source partner takes responsibility for the entire service delivery process within the outsourced operational areas. There is no pointing of fingers or blame on others for non-performance or delay in delivery. This sense of responsibility can result in more effective and efficient delivery of products or services. It also streamlines the amount of oversight you'll need to allocate internally, because as the number of vendors rises, so does the amount of internal oversight they'll need.

4. Decreased Training & Governance

   Any worthwhile outsourcer will make your business easier to manage over time. But, like any new business relationship – there is an introductory period to share necessary information for each party to handle their responsibilities properly. This means you'll need to onboard and govern each outsourcing vendor you work with. In the case of single-sourcing, a business needs to train only one service provider. Saving considerable amount of time and energy for the enterprise, which can subsequently allocate their resources – human and financial - to more critical areas.

5. Increased Control over Branding & Corporate Image

   A substantial part of the EIM/TPS mix is represented by communications. Payments – in the forms of invoices, bills, statements, or receipts – are themselves communications. Many pieces of information that need to be produced, distributed, and managed by an outsourcing partner are communications as well. When these communications are produced by multiple vendors, it can affect branding negatively through disparate output quality, data inconsistencies, or lack of coordination between vendors. When all operations are done under the same roof, it helps avoid the above-described issues, while boosting the quality of work and helping ensure that the highest quality of service is provided to your customers.

To conclude, it is easier to derive the maximum value from your externally-based partnerships when the number of vendors you need to partner with is kept to a minimum. Especially in the related fields of TPS and EIM, placing all of that work with an organization who can handle it in an end-to-end manner is simply the best practice.

The way customers interact with their bank is changing - from in-person communication at a brick-and-mortar location to a digital-first, omni-channel experience. Mobile check deposit, payment gateways, and app-based banking in general have changed customer expectations, and in turn, they have driven the need for continued innovation from the financial services sector. At the same time, digital transformation has heavily impacted the ways in which banks improve internal processes, enhance relationships with clients, address data security, and ultimately, provide value to their customer base.

Further – not all customers want the same things from their banks in 2017. Older customers seek simplicity – a straightforward experience that provides financial peace of mind, whether their transactions are handled digitally, in-person, or with a combination of service delivery types. While younger customers such as millennials look for drastically different offerings – peer-to-peer payments, robo-advisory platforms, digital wallets, budgeting tools, and more. Such offerings have typically been dominated by FinTech disruptors, which if not successfully countered by more traditional banks – could lead FinTechs to capture an increasing market share of younger customers as they continue to expand into new product offering categories.

Whatever the underlying motivations may be – FinTech disruption, vastly different customer demands, or a combination – banks must address their digital readiness gap and adapt to this new landscape of the distributed “unbundling” of banking services, driven by the increasing demands of customers of all ages, and the FinTech upstarts themselves.

In response, banks are shifting from a largely product-centric viewpoint, to a more customer-centric model. Satisfying the distinct, and different sets of desires for each customer segment requires becoming a truly customer-centric bank, which in turn demands a full embrace of digital transformation. Necessitating updates in business processes, IT architecture, culture, and overall operating models.

While digital transformation is becoming more commonplace with larger financial institutions, it can increasingly be a barrier to entry, or a distinct competitive challenge for smaller, regional financial organizations with smaller IT and marketing budgets. To keep up with competition without overextending resources, or losing focus on core competencies, this type of organization may turn to a technology partner to industrialize their FinTech solutions and extend these offerings to their customers.

But regardless of the size of your organization, here are three concrete ways that digital transformation helps create sustainable, long term success by creating a human-centered model of operations.

    1. Digital transformation of back-end processes and automation of workflow processes can modernize and drive the front-end user experience

Customers want seamless, easy-to-use banking experiences, regardless of channels – mobile, online, or even in-person. Whether the experience is related to depositing checks, exploring services, opening an account, checking balances, getting loans, managing wealth, or customer communications/support, effectiveness across channels has become crucial. If you can’t offer your clients these services in a safe, secure, and convenient manner – they may well take their business elsewhere. So, how does digital transformation help banks create and serve these experiences to their clients?

Implementing an effective, multi-channel data ingestion and integration platform can aid with actions like mobile check depositing. Highly-targeted and personalized communication platforms can help drive upselling, cross-selling, and accurate segmenting of audiences for marketing. At the same time, optimizing business processes through a highly configurable management interface enables the creation of bank-specific document or case management workflow, and can streamline operations for employees on the back end.

Other key digital trends for banks include mobile payments, services on multiple device types, automated account origination, the previously-mentioned personalized marketing and promotional offers, and customized customer administration tools. A purposeful digital transformation effort can aid with all these initiatives.

Ultimately, business transformation aided by process automation, digitization, and complete accountability can lead to improved customer experience and enhanced business performance. But, another connected consequence of these digital transformation trends is that they are altering the roles of bank branches, and the jobs of branch personnel. Which leads us to our next point.

    2. Digital Transformation Frees Human Capital from Traditional Branch Banking Processes

As the way customers interact with their bank transforms, the way that financial institutions manage their branches is changing in-step. At the branch level, for instance, banks are retraining employees in new proficiencies, repurposing and evolving their focus from being reactive in terms of customer service, to becoming tech-enabled client advisors and counselors – creating additional value for customer and institution alike in the process.

Armed with tablets and powerful digital banking applications, these client-focused bankers can guide customers as they navigate digital banking choices and services, while simultaneously administering new accounts, and handling security or background checks as well. Customer data collected by these employees, or through other bank/client interactions, can help banks provide more personalized digital experiences, as customers look for the exact combination of banking products that will fit their unique needs.

In the end, whatever approach your organization decides to take, digital transformation provides a revolutionary opportunity to allow traditional banking service models to be reimagined, providing a more effective model for customer service as traditional offerings like check depositing become almost wholly digitized.

    3. Digital Transformation Can Help Create Powerful Customer Loyalty & Brand Equity for Banks

Consumers have come to expect the same convenience and customer service levels from their bank as they expect from Amazon. Best class experience is best class, across industries. The reality is that, with fewer in-person interactions at branches, delivering consistently positive customer experiences is a key challenge to solve. There is no way to greet a customer with a warm smile and a handshake when they are simply logging into an app, or remotely depositing a check. Positive experiences powered by digital offerings is crucial.

That best-class experience can be created by leveraging customer data for targeted outreach of only the most relevant offers for each customer, and by customizable payment processing offerings to deliver more personalized experiences. Above all, what can create positively perceived digital financial service experiences are those which can be smoothly embedded in the customer’s lifestyle, such as mobile check deposit. With a customer-centric culture and digitally transformed processes to support all these efforts, the brand image, and customer loyalty of a given bank can be bolstered.

To conclude, while the trend toward digital transformation in banking is not exactly new, some banks, particularly smaller, regionally-focused organizations have historically been more reserved in undertaking these efforts because of the costs that can be involved, siloed operations between branches and other business units, and security concerns. But now, digital transformation has become a business imperative due to evolving customer preferences.

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.