American Bank Advances in Tech Features DirectBiller

Watch the American Banker Advances in Tech Video Featuring DirectBiller 

DirectBiller by Aliaswire is a customizable and configurable out-of-the box Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment (EBPP) solution that fully automates the AR process for bill payments. Brent Watters, Marketing Director for Aliaswire, demonstrates how DirectBiller:

· Delivers Next-Gen EBPP functionality to businesses, giving them the freedom, control and cost savings to easily achieve their EBPP payment strategy and greater customer success.
· Provides a fully integrated bank channel partner treasury management systems
· Bank-level security and compliance with bill-level unique key encryption
· Offers rapid implements – in hours not months

EBPP: Putting the “Tech” into Fintech

As the business climate for financial institutions continues to be more challenging than ever, the many opportunities and advantages of digital banking are becoming more evident. While a few FI’s are moving beyond legacy branch-focused strategies by offering advanced payments solutions to their valued commercial clients, the majority of FIs are getting left behind and losing clients to a new generation of FinTechs. Many FIs are just now addressing the conservative internal culture that has often challenged the adoption of new technologies which have given rise to FinTechs that are filling a need that many banks are not able to provide. However, many banks are beginning to realize the benefits made possible by partnering with technology vendors to compete with the growing FinTech competition.

FinTech Firms Come in Different Forms

An increasing numbers of banks are at a stage in their development where they should assess their place in their markets.

Some of the questions they are asking include: Are they a traditional bank? Do they want to be a leader in technology, like a FinTech firm? Do they want to adopt something in the middle, and be a hybrid financial provider?

After evaluating their options, FIs can then better assess how they might be better able to serve their customers – and perhaps – be a disruptor in their market like FinTech firms. The difference can be that FinTech firms are often rooted in a tech startup mindset that includes offering only very specific functionality and decoupling from existing digital banking suites. Banks, on the other hand, have an opportunity to be a stable, well-financed technology disruptor when working with appropriate partner(s). By partnering with technology providers, Banks can combine their financial strength and market power with the innovation and speed of high-tech product companies.

The Importance of Taking a Multi-Layered Approach to FinTech

Traditionally, banks use technology providers for their core banking systems, however, these systems address only the basic cash management and digital banking needs of their commercial clients.

From a long-held obsession with serving customers based on branch banking, to online and digital banking variants, banks are poised to move beyond the foundation of traditional core banking products and services, typically seen as part of front-office solutions. Many banks are branching out (both literally and figuratively) to include such areas as payments, financial planning, investments, wealth management, business banking, and other capabilities.

Such a unified approach offers comprehensive banking capabilities and is a key reason why technology – and FinTech’s role in elevating automation in banking – has become the foundation for innovation for both banking customers and enlightened FIs alike.

While technology is naturally at the core of FinTech, its true value is more than merely features. It can offer high-levels of functionality, process improvements, and subject matter expertise, layered into cohesive solution suites. For many FIs, the fusion of these elements remains a work-in-process, albeit with much potential.

There’s a Void in Corporate Banking Technology and Innovation

Even though FinTech startups continue to focus primarily on retail banking (with a little over six-in-ten focusing on the retail banking market segment[1]), only about 11% are developing solutions for large corporate banking customers.  Banks have an opportunity to fill this void by becoming a FinTech partner with corporate banking and treasury functions.

By partnering with select technology firms, banks can better innovate and reduce time-to-market while increasing speed-of-execution, settlement speed and quality, and overall profitability.

Leveraging Tech to Deliver an Outstanding Banking Customer Experience

Many banks are realizing that a new type of FinTech business model requires both technology prowess – and the kind of touch that only banks that truly understand their banking customers’ needs.

First and foremost, banks are unique in that they have years of experience and a reputation for understanding and addressing customers’ needs. Banks also have a long history of seeking out and understanding their customers’ needs, something startup FinTech firms cannot generally offer across a broad spectrum of products and services.

While not true in all cases, many banks have built (or are building) strong brand awareness, particularly those that can include a personal touch and innovative technology. They can offer a wide range of products and expertise to their clientele that are unmatched by startup FinTech firms that only focus on limited functionality.

Summary

Banks that are expanding their horizons to include FinTech-like capabilities are placing themselves in a strong competitive position.

And smart institutions are increasingly partnering with strong, stable, and innovative tech partners to ensure that their solutions offer the features, quality, and scalability demanded by their customers.

Unlike some one-trick-pony tech startups, tech-savvy banks have the opportunity to offer a broad array of most in-demand solutions. Banks are unique in that they can offer both the spirit – and the letter – of banking customers’ wants, needs, and expectations.

Read our follow-up blog: Leveraging a Fully Integrated End-to-End EBPP Solution

[1] https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/cutting-through-the-noise-around-financial-technology

Leveraging a Fully Integrated End-to-End EBPP Solution

Many banks are considering ways to improve on the functionality and customer in the Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) market category. Today’s EBPP, which has its roots in computer-based online banking, is increasingly being touted as part of a comprehensive mobile and/or digital bill pay solution by progressive financial institutions.

With banks transitioning from a branch-based customer interaction business model to include a greater emphasis on digital banking variants, including payments in general and EBPP as a specific, value-add capability.  This is all part of the primary goal of delivering outstanding customer satisfaction.

Banks get their FinTech Mojo Back 

In today’s economic climate, the self-described “FinTechs” are often seen as industry innovators while traditional financial service providers are positioned as staid, conservative, legacy businesses.  In reality,  there are core banking functions that only banks can provide in a highly regulated industry.  No matter what new mobile app comes to market for lending, finance, investing, saving, etc., there is always a bank in the background performing the tedious and mundane, but necessary tasks:  BSA, KYC, AML, credit risk, FDIC insurance to name a few.  Not all FinTech firms last due to funding, adoption, and  revenue model issues.  Long after the FinTech is gone, the bank is still responsible for picking up the pieces.

The “FinTech” concept has always been about two major components, Financial Services combined with Technology and Banks.  Once considered one of the earliest adopters of technology, many are bow considered laggards.    Now, many progressive banks are in a unique position to reestablish their FinTech dominance.

One of the areas that banks can get their “mojo” back is in payments.  The “operating system” of the bank — one that enables complex treasury management — can be built upon an existing platform to extend advanced capabilities to commercial clients that may otherwise seek these services from FinTechs. The one thing that FinTechs can’t offer to commercial clients is the safety and security of their money.  The reality is that adding an external FinTech service provider that moves money outside of the bank can increase the financial risk for commercial clients.

This puts the bank in a unique position to be able to offer advanced payment capabilities to their key commercial clients.  However, with opportunity comes challenges, and the challenge that many banks have is the time and resources to build complex payment capabilities on top of their core banking platforms.  power with the innovation and speed of high-tech product companies.

Fin + Tech = FinTech Partnership

To address these challenges, banks are partnering with experienced and stable technology providers to combine the financial strength and market power of banks with the innovation and speed of innovative tech product companies. When it comes to payments, select technology companies excel in developing omnichannel payment experiences while banks excel at making funds available rapidly to their commercial clients. For these commercial clients, payment processes tend to be complex and focused on paper: paper invoice goes out and paper checks come back.

Next-Gen Bill Payment Technology Meets Treasury Management Services 

While a typical bank’s treasury management commercial clients may utilize basic ACH, remote deposit capture, and lockbox services, banks cannot typically support the complex payment workflows that these clients need. Consequently, they strive to adopt electronic payments as the primary payment acceptance method.  This is where the right technology partnerships are critical.

For banks, partnering with a payments technology provider that is focused on delivering and maintaining an enterprise-class bill payment solution has many key benefits:

  • An “evergreen” product roadmap that keeps up with the latest technology
  • Customer-centric services that keep your clients engaged
  • Dedicated staff to service and support your

When choosing a payments technology provider, banks should consider the following:

  • Guaranteed up-time that is even better than their own banks’ SLAs
  • Integrated with the bank’s treasury management system
  • Provides pricing that matches the bank’s desired go-to-market model

Enterprise Payments for Any Size Business

Every sized business deserves the very best platform for managing their payments. Aliaswire’s DirectBiller™ advanced bill payment and bill presentment (ABPP) solution is designed to give banks a suite of differentiated payment services that integrate with, and complement, traditional bank offerings. They also maintain the banks’ strict requirements for security, privacy, and vendor management. Also, DirectBiller’s advanced processing platform and APIs orchestrate and manage the complexities of bill presentment and payment to deliver a transformed biller and payer experience. A fully customizable, out-the-box solution, DirectBiller gives businesses the freedom, control and cost savings to easily achieve their EBPP/EIPP payment strategy.

DirectBiller enables the bank to offer fully integrated payments to meet the payment requirements of even their most complex and demanding commercial clients. Examples include full PDF presentment, IVR, card processing, surcharging, and real-time integration with accounting and operational systems.

At Aliaswire, we put the Tech in FinTech. When you are ready to partner to deliver the most secure, reliable and scalable advanced bill payment solutions to your most valued commercial clients, contact us.

Why SMB Credit Cards Are Merchant Lifelines

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic is intensifying a challenge that many of the more than 30 million small businesses have been facing already: obtaining credit. According to the 2019 Report on Employer Firms by the Federal Reserve Bank, nearly one-third of small businesses rely on credit to help with cash flow and lack the necessary funds to meet unexpected expenses.

Numerous small business merchants address this challenge by taking out short-term business loans or using personal credit cards to bridge the gap. While credit cards with a revolving line of credit are a good funding source for merchants, a majority of small business owners do not meet the rigid underwriting policies of most, if not all, major banks. The global pandemic has put additional pressure on banks as requests for business credit increase, making the underwriting process even more inflexible.

While using personal credit cards to make everyday business expenditures may solve short-term cash flow problems, these cards can take a toll on a business owner’s personal credit score, which may inhibit their ability to finance personal needs, such as refinancing a home or purchasing a car.

An opportunity for ISOs, acquirers

Historically, banks decline the vast majority of small business credit card applications because it is very difficult for the banks to assess the risk of newly opened businesses, sole proprietors or business owners with low credit scores. Merchants’ daily card processing receivables are rarely taken into account by banks when assessing risk. The missed opportunity for these banks is a new opportunity for ISOs and acquirers…

Continue reading the full article at The Green Sheet 

Video Interview: What’s Next for Merchant Acquiring?

Dale Laszig, payments journalist and Board Studios Inc.,  interviews Scott Goldthwaite, president at Aliaswire, on why issuing is the next stage in the evolution of merchant acquiring. Scott discusses the bold new PayVus small business card issuing platform that adds a new page in the merchant acquiring playbook, the residual stream multipliers of the program and impact it has on traditional merchant services.

 

 

 

What the Rise of the Mobile Only Customer Means for Biller Direct

Understanding How Millennials and Generation X Are Changing Bill Payment

Billers and their customers continue to switch from traditional paper methods for making and receiving payments, like cash and check, to digital methods, like online credit and ACH transactions. As this trend continues, businesses who invoice their customers, otherwise known as billers, in various industries are looking at mobile transactions and what they mean for the future of payment processing. Adoption of mobile payments is happening slowly but steadily. According to a forecast by eMarketer, the value of mobile transactions will increase by 128.3% in 2017. Additionally, the Federal Reserve reported that among smartphone owners who made mobile transactions in 2016, paying bills was the most common payment activity they performed, at 65%.

The emergence of mobile payments offers some encouraging incentives for Billers, including the opportunity to improve the way they communicate with their payers and the speed in which invoices are sent and payments are processed. Furthermore, offering multiple channels through which customers can pay increases the likelihood that Billers will receive funds accurately and on time. As more and more young people are growing up as technology natives, mobile payment methods for bills and general purchases are becoming more prominent. Younger smartphone users are much more willing to make payments through mobile billing sites and SMS services because of the convenience they offer. If mobile bill payment keeps progressing, we may see a future where every bill is paid with a text message, right when it is due, so it’s important to investigate what the rise of the mobile only customer means for Biller Direct.

Mobile Devices Outnumber Personal Computers

Today, mobile devices are used more frequently by the general population than ever before and more adults own a smartphone than a personal computer. This trend is expected to continue. The mobile innovation boom has lead to more applications and more uses for smartphones, including the enacting of banking transactions, stock trading, and online purchasing. While the millennial generation is comprised of digital natives and make up the highest percentage of mobile device users among the U.S. population, their immediate predecessors, Gen X, are close behind. A study released by market research company Kantar Millward Brown indicated that although 77% of Millennials use a smartphone on a daily basis, 60% of their Gen X counterparts do as well. Both generations have been receptive to new uses for their smartphones and tend to be more trustworthy of mobile’s security when making transactions and submitting payments.

One of the newest trends in mobile usage is the rise of the mobile only customer. These individuals either don’t own a personal computer or use them infrequently; instead, they turn to their smartphone for all of their computing needs, and their number is growing. In fact, the number of mobile-only internet users in the U.S. recently exceeded the number of desktop-only internet users, reaching 11.3% in 2015. This trend could lead to major changes for businesses that accept large quantities of bill payments.

What Does the Mobile Trend Mean for Biller Direct?

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) is already an important solution for most Billers looking to streamline payment processing, so optimizing for mobile compatibility should be a logical step if they intend to offer their clients and customers more modern payment options. Through Biller direct, Billers already expect fast electronic delivery of payments and clear presentation of information. Payers expect the same ease of use when accessing invoices, receipts, and billing information. Many Billers have already implemented basic EBPP services, but these services don’t always support mobile payments or even payments by card. As a result, their most tech-savvy customers rely on mobile banking or another third party to post their bill payments, which can be inefficient. To keep up with the mobile-only trend and to accommodate payers’ habits and choices, Billers should enable their billing solutions to work seamlessly on mobile devices.

Payment channel switching has already become standard in the U.S. traditional methods of payment, like sending checks through the mail, are still used by payers across the country, but people are consistently switching to online methods for some or all of their bill payments because of the speed and convenience it offers. 62% of Americans reported paying their bills online at a Biller site in 2013 and 16% of Americans reported paying bills over a mobile phone. More recent estimates indicate that at over 45% of payers used mobile devices to pay bills.

Billers need to update payment portals and user interfaces to work directly with mobile devices across the board if they intend to capitalize on the mobile trend. Many of the costs, difficulties, and delays associated with implementing a mobile capable solution can be mitigated by partnering with an accomplished payment processing systems provider. The right provider will train the staff on its proper use and steer them toward all the cost-saving measures their new system provides.

Mobile Payments Benefit Billers

Billers who adopt mobile payment methods have a better chance of reducing day sales outstanding (DSO) and will enjoy fewer processing costs. With mobile payments, there are no paper checks to process and no receipts or invoices to mail. Mobile payments can be implemented using a browser-based system without the need to create a mobile app. Also, communication can be streamlined through email and SMS, decreasing the number of service calls the Biller needs to make in order to chase down delinquent payments.

Mobile payments give more power and transparency to payers in regards to their bills. This highlights the key benefit associated with mobile payments for both payer and Biller: the concept of self-service. Payers are more likely to use the most convenient solution for paying their bills, whether it is their bank who offers that solution or their Biller. When payments are made directly to the Biller through mobile devices, there is a better chance that payers will pay their bills immediately upon receiving an email or text instead of letting a paper invoice sit on their desk for days on end or waiting to schedule payments through a third party platform. If a problem arises, service and communication can be provided through electronic channels and routed directly to payers’ mobile devices.

Implementing mobile payment options are a good choice for companies that struggle with frequent billing errors, long DSO, and poor channels of communication with their customers. Before adopting mobile payments, it’s a good idea to do some internal and external research. In order to make this decision, Billers need to know that their customers will be willing to use mobile payments and that their payment platforms are compatible with mobile devices. Payers may also need to be educated about the benefits of mobile payments and reassured of their security before widespread adoption occurs.

Mobile devices are versatile tools. As the speed and processing power of our handheld devices continue to increase, new innovations for their application will follow. Billers will always benefit from technologies that allow them to connect more effectively with their customers and process payments faster and more accurately. The time it takes to implement those new technologies and the costs associated with operating them will always be offset by the benefits they provide. Mobile payments are similar to the online payment methods that many Billers are already familiar with, but mobile optimization benefits Billers by creating a direct line between them and their customers, faster payment processing times, and a better chance of being paid on time because of the availability of multiple payment options.