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Embracing electronic payments with FIS Integrated Payables
HOW 4 CORPORATES OPTIMIZED THEIR AP PAYMENT PROCESSES
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ESG on the rise
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Integrated software boosts efficiency
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Investors demand digital communications
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Scout Energy upgraded to secure payments for vendors and owners
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Russell Sigler saw ROI in 30 days by increasing electronic payments
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Kings County Office of Education left the check behind with move to virtual cards
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PBG lowered costs and man-hours by implementing integrated payables
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Insurance Risk Management without Compromise
PBG LOWERED COSTS AND MAN-HOURS BY IMPLEMENTING INTEGRATED PAYABLES
Did you know?
Jonathan Silverman Director of insurance solutions, Microsoft
Insurers are recognizing the value of having access to unlimited compute capacity for risk modeling and . . . making substantial cost savings with infrastructure related to the risk modeling workload.
"Given the special knowledge and skills required for our print operations, the right decision for us was to shift this work to a payments expert.”
- Susan Cotto, Senior Analyst, Pepsi Bottling Group
Lowered overall cost to produce checks and W9s by about 25% Freed financial operations staff to focus on other areas; while 2.5 full-time people were required before, now only three-quarters of one person’s time is needed to manage internal check handling processes Automated full-service vendor commission payments, printing commission information on check stubs and saving PBG 200 man-hours of labor in the process
The Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. (PBG) is the world’s largest manufacturer, seller and distributor of Pepsi-Cola beverages – which includes some of the world’s most recognized consumer brands. PBG generates nearly $11 billion in annual sales. They operate in seven countries, accounting for more than one-half of the Pepsi-Cola beverages sold in North America and about 40% of the Pepsi-Cola system volume worldwide. Until choosing FIS® Integrated Payables, PBG printed all AP checks and W9 letters in-house. This internal function produced roughly 900,000 checks and 50,000 W9s. A dedicated production team worked to produce anywhere from 800 to 20,000+ checks in a single day. PBG found that a third party could get the job done faster and cheaper. One significant factor was the postal savings to be gained through a third party with access to special postal sorting capabilities and volume discounts.
Insurance companies are more aware than ever of the wealth of information at their disposal. Their ability to extract value from data using advanced analytics has become critical to competitive advantage.
For actuaries, the pressure is on to gain greater insights from big data and rapidly transform modeling results into business intelligence.
“Given the special knowledge and skills required for our print operations, the right decision for us was to shift this work to a payments expert.”
RESULTS
Rick Yuan Head of actuarial modeling and transformation, AIA Group
We needed to run a projection tens of thousands of times to come out with a range of possibilities. One solution was to purchase more hardware, but the obvious winner was move to the public cloud. The beauty is you can tap that capacity when you need it and switch it off when you’ve finished the calculation.
KINGS COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION LEFT THE CHECK BEHIND WITH MOVE TO VIRTUAL CARDS
Kings County Office of Education oversees 13 school districts in Kings County, CA which operate their own accounts payable (AP) departments. Each of these departments keyed their payment information into a central accounts payable system. The central accounts payable team then executed payments weekly. This was an operational burden from a check inventory, printing and mailing cost standpoint as well as on staffing. The agency learned that there was an alternative to ACH payments — virtual cards. Virtual cards are single-use, unique card numbers with fixed credit limits that are set based on a given company’s payment instructions. Companies can use virtual cards in lieu of paper checks to securely pay invoices and AP disbursements either online or over the phone. They settled on Integrated Payables because it offered the ability to convert checks to virtual cards through a comprehensive vendor enrollment program, along with the ability to make a card payment for the exact amount so they wouldn’t run into any reconciliation issues. Plus, it reduced the time the AP staff spends on printing and mailing checks, freeing them to focus on strategic projects.
With so much costly, inflexible IT to manage, your on-site infrastructure could be holding you back.
“By migrating checks to virtual cards via Integrated Payables payments platform, we have been able to migrate 17 percent of the checks we targeted for conversion to virtual card. We have also been able to reduce our payment processing costs and are earning an average of $100,000 in annual rebates.”
Reduced annual check printing and mailing costs by $2,300 Reduced number of inbound calls from vendors to one to two calls per week Improved reconciliation Improved security, control and risk migration Streamlined processes Improved operational efficiencies
- Jamie Dial, Director, Business Service, Kings County Office of Education
"By migrating checks to virtual cards via Integrated Payables payments platform, we have been able to migrate 17 percent of the checks we targeted for conversion to virtual card. We have also been able to reduce our payment processing costs and are earning an average of $100,000 in annual rebates.”
Reduced payment processing costs Reduced annual check printing and mailing costs by $2,300 Reduced number of inbound calls from vendors to one to two calls per week Improved reconciliation Improved security, control and risk migration Streamlined processes Improved operational efficiencies
RUSSELL SIGLER SAW ROI IN 30 DAYS BY INCREASING ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
“Virtual card rebates have more than offset check printing costs and have allowed our AP department to generate revenue that goes directly to our bottom line.”
- Andy Abbott, Asst. Controller, Russell Sigler Incorporated
Migrated a portion of payments to virtual cards Achieved ROI in the first 30 days Earned monthly rebates Outsourced check printing and mailing Improved operational efficiencies Increased vendor satisfaction
Russell Sigler Incorporated supplies carrier residential and commercial equipment, including rooftop and split system air conditioning units, air handlers and chillers. They also provide HVAC and building automation systems for carrier and non-carrier systems and projects. Russell Sigler’s accounts payable team was printing 300 checks per week using an in-house check printer. They chose to optimize their payments processes and migrate checks to electronic to reduce payments processing costs and potentially earn monthly rebates with the Integrated Payables solution. Ongoing vendor management is an added value to Russell Sigler. Managing existing vendor relationships for those that moved to electronic payments would have been time consuming for the company’s AP team. FIS not only enrolls vendors for electronic payments, but the company’s vendor team also handles inbound inquiries. This allows Russell Sigler’s accounts payable team to focus on more strategic initiatives.
– Andy Abbott, Asst. Controller, Russell Sigler Incorporated
SCOUT ENERGY UPGRADED TO SECURE PAYMENTS FOR VENDORS AND OWNERS
As oil and gas companies migrate from costly check disbursements to electronic payments, many are adopting ACH payments or virtual card payments, also known as vCards. With the Integrated Payables solution, oil and gas companies can securely pay vendors and owners using ACH or vCard — all while earning rebates and reducing costs associated with printing and mailing paper checks. In instances where electronic doesn’t work, FIS also offers a lower cost check printing service. Before migrating to electronic AP and revenue accounting payments through FIS, Scout Energy made payments to vendors and owners solely using paper checks written in-house. They were growing aggressively and check runs were taking too much time. FIS and Scout Energy together arrived on an approach that worked electronic payments into their existing accounting approval process. After just six months, Scout Energy moved a significant portion of its payments to electronic and earned sizable rebates as a result.
Reduced operational costs Paid vendors and owners faster Improved tracking and auditing
- Brandon Alex, Financial Analyst, Scout Energy
“Rebates have worked out well. Once we got over the threshold, this venture became profitable. Vendors and owners like the idea of electronic payments too.”
We’ll handle the technology so you can concentrate on what you do best
FIS Integrated Payables supports what’s now and next in payments. It’s a secure and efficient platform that converts outgoing payments from paper to electronic and automatically posts incoming payments against open invoices to fully support corporate digitization efforts – reducing operational expenses and mitigating risk.
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About FIS
FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks and capital markets firms globally. Our more than 55,000 people are dedicated to advancing the way the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertise and data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS is a Fortune 500® company and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index.
