All posts by Kristen Jason

Director of Product Marketing Kristen is responsible for marketing strategy and content for Alacriti while staying abreast of industry trends. She offers over 17 years of marketing experience, including 8 years of experience in financial technology and payments. Kristen holds a Bachelor of Science in both Psychology and Business Administration from Florida A&M University and a M.B.A from the University of Central Florida.
Alacriti Blog

Payments Modernization: An Account Holder View

You’ve heard the term payments modernization and appreciate the value. However, offering a modern payment experience can be difficult when you have a legacy infrastructure with various vendor solutions patched together. It makes for inconsistent user experiences across various payment products and services—e.g., a consumer might have a different experience when doing an A2A transfer than when they do electronic bill pay. Having a unified, consistent experience is the key to the future success of your institution. The pandemic accelerated expectations for a superior digital experience,  so convenience and modern user interfaces are also expected. But what does all of this mean from the perspective of your account holders? 

Jane needs to pay her car loan. She knows she can do it using her computer or her phone, but she has been really busy lately and hasn’t had the time to sit down and focus. She asks Alexa on her Amazon Echo Dot to make a one-time payment using her debit card and is relieved to get it paid before she incurs past due charges.

Convenient loan payments mean offering as many payment options as possible — mobile, web, IVR, agent, walk-in, Facebook Messenger, or intelligent assistants. This also means payment methods, such as ACH and card payments, and payment options such as one-time-recurring and autopay.

John needs to pay his HOA bill. He really doesn’t want to set up yet another website account and re-enter his account information, so he uses the bill pay function at his financial institution to quickly pay his bill. He has set up a recurring payment to keep himself on track since it’s only due quarterly.

It’s important to enable consumers to manage and pay their bills all in one place within their existing digital banking channels. Options should include one-time or recurring, immediate, scheduled next day, or a day in the future.

Jane needs to move money between her business accounts at two banks fairly frequently. She transfers money from her bank to her credit union account for payroll as a recurring transaction. It’s an important transaction, and she needs it to happen automatically. That way, she doesn’t miss it while she’s traveling.

On average, consumers own 5.3 accounts across all types of financial institutions. They need to be able to move money effortlessly and securely between their bank accounts, regardless of financial institution, with one-time or recurring, immediate, same day or next date, or future date options.

John used to use a major digital wallet provider to transfer money with friends but got tired of having to make a transfer to his bank account, which takes time unless he pays a fee. He started using P2P at his financial institution to share restaurant bills with his friends using just their email addresses or phone numbers. He liked knowing the funds would go directly into his account vs. using a third-party service.

Consumers take for granted the ability to quickly transfer money to friends and family members without sharing account information. However, financial institutions can offer a more secure, direct to account method of transfer, and with more capabilities such as one one-time, recurring, immediate, same day/next day, or a date in the future.

Jane switched to an insurance company that offered quick claim payments. When she filed an interruption of business claim due to the pandemic, she was thankful to receive the funds right into her account. As an owner of a restaurant, the time and stress to constantly monitor her mailbox for a paper check could have cost her the business, as she still needed to pay her lease no matter what.

Business owners can stand out by quickly and seamlessly sending digital payouts to customers using just their mobile phone numbers or email addresses. There is a clear benefit to the customers inconvenience, and saving on paper checks at the same time provides even more value.

John is setting up a new savings account at his financial institution but is funding it with a portion of another account. Using his phone, he is able to quickly open the account with the convenient funding option of being able to choose from all of his accounts. 

One study showed the abandonment rate for online account opening at 19%. Secure and convenient account funding options are part of the frictionless process needed to decrease account application abandonment.

Jane usually manages her business accounts online but is driving to the airport and doesn’t have time to go through everything on her phone to solve an issue with one of her transactions. She calls into her financial institution, and because they have a holistic view of her profile and transaction history, they are able to quickly see the employee in question she’s referring to and make a transfer for her after she is authenticated. Jane appreciates the quick service and not having to answer a bunch of questions that would take more time that she doesn’t have.

Whether on chat or on the phone, customer service staff should be empowered to quickly access profiles, view reports and transaction history, and schedule and manage payments and transfers on behalf of customers or members.

John has been using his new savings account accesses fairly infrequently. Based on that, his financial institution reaches out to him using a secure message offering him an account with a higher interest rate that allows fewer withdrawals. He appreciates the customized recommendation for his needs and makes the switch. 

In order to make faster and better business decisions, visibility into consumers’ money movement activity and behavior are key. However, just viewing one channel isn’t helpful. A consolidated view of customer and transaction information across channels, money movement services, and lines of business provides is necessary for quality analysis.

Learn more and view the Payments Modernization Update webinar playback.

Today’s legacy and siloed banking technology infrastructure limit financial institutions’ ability to rapidly innovate. It’s time to look at money movement in a new way. Alacriti’s Orbipay Unified Money Movement Services does just that. Whether it’s real-time payments,  digital disbursements, or bill pay, our cloud-based platform enables banks and credit unions to quickly and seamlessly deliver modern digital payments and money movement experiences. To speak to an Alacriti payments expert, please call us at (908) 791-2916 or email info@alacriti.com

Alacriti Blog

5 Common Misconceptions FIs Have About Real-Time Payments

*Originally published on CUInsight.com

Banks and credit unions continually have to make a choice when it comes to technology—maintain the status quo and risk losing account holders, or go through the disruption and cost of a big IT project. The U.S. has been a laggard for real-time payments adoption when compared to our global peers. However, there are some misconceptions about real-time payments that may be contributing to this. Here are five common misconceptions that FIs have about real-time payments. 

  1. I will have more to worry about when it comes to security and fraud

Anytime we have a new payment type, there is always a concern about new types of fraud. However, faster payments don’t necessarily mean faster fraud. When real-time payments first debuted in the U.K., they saw an initial spike in fraud, which quickly dissipated as the participants adjusted to the new real-time nature of the schema. 

In the U.S., The Clearing House’s (TCH) RTP® network was designed to be the safest payments platform available, taking lessons from both offshore and inside our own borders into account. For example, the RTP network is a credit push model, meaning funds can’t be pulled out of an account, but rather the sender has to push the payment from their account to be sent on their way to the recipient’s account. 

Customer education is key here. Since a payment settles instantly, they need to be certain of the recipient’s information that they are sending the payment to. Another measure is transaction limits, currently limited to $100,000, which may lead fraudsters to look for higher value options. Also, according to TCH, fraud tools are available to bank or credit union participants to plug into their systems to help better analyze transactions on the backend.  

  1. Offering real-time payments is way too expensive right now

This may have been true in the past with only on-premise solutions that had very high operating costs. However, cloud-based systems have changed the landscape completely. The total cost of ownership for a cloud-based solution is dramatically different than an on-premise solution. Also, connecting to the RTP network doesn’t mean that you have to support send and receive functionality from day one. You can start with options such as just signing up for receive only. Not only is going live with real-time payments financially feasible, but it is also not a long project. The project timeline is about 3-4 months. 

  1. We need to wait until we upgrade our core system

RTP can be very challenging for legacy cores for two reasons. One is that RTP requires 24x7x365 processing availability as a condition of entry to the network. The other is that RTP processing is at most 15 seconds. This is incompatible with a system that relies on batch processing. While having a modern core processor is ideal for a financial institution, it isn’t always feasible. However, there is something they can do in the meantime. 

A proxy service can liaise between the core and the payment rails. Most of the banks that are going live today with the TCH RTP system are actually going live through technology partners, e.g., Alacriti. As a bank or a credit union, most likely, your best path to enabling RTP for your customers or members is through a technology partner. Sometimes core processors actually provide a range of RTP-related services as well that provide an easy path to access the network. 

  1. Customer demand doesn’t justify this project yet

The value of faster payments has already been demonstrated. There has been more than 80% growth in Same Day ACH from 2019 to 2020. Banks and credit unions are seeing this demand and responding. As of February 2021, nearly 50% of TCH accounts can at least receive an RTP transaction. Also, a recent survey by PYMNTS.com revealed that 24% of consumers would switch to FIs that have real-time payment capabilities, and 30% of consumers believe that access to real-time payments is a key factor when selecting a financial institution. 

Already, TCH has seen tremendous growth for banks and credit unions connecting with real-time payments. Use cases for real-time payments for merchant funding are growing rapidly, and payroll use cases are very popular for both employers and employees. Employers can attract workers with the promise of immediate payment, and employees are able to get their payroll in unprecedented time. 

  1. It’s too early to decide how to connect to the rails; we should wait to see which one system prevails

There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to real-time payments. For instance, a financial institution that has a few very large corporate clients may not care as much about some of the real-time or faster payments solutions available, but a P2P solution or a faster payment solution that meets the needs of small businesses is a better fit. Ultimately, financial institutions have to look at what’s best for their customers or members. Marrying their needs as both senders and receivers may make interoperability concerns more important. For example, a consumer may want to pay using one channel, but that same consumer acting as a merchant might want to receive funds via a different network. 

We anticipate that rather than one network prevailing, there will be individual networks that will have their niche or their area where they serve the specific use case in question best. Work with your fintech providers and vendors to ensure you have the flexibility and access to the most settlement options possible, ensuring that each account holder can get their needs met today and in a faster future. 

Not set up for 24x7x365 availability? Read more in Real-Time Payments and the Non-24×7 Banking Core.

Alacriti’s Cosmos for RTP® enables financial institutions and organizations to quickly and seamlessly connect to The Clearing House’s RTP® network without the burden of significant infrastructure overhauls or capital investments. To speak with an Alacriti real-time payments expert, please contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.

Alacriti Blog

Open Banking: Discover Ways to Improve Customer Journeys and Experiences (Infographic)

In the cloud-first, open banking world, financial institutions need a new approach. Open API-driven architecture allows financial institutions to rapidly and cost-effectively deliver the products
your customers demand while providing a future-proof platform for innovation.

Here, we will explore how open banking improves customer journeys and experiences.

Download PDF


Alacriti Blog

What is Payments-as-a-Service?

*Originally published on CUInsight.com

You are probably already familiar with the term SaaS (Software-as-a-Service). However, you may not be as well acquainted with PaaS (Payments-as-a-Service). PaaS can also refer to Platform-as-a-Service, but here we will be exploring Payments-as-a-Service. 

PaaS (Payments-as-a-Service) – as defined by the McKinsey Global Payments Report:

While outsourcing of the full payments stack is a possibility, a new generation of technology providers has emerged allowing banks to expand quickly and modernize their payments product portfolio without incurring high upfront investment. Payments-as-a-Service (PaaS) players operate cutting-edge cloud-based platforms to provide specialized services, such as card issuing, payments clearing, cross-border payments, disbursements, and e-commerce gateways.

According to a report from Grand View Research, the global Payments-as-a-Service market size is projected to reach $25.7 billion by 2027. This rapid growth can be attributed to the digital acceleration that has already been in progress, combined with the pandemic which has increased the demand for quick money transfer methods. Due to the rising number of digital financial transactions, the need for cloud-based money transfer platforms, which make it possible to manage higher volumes of transactions faster and at low cost, has increased. 

PaaS offerings are the modern alternative to traditional payments hubs, which are built on legacy technology stacks for on-premise, batch-based deployments. These batch-based ecosystems are a huge roadblock to payment modernization, particularly for the rapidly growing real-time payments market. PaaS is cost-efficient and is designed for cloud-based, real-time 24x7x365 based ecosystems that require fast deployments. 

As we mentioned earlier, PaaS allows for growth to higher volumes of transactions at relatively low cost as you scale, freeing you from the burden of tech debt associated with traditional monolithic payments hubs. While hubs can cost anywhere from  $1m-$25m, with PaaS, you pay for what is needed over time, leading to a much lower total cost of ownership. This is the type of scalability that you should be looking for as the market for emerging payments grows. Additionally, the speed to market of PaaS solutions is a key differentiator. Traditional hubs take years to get to market, while PaaS takes weeks to get you to market.

When an organization uses PaaS, they are also outsourcing integration and compliance concerns,  freeing up resources and increasing efficiencies. Here are some key functions and features to look for in PaaS solutions:

  • ISO20022-native services provide richer, better structured, and more granular data for payments messaging
  • Real-time payments help your organization deliver real-time payment services to customers quickly and easily 
  • Embedded Fraud and risk management helps you manage risk and maintain regulatory compliance
  • Cloud-native built for speed, responsiveness, and reliability and provides you with a strong foundation for innovation
  • Intelligent payment routing options be tailored to your needs and payments scenarios
  • Reporting and analytics provides deep and actionable insights into your payment operations
  • Microservices-based architecture allows innovation and change without disruption 
  • Open APIs provide simple/fast integration with existing systems such as core banking, digital banking, fraud, and risk management
  • Advanced security features to ensure data and privacy protection

Looking to learn more about commonly used payments terms? Check out our blog explaining microservices and API architecture. 

Alacriti offers PaaS on our cloud-based Orbipay platform, which delivers solutions across the payments ecosystem, including The Clearing House’s RTP® network, Electronic Bill Presentment and Payments (EBPP), and Digital Disbursements. To speak with an Alacriti payments expert, please contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.

Alacriti Blog

Microservices and API Architecture: Lesson 3

“Microservices, or microservice architecture, is an approach to application development in which a large application is built as a suite of modular components or services.” These services run as autonomous processes and communicate with one another with, you guessed it, APIs.

Microservices are not just beloved by fintechs such as Alacriti and PayPal. They’re also used by giants such as Amazon and Netflix (who run on Amazon AWS cloud servers). You may have seen that microservices provide flexibility. But how? Upgrading a solution traditionally means doing a lot of re-testing for all aspects of the solution. Microservices allow developers to make targeted changes that have their own pathways, making large re-testing unnecessary. Another welcome benefit is that changes can be made (think enhancements and regulatory demands) without worrying about downtime or the entire solution malfunctioning. 

Teamwork is typically a good thing. However, you don’t necessarily want to have your entire IT team working on your solution every time a change is needed. In fact, different teams can work on different components at the same time, rather than having the dreaded project management dependency. Everyone on your team doesn’t have to know the entire solution. Each microservice can be implemented with different databases, software environments, and programming languages. Each service can be managed independently, and one thing changing doesn’t affect the rest of the system. 

As we mentioned in Lesson 1, a full API strategy focuses on microservices-based architecture. This allows you to add capabilities without everything breaking. A perfect example of that is real-time payments. As the demand for faster payments increases, many financial institutions are offering or planning to offer real-time payments. Microservices and open APIs make launching real-time payments without disruption possible. Microservices are the key to digital acceleration and the flexibility to keep pace with the industry. 

Alacriti offers an API First and Microservices based architecture on a cloud-based platform, Orbipay, with solutions for real-time payments, EBPP, and digital disbursements. This provides a flexible integration framework to enable easy integration with internal systems (core banking, fraud, risk management, etc.), and your organization can easily add support for new payment schemes as they become available.

To speak with an Alacriti payments expert, please contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.

Alacriti Blog

Nacha Rule Extensions

In 2020 there were several announcements made by Nacha about upcoming rules that would become effective in 2021. However, in consideration of the pandemic, Nacha has provided some leeway for compliance with these rules. So, what does this mean for your organization’s 2021 plans? Just because there have been changes from Nacha, that doesn’t mean you should delay your efforts. Here is our take, broken down by rules that stood out last year:

  1. Expanding Same Day ACH Rule

The Expanding Same Day ACH rule expands access to Same Day ACH by allowing Same Day ACH transactions to be submitted to the ACH Network for an additional two hours every business day. The new Same Day ACH processing window will go into effect on March 19, 2021. This date is still firm, with no notes about extensions for enforcement.

The Expanding Same Day ACH rule is a clear indication of how the industry is moving toward faster payments, and is likely in response to the rise in popularity of The Clearing House RTP® Network. Same Day ACH availability expanding by two hours is a significant step in the evolution of the ACH market and means that even more payments will accelerate in the ecosystem which is good for everyone.  

Other changes include reducing administrative requirements associated with obligations to obtain or provide payment-related documentation, and adopting a specific timeline for financial institutions to handle claims of unauthorized payments. The new rules also more clearly define scenarios where reversing ACH payments are not valid.

  1. Supplemental Fraud Detection Rule for WEB Debits

The effective date for the Supplemental Fraud Detection Rule for WEB Debits (WEB Account Validation) rule will still be effective on March 19, 2021. However, “Nacha will not enforce this rule for an additional period of one year from the effective date with respect to covered entities that are working in good faith toward compliance, but that require additional time to implement solutions.” 

This rule requires that originators (anyone who accepts an electronic payment) must use a commercially reasonable means to determine that the account number to be used for the debit is a valid account. Note: although Nacha will not enforce this rule until next year, this is in respect to ‘covered entities that are working in good faith toward compliance.’ If you haven’t already, it’s important to decide what method you will use to comply—an ACH prenotification, ACH micros-transaction verification, or a commercially available validation service (such as Alacriti’s Orbipay Instant Bank Account Validation). 

Since this initiative is part of a larger goal to protect against fraud on the ACH Network and financial institutions from posting fraudulent/incorrect unauthorized payments, this initiative should remain a top priority for your organization in 2021. A safer, more secure ecosystem benefits all participants and elevates the payment experience, which is key as the U.S. rapidly adopts faster payments.

  1. Supplemental ACH Data Security Rule

The Supplemental ACH Data Security rule, which requires ACH originators and third-parties to protect account information used in ACH payments by rendering it unreadable when stored electronically, now has an effective date of June 30, 2021. This rule affects parties who send out more than 2 million transactions or more in ACH payments per year. Originally, phase one (6 million or more ACH payments per year) was supposed to begin last year, with phase two (2 million or more ACH payments per year) following in 2021. The effective date has been extended by one year for both. Phase one begins on June 30, 2021, and phase two on June 30, 2022.

This will have the same treatment as the Supplemental Fraud Detection Rule for Web Debits. It will not be enforced for one year from the effective date for covered entities that are working in good faith toward compliance. Working towards compliance with this rule as soon as possible makes good business sense, as it better secures consumer account data. Payments technologies will continue to evolve, which means account data protection has to evolve as well to keep pace. 

While it’s convenient that Nacha is providing more leniency, it is important to keep your organization moving forward. With the demand for faster payments growing and the market moving to mass real-time payments adoption, it makes more sense to be proactively diligent about compliance instead of putting it on the back burner, especially in regards to fraud prevention. Staying on top of compliance, even before enforcement becomes a reality, is necessary to achieve true payments modernization and protect against fraud. 

Alacriti Blog

How CUs Can Win with EBPP and Online Banking Integration

Current events have heightened the importance of offering a flexible billing and payments solution, but for many, introducing new technologies means long and complicated technical projects. In reality, an implementation does not need to be slow or difficult when you have a seamless integration with your online banking (OLB) system. Alacriti’s Vikas Manchanda, Senior Director of Product & Strategy, explains the benefits of integration between your Electronic Bill Presentment and Payments (EBPP) solution and OLB systems here. 

  1. What does full integration between an EBPP and online banking mean?

Having an integration with an OLB means that the integration is actually on the front end of the credit union, which is the member-facing interface. It’s possible that you will not need an integration into the core if you are offering web payments only as a channel. The integration here is to the database for online banking, giving you a comprehensive modern digital banking platform. 

  1. What are the benefits of going with a vendor that is integrated with your OLB vs. a conventional 3rd party vendor?

The most significant is a frictionless bill payment experience for the member. The member should never know that they are going from a credit union site to an EBPP provider site. The credit union can offer all of the payment channels from the same UI (user interface)—bill payments, checking, saving, etc. And it’s also a more efficient experience for the client’s IT staff and leadership. When you go to a conventional third-party vendor, it won’t look like a truly seamless experience. 

  1. How does EBPP and online banking system integration make implementation a smoother process? 

When using an EBPP provider that is already certified with your credit union’s online banking system, it reduces both cost and time-to-market. The integration means the credit union doesn’t have to do any work to integrate the OLB system into the EBPP—it’s all pre-built. 

  1. What is the difference in benefits from an EBPP vendor integrating with our core system and our online banking system?

If a vendor only has a core integration, the credit union will have to work out how to hand off the customer to the vendor’s site, and it will be less seamless—the member will need to re-authenticate. The online banking system integration with EBPP is about providing a more consistent and seamless experience for members. Whereas the core integration is about the member information or data. The ideal combination is when an EBPP service provider has both types of integration. 

  1. What would a modern EBPP solution combined with our OLB mean for members? 

A modern EBPP solution provides your credit union with low-cost payment processing while providing superior member experience across all channels. That means offering the capability to accept payments from any device and with another level of convenience, such as pay-by-text and AI chatbot assistance. Members should also have access to flexible options like one-time, recurring, and autopay.

Alacriti Blog

Nacha’s New 8 Amendments

Nacha recently announced that they are adopting eight new amendments to the Nacha Operating Rules governing the use of ACH payments in 2021. The changes are a part of an effort to modernize the ACH system through infrastructure improvements (such as same day ACH), and making ACH payments easier to use for consumers, businesses, and other organizations. This is yet another indicator that faster payments are gaining momentum across the U.S., and we can expect 2021 to be a big year for faster payments. 

Overview of the Changes

Included in the changes is an extension for ACH transaction processing. A third Same Day ACH processing window has been created that expands Same Day ACH availability by 2 hours. These extra two hours are actually very significant because it means that even more payments will accelerate in the ecosystem. Banks should start to look at their operations now to take advantage of the new processing window as this will go into effect next quarter on March 19, 2021. Other components of the new window include reducing administrative requirements associated with obligations to obtain or provide payment-related documentations, and adopting a specific timeline for financial institutions to handle claims of unauthorized payments. Finally, the new rules clearly define scenarios where reversing ACH payments are not valid, and enhance Nacha’s authority to enforce the rules for flagrant violations. 

The Demand for Faster Payments 

The backdrop for these new rule amendments is the fact that The Clearing House is also driving the demand for faster payments. Financial institutions that hold 70% of demand deposit accounts (DDA) now have access to real-time payments capabilities via banking technology providers connected to the RTP® network (the U.S. real-time payment system provided by TCH). In just three short years, 150 banks and credit unions have signed up to join the RTP® network, with many more expected to in the next 12 months. 

Even with the progress that both Nacha and The Clearing House have made to real-time payment adoption in the U.S., the Federal Reserve has been building market momentum for their upcoming FedNow service (24/7/365 interbank settlement) which is slated to come online in 2023. Just this month, The Fed announced the creation of the FedNow Pilot Program. The purpose is to support the development, testing, and adoption of the FedNow Service. financial institutions and payment processors will guide the evolution of the service offering. When it launches in 2023, it will operate alongside other payment rails and provide an additional infrastructure choice to support instant payments. The reach will be significant—over 10,000 FIs that already have relationships with the Fed will have the opportunity to integrate. 

Looking Ahead 

U.S. financial institutions still have some work to do if they are going to keep up globally. Although real-time payments transactions are estimated to reach $18 trillion by 2025 (a  growth of over 500% from 2020), the U.S. is lagging well behind our global peers, with  Europe, India, and parts of APAC leading in innovation. It is estimated that the U.S. will trail in adoption, with only 8% share of the global instant payment transaction values in 2025. There are plenty of hurdles that financial institutions must overcome to reach the promised land of real-time payments, which Alacriti will cover in future discussions. However, now it is possible to offer real-time payments without ripping and replacing your current payment solutions or re-organizing your operations and infrastructure. By partnering with the right fintech, financial institutions can achieve payments modernization and true digital transformation. 

To find out how you can provide real-time payments without the disruption of removing your legacy system, contact an Alacriti real-time payments expert today.

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Alacriti Insurance Series Part III: How Digital Disbursements Extend a Lifeline While Controlling Costs

You already know that checks cost too much to send. The range can be anywhere between $4 and $15 per check. Therefore, the associated costs with sending a check, such as postage, administrative costs, and stop payments due to loss/stealing are substantial. With the influx of claims due to COVID-19 and unemployment, those costs are of course greater.

But what about the cost to customer experience? In times of financial and health hardship, waiting on a physical check is just another source of stress. These customers will be calling in to check on the status of their payment, increasing your call volume and hold times. The opportunity to disburse claims electronically is huge, research by PYMNTS found that over 52% of insurance claims were issued by paper check. 

Andre’s restaurant had a small fire. His insurance company would cover it, however, he didn’t have the cash to pay his restaurant employees and rent costs while waiting for his payout. He was anxious that he would have to shut down due to not being able to make payments on time. However, his insurance company used digital disbursements as a first option instead of a paper check. Andre was able to receive his payout as quickly as possible, and he was thankful that he could keep his business going after repairs.  

When issuing checks en masse, there is more room for error. Consider that ~$1.4 billion in stimulus checks sent by the government were accidentally sent to dead people. The IRS got much of the money back, but they certainly won’t get the money back from sending the checks in the first place and the administrative costs for reconciling those that were returned. 

Checks are the most popular method for business-to-business payments, but a rise in fraud is causing many to rethink paper checks. To give you an idea of the level of activity, successful check fraud made up 47% ($1.3 billion) of bank’s fraud losses. This is $789 million higher than 2016 reports. While sending your policyholders or hospitals checks may be a tried and true method, checks are more vulnerable to fraud because they contain a lot of critical information, leading to forgery or just having them outright stolen. 

Although we’ve all become accustomed to hearing bad news, oddly enough U.S. health insurers are reporting second quarter-earnings that are double what they were a year ago. Since insurance profits are capped under the Affordable Care Act, which requires that consumers receive rebates from the extra profits, even more payouts can be expected. Recently, The Health and Human Services Department advised insurers to think about speeding up rebates. 

Fast and efficient payouts to your policyholders is also a good PR and marketing move for insurers. Insurance companies have been under fire for refusing to pay business interruption claims during the outbreak and denying claims for COVID-19 care. At a time where insurance companies are getting a lot of negative press for the handling of claims due to the pandemic, this is an opportunity to stand out in a positive way. 

Orbipay Digital Disbursements by Alacriti allows businesses to send electronic payouts to their payees, reducing the time costs associated with paper checks. This solution includes options for clients that don’t have bank account information on-file for payouts and visibility into payout amounts, dates, and status.  

To find out how Orbipay Digital Disbursements can reduce costs while improving your policyholder experience, contact us at (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com.

Alacriti Blog

The Importance of System Integration to Drive Core Banking Transformation

When you’re looking at solutions, what does ‘fully integrated’ really mean? Here are 7 things you need to know from Alacriti’s Vikas Manchanda, Senior Director of Product & Strategy.

1. When we talk about our solutions being “fully integrated”, what are we saying to the market?

From an Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) perspective, full integration means that we are able to pull members’ loan/bill information and post a payment to their billing accounts. Those integrations can be real-time or batch based depending on the back office systems we are integrating with. Having full integration creates a frictionless bill payment experience for the member. In addition, our integrations with select credit union core systems, such as Symitar Episys® can also facilitate any customizations that are required by the financial institution.

2. Why doesn’t every fintech company simply make it easy to integrate with their systems?

Without a flexible, modern platform, fintechs may have difficulty in quickly integrating with other systems. The flexibility that has been built into the core of our Orbipay platform gives us the freedom to make strategic integrations quickly without impacting either existing clients or compromising our architecture, uptime, or performance.

3. What are the benefits of going with a vendor that has a certified integration with your core system(s)?

Perhaps the biggest benefit is a frictionless bill payment experience for the consumer without having to make expensive, complex, time consuming infrastructure updates for the financial institution. It’s also a more efficient experience for the financial institution’s IT staff and leadership.

4. What impact does integration have on implementation?

Having a certified integration reduces time to market because no proprietary or custom integration development is needed. In addition, it reduces the client’s operational cost without compromising the bill pay functionality as they won’t need to maintain any vendor-specific processes.

5. What is the downside of going with a vendor that does not have a certified integration with your system?

Going with a vendor that does not have a certified integration with your current solution can represent significantly greater costs in time, efficiency, and customer experience. Also, when there are system outages, it is extremely difficult to solve issues due to a complicated system of custom patches that would be required to make the solutions to work together.

6. It seems like the topic of core systems integration has become more popular than ever before. What could be causing this trend?

In the banking industry, financial institutions are moving towards fully digitizing their consumer platforms, commonly known as digital transformation, while also laying the groundwork for open banking. True digital transformation is only possible if all of the bank’s systems are horizontally integrated, so without an integration strategy, you can’t have an open banking strategy.

7. What is Alacriti’s integration strategy?

Alacriti built the Orbipay core with an open microservices-based modular architectural approach to integrations. This provides flexibility and a better foundation for innovation. With our industry-standard payment dataset and an API based solution to solve integration challenges, we have quickly partnered with various industry cores, digital front end experiences, and loan servicing platforms. We strive to create strategic partnerships that can make payments a stress free experience for all of our clients.

Alacriti Blog

Mobile Payments: What Are the Benefits?

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Mobile payments via digital wallets were already becoming more prevalent as consumers became increasingly comfortable with the technology, and as more merchants offered terminals that accept mobile payments from devices at the point of sale. With COVID-19, of course, contactless payments are even more appreciated. Now, 67% of shoppers want self-checkout options from mobile devices. 

So beyond having less contact during the checkout process to avoid germs, what are some of the perks of mobile payments? Our blog shares four benefits for businesses and consumers.

  1. Mobile payments are convenient.

Smartphones are owned by more than 81% of Americans and are more within reach than wallets for many. Mobile payments are a natural extension of all the daily tasks that users demand of their smartphones, from checking the weather to updating their social media accounts. Adding payments to a device already consistently used makes the process easier and more convenient than ever before.  

  1. Mobile payments offer extra layers of security.

Mobile payments reduce or eliminate the need for consumers to carry payment methods like cash and credit cards, meaning that these payment methods are less likely to be lost or stolen. Digital wallets also provide extra layers of biometric authentication such as fingerprint scans and/or facial recognition, assisting businesses in ensuring payments aren’t fraudulent. Finally, mobile payments are often tokenized during transactions. This means that sensitive account holder information is replaced by tokens that fraudsters cannot use if intercepted during payment sessions, increasing security for both businesses and consumers.

  1. Mobile payments enable fully digitized financial transactions.

Consumer payments are a critical part of the household budgeting process. Digital wallets can integrate easily into software and mobile apps that help people keep track of what they’re spending, where, and how often. In addition, electronic receipts can be issued to help consumers keep better track of their spending, reduce paper waste, and decrease costs for businesses.

  1. Mobile payments are fast.

Counting cash or waiting for a chip card transaction takes extra time. With mobile payments, a customer simply presents their mobile device and authenticates the transaction often by a simple glance at their phone for facial recognition. This creates a quicker, more user-friendly experience for consumers and helps businesses expedite transactions. 

*This is an update on an original post published July 2019

Alacriti Blog

Billers: Seven Tips to Lessen COVID-19’s Impact

COVID-19, a.k.a. Novel Coronavirus, is impacting almost every aspect of our lives. For billers, social distancing, shelter-in-place orders,  and mounting layoffs are significantly impacting their businesses and their customers. 

Now, more urgently than ever before, it’s time for billers to rethink how to make the process of paying safe, convenient and economical for customers. The answer lies in making more payments digital. 

Here are seven things billers should consider that may help lessen the impact of Novel Coronavirus: 

1. Make It Simple To Make A One Time Payment  

With a hosted webpage for one-time guest payments, customers can securely make payments without enrolling in an online portal. This is especially helpful for indirect customers who do not have established relationships, and for direct customers who have not enrolled in autopay, online services or have forgotten online credentials

2. Help Customers Avoid Late Fees 

Promote autopay program enrollment. Autopay automatically schedules and deducts recurring monthly payments from customer cards or bank accounts on due dates, ensuring late fees are not assessed. 

3. Lessen The Burden By Being Where Your Customers Are 

In an age of personalization, it is important to give customers the ability to pay in the way that is most convenient for them. Offer the gamut of payment options—ACH; credit, debit and prepaid cards; direct debit bank transfers; and eWallets like Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle.

4. Empower Your Employees To Securely Work Remotely And Provide Customers with More Consistent Service 

Authenticate individual customer service agents working from home via unique validation codes sent to specific email addresses billers specify for a limited time period, keeping contact centers up and functioning.

5. Make It Easy For Customers To Reach You

Add live chat capabilities. Customer service agents can communicate with customers about their bills and accept payments via Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant with AI-powered live chat capabilities. Customers can receive bill-ready payment-related notifications and reminders once accounts are linked. 

6. Give Customers A Break On Convenience Fees 

Waive card payment convenience fees show customers you care and encourage the use of digital payments by waiving convenience fees for digital payments made via credit and debit cards. 

7. Be Merciful During Extenuating Circumstances 

Foster goodwill by suspending payments and late fees.  You can use this time to provide relief to customers based on financial hardship for a specified time period.

Alacriti is here to help billers and their customers weather the Novel Coronavirus storm. To talk with an Alacriti EBPP expert about implementing any of these suggestions, please click here. You can also reach one of our billing experts at  (908) 791-2916 or info@alacriti.com. 

The Bottom Line: The negative effects of Novel Coronavirus on the global economy cannot be understated. However, there are small things that we can do to lessen the impact, and more importantly, make life easier for the people who support our businesses. More digital payment channels and options are mutually beneficial for both customers and billers, particularly now during the pandemic. Those making payments need safe, convenient, and economic options. At the same time, digital payments put billers in a better position to get paid.