Blog

  • 30 Nov 2023 What Are Payment Rails? When a payment is initiated online or at the point of sale, payment rails transmit instructions between relevant parties. Our blog examines four U.S. payment rails—ACH, card networks, RTP® network, and FedNow® Service.

  • 09 Aug 2023 Elevating Digital Banking: The Power of Bill Pay in Credit Unions Discover how credit unions can elevate member satisfaction and retention by repositioning bill pay at the heart of their digital experience. Learn about strategies for enhancing visibility, offering diverse features, and using modern solutions.

  • 11 May 2023 How Gen Z Pays Their Bills Zoomers want a modern payment experience that is quick, easy, and convenient. In this blog, we’ll discuss their payment preferences and how businesses and financial institutions can provide a modern payment experience that meets their needs.

  • 08 Mar 2023 Busting 5 Common EBPP Myths Electronic bill presentment and payments (EBPP) is a wide-reaching discipline that encompasses everything from mobile payments to debit cards. Our blog busts five common EBPP myths to give a better understanding of how it all works.

  • 31 Jan 2023 3 Things to Know about Payments Modernization and Digital Banking A modern payments solution and a seamless user experience are key differentiators in allowing credit unions to remain competitive. Here are 3 things to know to provide an overall great digital banking experience.

  • 19 Jan 2023 Full Coverage EBPP for Auto Insurance Auto insurance premiums are among the most predictable bill payments in consumers’ lives. A forward-thinking EBPP solution can deliver a seamless experience and help prevent the negative impacts of missed auto insurance payments.

  • 16 Jan 2023 What Are Digital Disbursements? Digital disbursements have emerged as a user-friendly alternative to paper checks for B2C payouts. What are digital disbursements? Our blog shares four things to know.

  • 12 Dec 2022 Skip-a-Pay for the Holidays The holiday season is upon us and retailers are anticipating an increase in sales. For certain customers, this is also the time of year when billers’ skip-a-payment options can be helpful. Read all about it in our blog.

  • 25 Nov 2022 Help for the Holidays—from Chatbots The holiday season can be hectic for call centers at financial institutions but chatbots can be integral to managing the call volume. In this blog, we spoke with Jenn Markus, Glia’s Director of Technology Partnerships on this topic.

  • 19 Oct 2022 3 Reasons Why You Need to Offer Pay by Text—Now A key element in accelerating receivables is to make it as easy and convenient as possible for customers or members to pay their bills. Pay by Text can deliver a bill payment experience that’s quick, convenient, and personalized.

  • 26 Jul 2022 Zoomers: How Much Do They Value Real-Time Payments? How does Gen Z feel about real-time payments? What are the general perks of RTP, and how has COVID shaped this generation’s feelings about it?

  • 20 Jul 2022 Zoomers: Traditional Financial Institutions Vs. Neobanks How does Gen Z feel about neobanking? Neobanking matches the speed of Gen Z whereas traditional financial institutions are unable to keep up.

  • 14 Jun 2022 How Do the Underbanked Pay Their Bills? Not all consumers have traditional banking relationships. When the unbanked and underbanked need to pay their bills, businesses must offer payment methods (cash, prepaid debit) and channels (kiosk, walk-in) that meet their needs.

  • 06 Jun 2022 Accepting Online Donations: 4 Things to Know Online donations are an important part of charitable gift giving and accepting these payments might be possible with existing solutions like EBPP. Here are four things to know about accepting online donations.

  • 03 Jun 2022 Alacriti Insurance Series Part II: How AI Can Help Your CX A chatbot can help insurance companies decrease the volume of calls to their call centers and also improve the policyholder experience.

  • 02 Jun 2022 Alacriti Insurance Series Part I: Accelerate Payment Receivables Current events have made it more necessary than ever before for insurance companies to partner with modern fintechs.

  • 31 May 2022 Faster Payments: Are You Ready? Bill payments have been identified as one of four use cases that could benefit the most from faster payments. Get ready to reap the rewards by offering a wide variety of new ways to pay in terms of payment channels and methods.

  • 28 Mar 2022 Real-Time Everything In banking and payments, innovation is on the horizon. In fact, the foundation for a real-time ecosystem is rapidly taking form.

  • 24 Mar 2022 Everyday Automation: How Voice Payments Are Being Heard Our voices are becoming more powerful than ever thanks to advancements in AI, NLP, intelligent personal assistants, and smart home devices. Learn how voice commands can automate everyday tasks like making on-time bill payments.

  • 22 Mar 2022 The Fastest Route to Faster Payments Success The road to faster payments doesn’t have to be a multi-year journey to the starting line. One use case, in particular, could be the fastest route to realizing the promise of faster payment’s potential disruption opportunity.

  • 01 Feb 2022 How Credit Unions Can Turn Indirect One-and-Done Members Into Direct Members Credit unions with extensive and innovative EBPP capabilities have a major opportunity to grow member relationships. Converting indirect, one-and-done members into long-term, direct members.

  • 28 Jan 2022 Offering More Payment Channels Improves the Customer Experience Offering convenience and flexibility around the payment channels your customers use enhances their experience, which leads to increased loyalty and retention, plus increases the likelihood you’ll get paid.

  • 19 Jan 2022 5 Benefits of Card Account Updater for Bill Payments Due to lost and stolen cards, expiration date changes, and mass reissuance, payment card information changes often. A credit card updater can assist prevent missed bill payments due to outdated credit card and debit card data.

  • 17 Jan 2022 The Hitchhiker’s Guide to EBPP (Infographic) Consumers always appreciate a convenient way to pay their bills. An electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) solution can get your business on the right path. Read our hitchhiker’s guide and download the infographic.

  • 12 Jan 2022 Paper or Electronic Billing: What’s Your Preference? While businesses may benefit from eliminating paper bills, some customers still depend on them. By having the right incentives, your organization can support a permanent move toward electronic bill presentment and payments (EBPP).

  • 10 Jan 2022 Payments and the Internet of Things (IoT) Consumers expect payments to work seamlessly with their connected devices as the Internet of Things (IoT) has evolved rapidly. In our blog, you'll find examples of the IoT in action, as well as what it implies for payments.

  • 07 Jan 2022 Educating Consumers on Real-Time Payments Fraud Risks When it comes to payments, fraud is always a major concern. The most effective preventative tool is consumer education. In this blog, we'll discuss how financial institutions should educate their consumers about fraud risks.

  • 13 Dec 2021 2021 Year in Review: Real-Time Payments, Crypto and BNPL Throughout 2021, our blog strived to keep clients updated on the latest industry developments and offer our views on future trends in billing and payments. As we close another unconventional year, we’ll revisit the developments we touched on earlier in the year.

  • 06 Dec 2021 How to Choose an EBPP Solution: Three Factors to Consider The bill payment process can impact customer satisfaction, so businesses need an electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) solution that delivers a great experience. Read three important factors to consider in our blog.

  • 02 Dec 2021 A Look at P2P Payments Person-to-person (P2P) payments are becoming more popular as consumers switch from physical payment methods like cash and cards to digital alternatives. Read about two of the biggest P2P solutions, Venmo and Zelle, in our blog.

  • 04 Nov 2021 Zoomers on Campus: Where I Choose to Bank There are various factors that appeal to Zoomers, from newly entering college to determining where they should bank. In this blog we discuss Zoomers and their on-campus experiences.

  • 27 Oct 2021 Zoomer Financial Habits: Loans We discuss the statistics and significance of the many upcoming loans and financial services needs for the Zoomer generation in this blog.

  • 25 Oct 2021 Mobile Payments: What Will It Take to Convince Consumers? Mobile payments are becoming more commonplace, but US adoption continues to be slow. What will it take to convince consumers? Our blog discusses how accessibility, merchant acceptance, and disruption can help shift behavior.

  • 05 Oct 2021 Paperless Billing: Why Make the Switch? Paper statements provide many benefits, but electronic billing can deliver those benefits and more. Here are four reasons why businesses should continue encouraging their customers toward electronic bill presentment.

  • 20 Sep 2021 4 Ways Chatbots Are Revolutionizing Electronic Bill Payments Chatbots are revolutionizing the entire customer journey, right down to bill payments. Our blog highlights four ways that businesses can benefit from implementing chatbots for electronic bill payments.

  • 16 Sep 2021 Why Should Businesses Offer Flexible Payment Options? Payments are a crucial component of the customer experience but can sometimes be an afterthought. Flexible payment options can help businesses get paid faster, reduce bad debt, and adapt quickly to changing customer expectations.

  • 09 Sep 2021 4 Ways to Reduce Friction in Bill Payments (Infographic) Consumers expect seamless bill payment experience.

  • 01 Sep 2021 EBPP for Commercial Clients—How Banks Can Defend Their Turf Treasury services is a complex labyrinth of needs that goes beyond having good rates and available credit. It gets increasingly complicated by the introduction of FinTech players. What can banks do to defend their turf?

  • 24 Aug 2021 Zoomers: Banks Vs. Credit Unions In our last blog, you learned about the Zoomer generation. Now, to be more specific, how are Zoomers interacting with their banks and credit unions? Here is what you need to know.

  • 16 Aug 2021 Zoomer Generation’s Core Qualities and Values FI's face the challenge of making their existing customers happy while attracting younger customers. The first step is to understand the demographic you’re targeting. In this blog, we explore the qualities of the Zoomer generation.

  • 10 Aug 2021 3 Applications of Machine Learning in Financial Services Advances in machine learning have game-changing implications for financial services. Learn how ML is transforming customer service, personal finance, and fraud and risk management in our blog.

  • 04 Aug 2021 Improving Loan Portfolio Performance Discover three ways to improve your loan portfolio performance with consumer experience top-of-mind.

  • 29 Jul 2021 Bill Payments on Mobile Devices: A 5-Step Approach A holistic, mobile-based bill payments strategy includes components like optimized websites, Guest Pay, text-based bill payments, messaging apps, and biller apps. Learn how an EBPP solution can help.

  • 09 Jul 2021 Report: Modernizing Payments Infrastructure in the Era of Real-Time Payments We highlight some of the key points from our Payments Infrastructure Outlook: Real-Time Payments Take the Lead report with Mercator Advisory Group.

  • 08 Jul 2021 Ditching Paper Checks for Digital Disbursements: 5 Use Cases Paper checks are still a go-to for personal and professional debts, but they have their flaws. Here are five use cases where Digital Disbursements can eliminate paper checks for B2C payouts.

  • 07 Jul 2021 Best Practices to Prevent Payment Fraud As payments get faster and more rails become available, fraud is a reasonable concern. Here’s how to avoid it.

  • 29 Jun 2021 Biometrics in Payments—Dropping our Collective Masks More businesses are incorporating biometric authentication into their user experiences, including payments. Here are the top five we’re keeping an eye on.

  • 28 Jun 2021 New Players, New Games The best way to stay ahead is to prioritize your digital transformation. Offering ease-of-use and speed to compete with new competition is absolutely necessary and is a natural complement to the security already provided.

  • 24 Jun 2021 Digital Transformation - Your Guidebook Has Arrived Everyone's digital transformation journey is different. This guidebook discusses three phases that may make it more manageable and focused to help bring customers and members better experiences faster.

  • 15 Jun 2021 Fintech Disruption: Creating Opportunities for Financial Institutions Fintech can help financial institutions deliver better customer experiences. This blog examines opportunities that fintech can help unlock in faster payments, conversational commerce, and data and analytics.

  • 02 Jun 2021 Preparing for Payment System Outages Payment system outages are inevitable. But what can be done to prevent outages and their impact?

  • 17 May 2021 Payments Modernization: An Account Holder View Having a unified, consistent experience is the key to the future success of your institution. But what does that mean from the perspective of your account holders?

  • 11 May 2021 Conversational AI for the Customer Experience Experts predict the proliferation of artificial intelligence will be more impactful than the Internet. Learn how artificial intelligence can help your business streamline operations and deliver a better customer experience.

  • 22 Apr 2021 Chatbots Gone Rogue: How Weak Chatbot Security Enables Bad Actors Chatbots have become a standard practice in customer service. Learn from these past chatbot security flaws and discover how to maximize your investment in AI while minimizing data privacy risks in this blog.

  • 05 Apr 2021 What Faster Payments Can Do for Your Industry Whether it’s a financial institution, merchant, government entity, or individual, there are use cases for faster payments that touch all of us. Alacriti’s Payment Practice Lead, Mark Ranta, discusses more in this blog.

  • 29 Mar 2021 Bill Pay the Mobile Way Customers’ expectations for seamless user experiences on their mobile devices are only getting higher. Can your electronic billing and payments solution keep up? Here are four ways to support bill payments via mobile technology.

  • 25 Mar 2021 Real-Time Payments and the Non-24x7 Banking Core 24/7/365 access to services is an often noted benefit of the digital era. Organizations that thrive in an always-online digital environment have gained a significant edge in the past year.

  • 15 Mar 2021 5 Ways Chatbots Are Redefining Customer Service With some 300,000 chatbots on Facebook Messenger, how are businesses using them to deliver better customer service? Here are five ways chatbots are being leveraged for positive brand interactions, including bill payments.

  • 12 Mar 2021 What is Payments-as-a-Service? You’ve probably heard of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) but what about PaaS (Payments-as-a-Service)? We define PaaS and outline its key functions and features in this blog.

  • 01 Mar 2021 Financial Institutions Are Investing in Chatbots Financial Institutions are deploying chatbots because they can improve the digital experience and help reduce costs. In this blog, we make the case for why Financial Institutions should consider investing in chatbots.

  • 22 Feb 2021 Why RTP, Why Now? Everyone acknowledges the potential of real-time payments, but it’s still relatively new. So why use RTP?

  • 16 Feb 2021 Poky Stimulus Checks—An Argument for Payment Modernization The U.S. has a disbursements problem characterized by a reliance on physical payment media, vague or siloed payments data, and a lack of multichannel support. In this blog, we discuss how to solve this problem.

  • 04 Feb 2021 Nacha Rule Extensions Nacha has provided some leeway for compliance to their rules that were supposed to become effective in 2021. So, what does this mean for your organization?

  • 01 Feb 2021 How CUs Can Win with EBPP and Online Banking Integration Implementing new technologies does not need to be difficult when you have seamless integration with your OLB system. We explain the benefits of integration between your EBPP solution and OLB systems in this blog.

  • 01 Dec 2020 Faster Payments: What it Means for Credit Unions (Webinar Recap) The need for convenient and fast online payments has never been greater. For credit unions, this means getting ahead of the curve. Despite the growing demand, the burning question remains: Where do we start?

  • 13 Oct 2020 Alacriti Insurance Series Part III: How Digital Disbursements Extend a Lifeline While Controlling Costs Insurance companies looking to deliver fast and efficient payouts to policyholders should consider digital disbursements. This blog makes the case for why.

  • 22 Sep 2020 Shortening the Distance Between You and Your Customers Customer-centricity is a key tenet to any digital transformation project. But what does that actually mean? For us, it means meeting your customer, where and when they want to be met, with how they want to pay.

  • 09 Sep 2020 The Importance of System Integration to Drive Core Banking Transformation What do the words "fully integrated" mean from an Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) perspective? Here's a list of seven questions and answers to help you get started.

  • 03 Sep 2020 Transparency While Being Invisible With new real-time payments emerging, the demand customers have to know where their money is still holds true.

  • 28 Aug 2020 How is COVID-19 Accelerating Digital Adoption In Payments? Part ll COVID-19 is driving a mass movement towards new technologies and a demand for more innovation.

  • 13 Aug 2020 Mobile Payments: What Are the Benefits? Mobile payments via digital wallets are more commonplace than ever. What are some of the perks of mobile payments? Our blog shares four benefits for businesses and consumers.

  • 02 Jul 2020 How is COVID-19 Accelerating Digital Adoption in Payments? COVID-19 is changing how consumers pay for things, which is one area where some of the lasting impacts may be felt permanently.

  • 15 Apr 2020 Billers: Seven Tips to Lessen COVID-19’s Impact The negative effects of COVID-19 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.

  • 04 Mar 2020 Hyper-Customization: What Does it Mean for EBPP? Hyper-customization is the next wave of EBPP customer engagement. Your business can capitalize with a wide range of acceptance options and channels, account updater services, and personalized data infused into the payments process.

  • 20 Feb 2020 Benefits of Cloud Computing with AWS Amazon Web Services (AWS) helps businesses thrive by freeing up financial and IT resources, increasing speed and agility, and reducing business risk. With AWS, organizations are better equipped to address market needs and demands.

  • 30 Jan 2020 A Look Back at 2019 and What's Ahead: Orbipay EBPP Alacriti hosted a webinar reviewing 2019 enhancements made to its flagship electronic bill presentment and payment solution Orbipay EBPP. An overview of the offering’s 2020 roadmap was also provided.

  • 13 Jan 2020 Adopting a Loan Payments Solution: Lessons Learned from Tech CU (Webinar Recap) Making loan payments easier for members is key for every credit union. Alacriti co-hosted a webinar with WesPay and Tech CU to discuss the benefits of implementing Orbipay EBPP to better their member experience.

  • 08 Jan 2020 Six Payments Trends to Watch in 2020 Six payments trends to watch in 2020 include unbridled industry change, cloud computing, unified commerce, frictionless data-rich payment experiences, real-time payments and increasing data security and privacy regulation.

  • 18 Dec 2019 2019 Year in Review: Faster Payments, Digital Disbursements, and CAU In 2019, we reported on significant developments in the billing and payments ecosystem in areas including faster payments, digital disbursements, and card account updater. Here’s a look back at key themes we explored in our blog.

  • 04 Dec 2019 The 6 Critical Components of Effective Healthcare Billing Patient payments are a critical revenue source for healthcare providers. Our blog outlines six critical components of effective healthcare billing and how they can facilitate patient payments.

  • 06 Nov 2019 What We Learned at AFP 2019 Alacriti attended sessions at AFP 2019 dedicated to the latest in payments. Our blog shares lessons learned about paper checks, refunds, and why it’s more important than ever to embrace payments innovation.

  • 24 Oct 2019 What’s Driving Consumer Adoption of Digital Payments? Digital payments provide benefits including enhanced security, speed, and convenience. Our blog investigates key reasons why today’s consumers are adopting digital payments as an alternative to traditional methods like cash.

  • 23 Oct 2019 How to Streamline Auto Finance Payments in 4 Easy Steps On-time car payments can be as crucial to people’s well-being as paying their mortgage and utility bills. Here are four ways a forward-thinking EBPP solution can help auto finance customers stay current on their auto loans.

  • 02 Oct 2019 A Better Member Journey Is Just a Chat(bot) Away (Webinar Recap) Chatbots are a hot topic for organizations across all industries, including credit unions. Alacriti co-hosted a webinar with NACUSO to discuss the benefits of chatbots for credit unions. Read key takeaways in our blog.

  • 15 May 2019 5 Takeaways from NACHA PAYMENTS 2019 Alacriti was honored to attend and speak at NACHA PAYMENTS 2019. Here are five takeaways we learned at the conference related to artificial intelligence (AI), payments fraud, chatbots, paper checks, and biometrics.

  • 18 Apr 2019 4 Takeaways from CS Week 2019 At CS Week 2019, Alacriti attended sessions dedicated to the latest customer service trends in utilities. Here are four themes we heard related to artificial intelligence, emerging payment channels, and self-service technology.

  • 07 Mar 2019 Webinar Recap: Why businesses need to embrace Digital Disbursements. Now. There are significant benefits to be gained by businesses that transition away from paper checks and toward Digital Disbursements for B2C payouts. Our webinar recording makes the case for making the switch.

  • 14 Feb 2019 A Payments Experience Your Customers Will Love It’s Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. Your organization’s bill payments experience should show your customers a little love, too. How can it do that? Here are three tips to help get you started.

  • 29 Jan 2019 What’s ahead for EBPP in 2019? Alacriti’s electronic bill presentment and payments (EBPP) experts reflect on key industry developments in 2018 and share their thoughts on what the future might hold for EBPP in 2019.

  • 16 Jan 2019 3 EBPP Resolutions for 2019 How can your business resolve to make bill payments simpler and smarter in 2019? Here are three electronic bill presentment and payments (EBPP) resolutions to consider.

  • 27 Nov 2018 AI Steers Auto Finance in a New Direction, and Other Ideas from the Auto Finance Summit Last month, Alacriti attended the 18th annual Auto Finance Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada. Professionals from across the auto finance world convened for three days of engaging presentations and idea exchanges about all things auto finance. Here’s what we learned.

  • 09 Nov 2018 5 Things We Learned at AFP 2018 Alacriti attended and exhibited at AFP’s 2018 conference in Chicago. Here are five things we learned during the payments-related presentations that were delivered at the event.

  • 26 Sep 2018 Forget the Login with One-time Bill Payments Consumers are managing more online accounts than ever before. One-time guest payments can simplify the bill payment process by giving customers an easy way to make online payments without needing to create user accounts.

  • 18 Jun 2018 EBPP, From Checks to Voice Payments Every channel is an important part of a complete billing and payments solution. The best approach is to offer a comprehensive bill payment experience that makes things easy for customers no matter how they choose to pay.

  • 12 Jun 2018 5 Steps for Simplifying Utility Payments Utility customers are looking for a bill payment experience that’s on par with other retailers and service providers. Here are five ways that the right EBPP solution can help simplify billing and streamline payments for utilities.

  • 15 May 2018 CS Week 2018 Recap Alacriti was honored to exhibit and speak at CS Week 2018. Here’s what we learned at our session on how utility companies can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and chatbot technology for bill payments and customer service.

  • 09 May 2018 NACHA PAYMENTS 2018 Recap Alacriti recently participated in NACHA’s PAYMENTS 2018 conference. Here’s a summary of our sessions dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and chatbot technology.

  • 09 Apr 2018 Debit Cards, Credit Cards, and Bill Payments Credit cards and debit cards are convenient ways for customers to pay their bills. Learn how these payment methods and flexible billing options like automatic payments and payment plans can create seamless customer experiences.

  • 22 Feb 2018 Are You Adapting to Consumer-Driven Payments? Technology is changing consumers’ expectations when it comes to payments. When retailers and billers face resource constraints that prohibit them from adapting to this rapidly changing landscape, collaborative partners can help.

  • 01 Feb 2017 Healthcare Providers and the Transition to a Digital World Patients are facing higher out-of-pocket medical expenses as healthcare costs rise. Bill payments are one area where healthcare providers can make cost-effective improvements that increase patient engagement and satisfaction.