What’s driving the push toward digital payment platforms, and what challenges are still slowing any transitions?

The goal of any digital banking platform should be simplicity across the entire experience. This process of simplicity starts at the beginning, when you’re researching which new solutions might work best for your needs. While digitization affects all aspects of banking strategy, a subset of this discussion involves new innovations on the payment side of transactions.

Here’s how a digital banking system, and specifically its payment capabilities, can make the banking strategy simpler for you and your customers.

Taking advantage of smartphone capabilities

More business executives are mobile, especially as cloud computing becomes more prevalent. Digital payments systems can adapt to this new reality, utilizing responsive design and centralized organization to improve the overall user experience. Customers expect mobile systems to be fully responsive, so they don’t need to scroll through desktop-designed pages.

Ultimately, a modern, digital payments system provides access to your data in whatever environment you choose – and then get back to your work without needless delay.

Better data to make better decisions

Too much data can paralyze an organization, and as payments becoming increasingly digital, you’ll need a format to analyze and predict future actions. Many digital payments systems come with dashboards to track transactions and results, but you’ll want to seek options that also alert you if you spend too much or have an excess of cash flow. This helps prevent unwanted shortages or severe fraud attacks.

An integrated payments dashboard, which brings payments data into one easy view, will help identify any actionable steps to be taken. A modern payment system is a fluid, evolving entity. It will incorporate new data every day to further refine, automate and identify new recommendations, while helping to help direct future actions.

Simpler onboarding

When an organization is ready to set up their digital payments platform, the last thing they expect is a mound of paperwork. The onboarding process should be simple, fast, and within customer expectations.

Modern payment systems use paperless communications and digital e-signature systems to obtain necessary documentation. Additional communications are housed in an integrated onboarding system, connected with your ERP and include self-service options to automate certain processes. The entire onboarding experience is thus shortened and simplified.

Smarter, simpler and secure transactions

The act of sending and receiving payments itself benefits from digitization. The RTP® system, which offers a brand-new payment rail that supports payments and remittance information on the same track, can process settlement of funds in seconds. This helps both you and your customer avoid any elongated turnaround times like those from paper-based payments.

A unified digital payments system can also help address security concerns, especially if customers are relying on mobile devices for accessing systems. With features like multi-level approvals, multi-factor authentication, biometric access, and automated payment reviews for suspect transactions, a modern system helps to combat rising payments fraud risks.

How to get to “easy”

The first step in the journey towards faster and simpler banking is determining where this approach might fit into your broader strategy.

If you’re interested in discussing that first step, contact your treasury management relationship manager.