Friday, December 4th, 2020

Without a doubt, consumer demand for faster, lower cost and convenient payment methods has driven the rapid digital transformation of financial institutions. But the transformation has not been completely straightforward. This move to real-time payments and same-day ACH payments has placed a lot of pressure on operating models. It’s safe to say the traditional 9-5 is gone forever.

The Challenge of Managing Liquidity to Mitigate Risk

Managing 24/7/365 payment processing is a challenge, one that requires having immediate access to available funds. The problem is that traditional tools and strategies simply cannot provide the support needed or mitigate the risks involved.

Having excess funds sitting in the central bank to cover availability is costly, not to mention an unsustainable solution. On the other hand, underfunding an account could quickly result in customer payments being stopped or delayed; this could harm your customers and pose a reputational risk. 

Fortunately, with the right data analytics tools, financial institutions can streamline and transform the process. These tools allow them to easily turn the data into payments data insights. Combining payments data with the right data modeling, machine learning, artificial intelligence and visualization tools ultimately helps financial institutions to eliminate the guesswork. No more hoping to find the right balance between overfunding and underfunding central bank accounts.

Payment Insights Strengthen Relationships

The coronavirus has highlighted many things this year, especially when it comes to operations and customer needs. For financial relationships, it has been (for some) a hard lesson in staying on top of financial stability, social trends and the financial situation of customers. Investing time and resources into payments data has much to offer. For the financial institutions focused on how to better the future, payment data insights can be leveraged to:

• Prospect and win new customers
• Customize products to fit existing customers
• Provide more personalized service
• Enhance existing processes

The bottom line: payments data insights allow financial institutions to determine which products and solutions are the most meaningful to their customers – the ones that add the most value. Thanks to the automated monitoring capabilities, institutions can also pinpoint or avoid processing issues that might have gone unnoticed otherwise.

What is the Next Step in Payments Data Insights

Waiting on the data isn’t the issue for financial institutions. It is already available. The challenge now is for institutions to take the time to develop a strategy that applies across payment types. Experts say the secret is utilizing an integrated platform. This allows institutions to process payments and collect data across channels, payment types and clearing schemes.

With digital payments here to stay, it’s important that financial institutions jump on board and develop a system for handling the unprecedented amount of data-rich information available, along with its competitive capabilities. Otherwise, these institutions risk falling behind. 

If you’re worried you do not have the right processes and payment systems in place to remain competitive and get ahead, the first step is finding the right provider. If you’re having trouble finding the right payment provider to help you adapt to changes and secure the tools you need, consider browsing the many reviews Best Payment Providers offers. Our team of experts can help you quickly and easily compare the top payment processors on the market and choose the one that best fits your business’ unique needs.