Fraud Fears Spur Payment Factory Interest, says SunGard
The quest for strong internal controls to combat fraud is the primary factor for treasurers implementing a payment factory solution, according to SunGard.
It is a key finding of the company’s newly-released 2015 Payments Study, sub-titled
‘Putting Fraud and Fees Under the Payment Factory Microscope’
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One in three treasurers surveyed say that gaining improved controls would be the key driver for them to embark upon a payments and connectivity project. The next most common drivers were to reduce costs (27%) and to improve visibility to cash (20%).
Another notable finding from the study is that 80% of companies are operating some sort of centralised model for payments, but only 16% are using a payment factory approach. “This highlights the difference that exists between having a centralised group and operating a truly centralised technology,” comments SunGard. “Without a centralised platform, complexity is still a challenge.”
“When a company has thousands of bank accounts sitting in 20 or more locations across multiple subsidiaries and platforms, it stands to reason that visibility is a challenge,” says Jerome Albus, senior vice president (SVP), payments and messaging, SunGard.
“Not only is fraud a concern, but also the ability to gain a better view to cash in these accounts. We have actually uncovered hidden funds sitting in bank accounts with no level of visibility at all while we were implementing our payment factory solutions for customers. Becoming a true payment factory should be a goal to alleviate these concerns.”