Results from the Industry Survey by the Remittance Coalition: A Presentation to X9C & X9AB Members

Transcription

1 Results from the Industry Survey by the Remittance Coalition: A Presentation to X9C & X9AB Members Deb Hjortland & Mary Hughes Payments Information & Outreach Office Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis January 7, 2013

2 Disclaimer The opinions expressed are those of the individual presenters & not those of the Federal Reserve System or any Federal Reserve Bank 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 2

3 Agenda 1. The Remittance Coalition 2. Survey Objectives, Methodology & Respondent Profile 3. Survey Findings 4. How Findings Are Being Leveraged 5. Conclusions 3

4 1. The Remittance Coalition 4

5 Remittance Coalition Participation National group of associations, small & large businesses, financial institutions, vendors, standards development organizations & others Formed in members & growing Mission Work together to solve problems related to processing remittance information associated with B2B payments in order to promote use of electronic payments & straight through processing (STP) 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 5

6 2. Survey Objectives, Methodology & Respondent Profile 6

7 Survey Objectives 1) Assess industry perception of major obstacles to increased use of electronic payments & remittance processing 2) Gather feedback on which of five proposed solutions would be most effective in facilitating this 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 7

8 Invitations & Responses invitations with link to survey were sent by Institute of Financial Operations, Association for Financial Professionals, Credit Research Foundation, & National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals, week of June 5, 2012; survey closed July 5, 2012 Association of Small Business Development Centers invitations were distributed June 22, 2012, & that survey closed July 20, 2012 Total of 662 respondents 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 8

9 Job Functions of Respondents Half of survey respondents are responsible for accounts receivable & 39% selected treasury/cash management as a main responsibility Accounts receivable Treasury/Cash Management Accounts payable Accounting/General Ledger Primary Responsibilities (n= 660) Purchasing card Procurement Other 5% 12% Note: multiple responses permitted Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 9 15% 19% 16% 39% 50%

10 Size of Respondent Organizations Annual Revenue N=646 Small <$50M, 22% Large >$500M, 53% Medium $50- $500M, 26% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 10

11 2/3 Use All or Mainly Checks to Make & Receive Payments Primary Method for Making Payments Primary Method for Receiving Payments N=654 N=656 Mainly card, 3% Other, 3% Do not know, 8% Other, Mainly 7% card, 3% Do not know, 3% Mainly ACH, 26% All or mainly check, 60% Mainly ACH, 23% All or mainly check, 65% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 11

12 Checks Are Primary Method for All Organization Sizes Primary Method for Making Payments Primary Method for Receiving Payments Large >$500M (N=297) 2% 38% 56% 2% 28% 62% All or Mainly Check Medium$50-500M (N=159) 2% 23% 70% 1% 19% 71% Mainly ACH Small <$50M (N=132) 14% 5% 79% 17% 6% 73% Mainly Card Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 12

13 Businesses View Current AP & AR Processes as Effective Effectiveness of Internal Processes & Banking Services to Meet AP Needs Effectiveness of Internal Processes & Banking Services to Meet AR Needs Extremely effective 9% 7% 8% 7% Very effective 53% 44% 43% 39% Somewhat effective 35% 45% 45% 47% Not very effective 2% 4% Banking Services N=540 4% 6% Banking Services N=615 Not at all effective 1% 1% Internal Processes N=545 0% 1% Internal Processes N=621 Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 13

14 3. Survey Findings 14

15 Businesses Want to Use More E-Payments Interest in Making & Receiving More E-Payments (n=635) High 46% Moderate 44% Low 7% Other/Do not know 3% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 15

16 Barriers to Increased Use of Electronic Payments It is difficult to convince our customers &/or suppliers to send/receive payments electronically 63% Our back office systems do not integrate easily with electronic payments Insufficient internal IT resources Customers/suppliers cannot accept/receive electronic remittance information 33% 38% 44% It is difficult to verify correct payment receipt 22% Not a priority for senior management 20% (n = 609) Electronic payments cost more 20% Continued on next slide Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 16

17 E-Payment Barriers, continued Concern about fraud with e-payments 15% n=609 Do not want to lose check float We do not have easy access to partner's bank & account numbers Our bank does not provide services we need Paper works well, no need to automate We do not want to share our bank account info 9% 10% 10% 13% 13% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 17

18 Businesses Interested in More E-Remittance Methods of Receiving Remittance Data Directly from Trading Partner (n= 481) Document that needs to be rekeyed 88% Interest in Using More E-Remittance (n=646) High 50% Through portal or network 34% Moderate 36% Electronic file w/ automatic reconciliation 32% Low 9% Some other method 12% Other/Do not know 5% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 18

19 Many Common Pain Points with Remittance Processing Needed data elements missing from files received Receive electronic remittance files in different formats We do not have necessary IT resources Costly staff time for entering remittance data Insufficient back office support 43% 40% 38% 36% 32% n=634 Do not share common business practices with customers/suppliers Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent % Continued on next slide

20 Remittance Pain Points, continued Back office systems unable to process electronic remittance data Handling errors from manual processing 23% 22% Not priority for senior management 19% Current remittance process works well 13% Delays in collecting funds with paper 13% n=634 Bank does not provide needed services 10% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 20

21 What Respondents Said Remitters cannot or will not send quality remittance data in the payment addenda. Separate forces a completely manual process. Missing data elements & lack of consistency in formatting cause us to post remittances to our customers late & often requires communication back & forth between us & the customer to determine what they are paying. Multiple formats for remittance information create a reconciliation nightmare it is not easy to automate. Many of our vendors are small and/or located in remote areas & do not accept or receive electronic remittance information Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 21

22 Solutions Business Practitioners Want 63% 64% 54% 70% 63% 48% 37% 26% 22% 27% Develop common business practices & processes Provide education on e-payments & remittance Work with technology solution vendors to enable STP Develop a secure, partner reference directory (B2B Directory) Develop a universal remittance warehouse Preferred Solution - Ranked 1 or 2; N=378 Rated Critical or Important to Have Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 22

23 Lack of Common Business Practices & Processes Only 1 in 10 say customers & suppliers who use EDI 820/STP 820 remittance formats use them in standard way; & only 1 in 20 say their suppliers/customers share the same set of discount & adjustment codes Standard Use of EDI 820/STP 820 Remittance Format N=499 Standard Use of Deduction Codes N=497 Don't Know or Not Applicable 60% Don't Know or Not Applicable 41% No, & Don't Know if It Is a Problem 5% No, & Don't Know if It Is a Problem 11% No, But It Is Not a Problem 9% No, But It Is Not a Problem 26% No & It Is a Problem 14% No & It Is a Problem 17% Yes 11% Yes 5% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 23

24 Customer Education Needed Survey respondents say more education is needed to increase adoption of electronic payments & automated processing of remittance data; greatest need is to educate customers, followed by employees, & then suppliers. Regardless of function or industry, respondents consistently felt that customer education is a priority 73% 70% 51% 57% 46% 46% 3% 3% 4% 5% Customers Employees Suppliers Other None Electronic Payments N=564 Remittance N=563 24

25 Most Helpful Educational Topics Tools to help us work better with customers so they pay us electronically 45% Best practices for reconciling ACH payments & remittance info 35% Choosing right electronic payment 33% Using new extended remittance information data in wires 31% Electronic payment tools for suppliers 28% How to work with our bank to make the most of electronic payments & remittance data exchange 28% (n= 521) Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 25

26 Most Helpful Educational Topics, continued Best practices for implementing ACH payments 24% Understanding how to use EDI 820/ STP 820 format 20% Best practices for reconciling wire payments & remittance info 17% Best practices for reconciling commercial card (P-card) payments & remittance info 12% Best practices for implementing cards 6% (n= 521) Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 26

27 Current Technology Solutions Are Not Meeting Business Needs Current Software Capability Manual Intervention to Correct E-Remittance Software accepts e- remittance (n=487) Software generates e-remittance (n=490) 39% 43% Almost never, 11% Do not know, 24% Less than 25%, 22% Always, 13% More than 50%, 15% Between 50% & 25%, 15% 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 27

28 Technology Solutions Are Needed Does Lack of Automated Solutions Make it Harder to Use More E-Payments & E-Remittances? N=148 Yes 61% Importance of Technology to Exchange More E-Payments & E-Remittances N=485 Critical to have soon Important 11% 60% No 26% Nice to have, but not important 16% Do not know 14% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey Not needed: already in use today or not a problem for us Do not know 6% 7% 28

29 Standard: ISO Limited familiarity with ISO 20022; of those, 2/3 are somewhat or very interested in exchanging remittance information with it Familiarity with ISO N=468 Not at All Familiar 61% Interest in Exchanging Remittance Data in ISO Format N=43 Not Very Familiar 29% Not at All Interested 7% Not Very Interested 26% Somewhat Famliar 9% Somewhat Interested 58% Very Familiar 1% Very Interested 9% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 29

30 Secure Partner Reference (B2B) Directory Look up supplier bank routing & account numbers to make payments (n=504) Features Ranked as Very or Somewhat Important 66% Importance of a secure trading partner reference directory (n=503) Critical to have soon 4% Publish my remittance data requirements (n=506) 66% Important to have 44% Look up supplier remittance data requirements (n=522) 65% Nice to have Not needed 8% 29% Publish my bank routing & account numbers so buyers can look up & make payments (n=525) 53% Don't know 16% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 30

31 Current Use & Importance of Remittance Warehouses Are You Currently Using a Warehouse? N=394 How Important is a Universal Remittance Warehouse? N=498 Yes 7% Critical to have, even if I had to pay a reasonable fee 2% Important to have 25% No, not offered 49% Nice to have, but not important 32% No, not interested 21% Not needed 15% Don't know 22% Don't know 26% Source: 2012 Remittance Coalition Survey 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 31

32 4. How Survey Findings Are Being Leveraged 32

33 Addressing Business Process Enhancements Develop simpler, standard usage of discount & adjustment deduction codes Team formed to develop a subset of EDI adjustment codes to meet needs of most businesses Work is underway with standards organizations X9 & X12 to publish list as a standard Work is planned to communicate & educate industry, including vendors, on codes to use & support in software 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 33

34 Improving Education & Outreach Present at industry conferences & publish articles in industry press to promote Coalition mission, vision & actions Share information among Coalition members about memberled initiatives Promote adoption of new solutions e.g., extended remittance information in wire transfers (Fedwire & CHIPS); Balance & Transaction Reporting Standard (report by banks to corporate customers) Target education to small businesses & small financial institutions 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 34

35 Working to Improve Technology Develop glossary of remittance terms to promote education & common understanding Develop inventory of existing e-remittance standards & their uses Develop ISO extended remittance standard in XML for compatibility with ISO payment messages 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 35

36 Technology Vendor Outreach Promote adoption of new solutions Wire format change to carry extended remittance information in wire transfers (Fedwire & CHIPS) Balance & Transaction Reporting Standard X9 standard, a replacement of BAI2, for reporting of bank balance & transactions to corporate customers; format updated to include wire & ACH remittance data & streamline BAI codes Work with vendors (e.g., Intuit) for adoption of current & new remittance formats 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 36

37 Investigating a B2B Directory Work group formed to better understand requirements & features of a B2B directory Currently gathering ideas for features of B2B directory Next step is to develop a document straw man model & seek comments on its viability Assuming B2B directory is viable, may work with standards organizations and/or banks/vendors to develop a pilot 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials may not be used without consent. 37

38 5. Conclusions 38

39 Conclusions from RC Survey 1. Businesses mainly rely on checks to make & receive B2B payments 2. Businesses use manual, paper intensive processes to reconcile related remittance data 3. Common barriers to adopting more e-payments & e-remittance solutions: Trading partners are unwilling or unable to accept e-payments Lack of effective technical solutions & sufficient IT resources Lack of standard practices 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 39

40 Conclusions, continued 4. Businesses want to use more e-payments & e-remittance methods 5. Top-ranked solutions to solve this conundrum: Develop & promote use of common business practices Educate customers, employees & suppliers about e-payment & e-remittance options Address technical inadequacies 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 40

41 How RC Members Stay in Touch Participate in work groups View progress on Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis website: Regular telephone conference calls Occasional in-person meetings held at conferences LinkedIn group Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 41

42 Join the Remittance Coalition! To join the Remittance Coalition, send an to: You will receive a new member welcoming packet by , with information on how to get involved in RC work 2012 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Materials are not to be used without consent. 42

43 Discussion Please submit your questions & comments

44 Contact Information Payments Information & Outreach Office Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis Debra Hjortland Mary Hughes