As a biller or merchant, you are vitally concerned about your payments “back office”, that set of core functions involved with accepting consumer payments. Whether you are in Treasury or Technology, if you are concerned with payments, you are asking yourself, every day, questions such as:
- Is my organization optimized to manage payments?
- Am I staffed correctly?
- Is staff working smartly?
- Am I paying too much for payment services?
- Does my technology platform help or hinder my payments goals?
Or even more basically:
- Do I have goals for my payments back office?
- If so, what are they?
We’ve designed the Glenbrook Payments Assessment (GPA) program to help you get answers to these questions. Based on knowledge we’ve developed through industry benchmarks, client work, and our own operational experience in the payments business, the GPA program quickly assesses your payments organization and recommends targeted, actionable steps you can take to optimize your payments business.
But the GPA program isn’t just about your current payments organization. It also helps you identify and develop the capabilities you need to make payments a true contributor to top line sales as well as reducing its bottom line costs. Smart payments managers recognize that payments can help drive sales.
The GPA helps you to clearly identify and articulate those contributions, and justify your company’s investment in its payments operations.
The Glenbrook Payments Assessment surveys your payments function with a very broad lens, then hones in on those areas of concern or opportunity. The GPA assesses:
Contract and Relationships
- Pricing & Vendor Management Strategies
Processing Infrastructure
- Technology Platform
- Connectivity and Process Flows
Cards
- Authorization Practices
- Settlement and Reconciliation
- Chargeback Strategy and Processing
- Research and Representments
ACH
- Enrollment Method (recurring)
- Recycle Strategies
- Settlement and Reconciliation
- Error Resolution (Administrative, NSFs)
Payment Optimization and Customization
- Use of Alternative Payments
- Recurring Practices (if appropriate)
- Payment Mix Optimization
- Payout Mechanics
Payments Organization
- Resource Levels and Reporting Structure
- Skills and Basic Processes
- Communications and Cooperation
- Relative Maturity
Reporting and KPIs
- Operational
- Financial (including Total Cost of Payments)
- Management (Dashboard)
Customer Impact
- Checkout Flow/Friction
- Payments Related Credits
- Exception Handling
- Consumer Disclosures
Sustainability
- Data Security, Privacy
- Business Resumption Preparedness
Product Management
The Glenbrook Payments Assessment is a super-efficient way to diagnose your payments environment and prescribe actions for optimization. In most cases, we can complete the GPA in 30 days. At the end of those 30 days, we leave you with a solid action plan, prioritized so that you get the most “bang for the buck” in the shortest time.
Are you interested in optimizing your payments back office? If so, get in touch — we’d welcome the opportunity to discuss our GPA program with you!
This Payments Views post was written by Glenbrook’s Jay DeWitt.
