We talk a lot about Business and Financial Process Optimization at PayStream. To quote Austin Powers, “It’s our bag.” But these two terms are fuzzy and often used in the industry without really drilling down into what exactly they do and/or mean.

I personally believe the novelty and uniqueness of our approach lies in the methods and goals we advocate for. Specifically, we underscore the Payment Tsar and the Payment Quotient as the primary goals of process optimization, as they provide strategic visibility, risk mitigation, and encourage entire culture shifts towards financial automation and efficiency.

A Payment Tsar/Tsarina is unique as he or she holds a C-Level position and is personally in charge of maintaining strategic visibility over the entirety of the financial supply and payment chain. This individual, properly endowed with effective tools and authority, is capable of informing his or her entire company on strategic process efficiency initiatives, up…

If you need consolidated evidence that there are tremendous advantages that electronic collections and/or payment networks promise to collectors, look no further than Bank Technology News‘ recent article, “The Innovators 2007.”

I call attention to two impressive details having to do with customer enrollment:

• Bank of America reported that online customers are 27% more profitable than traditional customers, with deposit balances 15 percent higher and loan balances 28 percent higher.
• SunTrust Banks found that customers who receive at least three e-bills per month have a 78 percent lower attrition rate and were 86 percent more profitable than offline customers. The implementation of the Web RXP version prompted a strong initial boost in the number of customers signing up for ebills, says Sarah Overcash, SunTrust avp and online bill-pay product manager, with nearly 30 percent of the bank’s active online base currently receiving at least one e-bill.

Consider this in relation to the…

Did you know that each Starbucks store offers almost 70 different types of beverages? Order a Blended Crème Frappucino at a Starbucks and don’t be surprised if they ask if you want to make that a Double Chocolate Chip, a Tazo Green Tea, a Strawberries-and-Crème, or one of five other types of Blended Crème Frappucino. It’s all about choices, and where there is consumer demand, there are bound to be options.

Consumers today are bombarded with numerous choices when shopping for, and we have to admit that it has become a way of life. It is not surprising, therefore, that consumers not only demand a range of products and services, but also a variety of options when it comes time to pay the bill. They are also looking for convenient options to make payments, as well as control over the frequency and timing of the transactions.

These three aspects – choice, convenience…

“Build and they will buy,” was Henry Ford’s mantra in the early 1900’s when he introduced his first horseless carriage, the Model T. He built, and consumers eagerly lapped up the cars as soon as they came off the assembly line. But today, more than a century later, the days of Ford’s Model T are long gone.

Biller organizations – utilities, telecom, credit cards, mortgage companies and others that bill consumers on a recurring basis – can no longer be confident that all they have to do is provide easy and convenient electronic options for bill payments and their customers will adopt them. Results of a Billing and Collections Survey by PayStream Advisors, a Charlotte, NC-based research and consulting company, validate this fact.

The survey revealed that biller organizations were forging ahead on the automation curve – with 74 percent of survey respondents offering an electronic option when it was time to…