Success Stories / Case Studies / Remote Lockbox
remote lockbox - Case Study
A New York Money Center bank is using ImageScan’s Remote Lockbox for RemitTrac© module to improve reporting, lower costs and make funds available faster.
THE PRODUCT: Remote Lockbox is a RemitTrac© module that helps banks and other financial institutions gain a competitive edge over competitors by improving security, deposit availability, reducing stranded payments and providing customers with complete reports, regardless of the scanning location or the number of transactions processed. Remote Lockbox enables entire payment transactions to be scanned anywhere and processed at a central lockbox site, making it possible for banks to offer full lockbox services at low-volume sites.
THE CHALLENGE: A national New York based Money Center Bank was looking for a cost-effective way to help customers process payments sent to their remote offices instead of to the bank’s main lockbox. Because many of the bank’s customers receive small volumes of invoices, checks and accompanying documents at their individual locations, installing RemitTrac© in each office was not an option.
Dealing with these “stranded payments” was costly and time consuming as they had to be forwarded to the central lockbox by mail or courier. It also resulted in delays in funds availability as the money was not accessible until it had been processed. As a result, some customers opened accounts with local banks to deal with these “stranded payments.” These split deposits resulted in revenue losses for the bank, and a possible loss of transaction information for customers. It was also difficult for customers to get an up-to-date picture of their financial situation.
The bank investigated other vendor offerings and had difficulty finding a solution that offered full-page invoice image capture, information reporting and common archive repository for small- volume offices. Most solutions offered only limited functionality with simple remote check deposit capabilities, or were designed—and priced—for large volumes. The bank discovered Remote Lockbox for RemitTrac©.
THE SOLUTION: Remote Lockbox gives customers the benefits of full lockbox services without security concerns or the need to process “stranded payments” on site.
When a payment arrives at a local office, the customer captures both the check and payment data with an inexpensive scanner and easy-to-use software, and then sends it electronically to the central lockbox for processing. These payments are then aggregated in RemitTrac© with the transactions that were sent to the main lockbox site and processed according to the customer’s rules. The bank then provides the customer with a consolidated deposit reporting output file in standard format that incorporates payments from all locations including the main lockbox.
Before installing Remote Lockbox, customers had to access several different systems, and in many cases, a variety of bank accounts, to get a full picture of their accounts receivable activity. This made it difficult to reconcile, balance and post incoming payment transactions into their general ledgers and ERP systems. Remote Lockbox gives a customer’s treasury office full access to complete and timely information in their financial and customer record systems.
The bank’s product manager stated: “Remote Lockbox has been especially useful for our major property management, wholesale, insurance and mutual fund customers who receive payments in multiple office locations.”
THE BENEFITS: Complete information reporting, faster funds availability and lower costs.
CUSTOMERS: Benefits to the bank’s customers include:
- Full lockbox services without local security concerns
- Reduction in mail and courier costs
- Access to timely, accurate information
- Faster availability of funds
- Improved accuracy
- Full-page invoice image capture
- All data is stored in a single archive
- Full search and reporting capabilities
THE BANK: Benefits to the bank include:
- New revenue sources
- Better customer relationships
- A competitive edge
- More incoming funds
- Better use of lockbox services
To see how ImageScan provided a solution to deal with these challenges See White Papers