Digital lockbox and integrated receivables solutions infused with AI

Photon Commerce’s digital lockbox solutions serves a key market need in the payment processing industry, where nearly half of all business-to-business payments are mailed over a check.

Solution Suite

1. Remote capture options allow you to keep a local P O box and/or handle over-the-counter transactions with full integration to our processing platform.

2. Electronic bill presentment, telephone and Internet payments by credit card, debit card and direct debit to checking. Payers’ ability to review payment history. Integration with the lockbox data stream.

3. Fully Integrated Treasury Management allowing the inclusion of ACH and wires into the lockbox process with automated matching and exception processing.

4. Invoice Matching to support processing more complex transactions and to improve accuracy of customer provided information.

5. Support for Accounts Receivable Conversion (ARC) – Following NACHA rules, you or your customer may elect to convert checks received for payment into ACH transactions for processing.

6. Support for credit card payments – Mark sense processing and ICR are used to detect and capture credit card information. A file is sent to your Depository (or Merchant Processing) Bank for authorization of the transactions and when the authorizations are returned, transactions not authorized are removed from the payment file. Authorized transactions are credited to your account by your depository (or Merchant processing) bank.

7. Full private label capability including your branding on bills, web pages, reports and the ability to give you a billing file for inclusion into your account analysis system.

8. Complete integrated wholesale, retail (and anything in between) processing. We do not establish arbitrary delineations as to one or the other; we process all on one platform.

9. Support for OCR A, OCR B, various Bar Codes and E13B font. Support for alpha and/or numeric scan lines. Support for a variety of scan line check-digit calculations

Clients served

Our product offering is both wholesale and retail lockbox processing and on-line bill presentment and bill payment directed at customers with a need for a state-of-the-art payment processing location. Our market segments are as follows:

1. Financial Institutions – Here we are focused on providing payment processing services to financial institutions who have a need for payment processing for their own payments (mortgage, loan, credit card) or who need lockbox services in support of their own cash management offerings. In the latter, we can private label our services so that the financial institutions own image, servicing, and billing stand between Photon Commerce and their customer.

2. Corporations – Here we are focused on serving the needs of corporate customers regardless of their size. Again, because of the flexibility of our platform, we can handle the most complex requirements of the very large customers as well as the special requirements of small businesses often ignored by the rest of the industry.

3. Non-Profits – This market has been largely ignored by the rest of the industry. In addition to providing the same high quality processing to their donations that we provide to payment processing, we also bring experience specific to the non-profit segment.

4. Healthcare – This growing market segment has very specific needs such as EOB to 835 conversion, payment reconciliation and clearinghouse services.

5. Municipalities – Here we are focused on satisfying the unique payment processing needs of local cities and towns. Our flexibility in processing permits us to be very responsive to their unique needs and our relationship with the key depository banks allows them to use our services while keeping their bank accounts right where they are.

Technology

Photon Commerce provides businesses with physical and digital lockbox through networks all around the country. The solutions begin at the mailrooms on our triple-cut mail openers. This state-of-the-art equipment is designed to open different size envelopes on three sides, making extraction of contents easy and error free. The contents remain with the envelope so an operator can return any correspondence or “unprocessable” items with the original envelope for research purposes.

All envelopes are automatically measured for thickness and are calibrated to an empty envelope. If something remains in the envelope, the machine stops and forces the operator to examine the envelope, prior to moving to a recycle bin at the end of the machine. All empty envelopes are shredded on-site for the ultimate in protection of customer confidential information. The extraction rate averages approximately 500 to 1,500 envelopes/hour.

The batches created in the Mail Extraction Area are then processed on our high speed transports where the stub/document is pulled through a transport with the corresponding check following it. Images are captured and uploaded to our software platform where it captures the account number from the scan-line on the stub/document, reads the numeric amount of the check (CAR), and compares that to the written amount on the check (LAR) and those amounts to the amount imbedded in the stub/document scan-line. If all three amounts match, then that amount is applied to that account number. If there is a discrepancy with any of the three amounts the software has tried to read, the transactions are routed to an operator and the operator is prompted to manually key the amount from the check.

The stub/document and check have audit trails that can contain dynamic data chosen by the customer such as process date, that person’s account number, the deposit account, etc. Transactions containing full-page documents are routed to our page transports for capture, imaging and association to the remittance work file.

Our transports are connected to a local area network running Windows. The primary servers are located in the cloud using Azure, Microsoft’s cloud based server solution. All of our core processing and hosting is cloud based at Amazon Web Services as well and backed up every 15 minutes for disaster recovery and business continuity. A variety of peripheral equipment is used to support transmissions, provide inquiry via the web, online exception item processing and supply event notification on reports and deposit information.

Processing Schedule

Monday through Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., ET, excluding US Federal holidays, and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., ET.

Mail pickup commences with the first available pickup at the Post Office and is continuous until all the inbound mail is picked up. Work received that day is processed on the same business day. By assigning each customer their own P. O. Box, Photon Commerce utilizes the high speed sorting equipment of the U. S. Post Office to sort our Lockboxes. We do have options to use a consolidated box if your volume dictates. You may wish to utilize a local P. O. Box. If so, you may arrange to use our remote capture capabilities where you can choose to just scan documents or scan and repair data as well.

During peak periods, we supplement our regular full-time and permanent part-time staff with “part-time flex” associates who work only during the monthly peak periods. Photon Commerce also utilizes seasonal help and/or temporary help during exceptional high periods of the year.

Remittances

Remittance Processing is completed via high speed transports. A customized program is designed for each customer and a unique application is assigned to each program.

Customers may have multiple transaction types assigned to them allowing customization for each type of payment (different divisions, different services, different payment types, etc.). Payments are captured and processed as predetermined by the specific programming for your application. Upon receipt of prepared payment documents, the transport operator selects the appropriate transaction type for the particular customer and begins the data capture process. The software also provides for “stop file” verification. A stop file is created when you notify us that a particular account number or check should not be accepted and deposited. Every payment processed is then compared with information in the stop file to ensure that document or check is not accepted. This feature is extremely helpful with utility shut-offs, loan collections, and insurance cancellations. Finally, all processed transactions are reviewed, verified and balanced at the supervisory workstation. The checks are then dispatched via image deposits to the depository bank(s) and customer reports are printed or prepared for electronic transmission.

The checks are delivered via x9.37 image file transmissions to your selected Depository Bank for deposit processing. Allowing you to select your Depository Bank permits you to maintain the account structure that works best for you, while still enabling you to avail yourself of the very best in lockbox processing and service.

Integrated Receivables

Integrated Receivables provides customers with several cutting edge options designed to take remittance processing to the next level. Our system enables you to automatically validate and match received payments to uploaded invoices, significantly streamlining your AR lookup process. With full page document processing, you can automate even the more complex invoices that don’t have scanlines or simple data entry fields. We can even integrate ACH and wire transactions into your account receivables file, providing you with a more comprehensive receivables picture.

With flexible implementation options, our Integrated Receivables product can be leveraged to suit your specific needs. You can use it to grab information from uploaded invoices that is not on the payment to further augment your accounts receivable file.

Companies could add individuals to their donor database on the fly with information derived from respondents of acquisition campaigns. These same files can be used to support the fully automated processing of ACH and wire transaction records so your lockbox becomes a fully integrated payment processing platform.

The invoice file can even be used to assist with exception item processing, enabling you to perform lookups directly from the invoice file without having to go to a separate billing system to get that information. Once you resolve an exception, the system can even “remember” how you dispositioned it so the next time our system encounters a payment from that client, it can be dispositioned automatically. Integrated Receivables will reduce significantly your exceptions and the data entry necessary to process them and now ALL your payments are flowing through a simple integrated payment processing platform. It includes 7 years of historical information online including the ability to attach “sticky notes” to transactions to memorialize the thought process used in applying a payment.

Quality Control Procedures

Throughout the entire Lockbox process, Photon Commerce has instituted a number of automated and manual controls to insure a high degree of accuracy. A summary of these controls is as follows:

1. Separate customer specific applications are used to control all jobs to be processed for each day.

2. The Lockbox Supervisor randomly reviews the opened, batched and exception mail for appropriate sorting and batching prior to processing on the high speed equipment.

3. At the data capture workstation, the system date and batch numbers are automatically controlled and assigned by the system.

4. Each program is designed to only accept corresponding work for that particular customer and application. The input program may be written to include and/or exclude a variety of processing criteria including, but not limited to, minimum/maximum thresholds (dollars, discounts, etc.), check digit routines, payment dates, etc., specific to the customer requirements.

5. Stub/document scan-line amounts are compared to numeric and written check amounts to determine the validity of the payment.

6. All date entry requires two points of validation before a transaction can be accepted.

7. At the supervisor’s workstation, individual transactions are monitored for keying accuracy and production rates.

8. The customer’s deposit amount is only ready when the system captured and keyed amounts are balanced to the deposit amount(s).

9. Output media, according to the customer’s specification and schedule is systematically created. Output media mailing is controlled through a system of one time use labels that assures that all output is mailed.

10. The Depository Bank acts as the final control point to ensure that your deposit is processed and the items processed agree with the total deposited to your account.

11. Photon Commerce works with all banks to ensure the quality and accuracy of our deposits.

12. Client Service Feedback is reviewed by senior management. The results and responses are shared with the operations team as part of our Client Relationship Management Program.

13. Periodically, we communicate with our customers to update you on industry trends, provide you with our plans for the coming year, and to obtain input from you on the things we should be doing to continue meeting your needs. We believe it is vital to make you a partner in addressing how we, as a supplier, should be changing to prepare for the future, both yours and ours.

Deposits and Availability

Deposits

One deposit is made to your account at the Depository Bank you have selected and consists of all the mail received the same day. While ledger credit for Saturday work is usually posted on Mondays, you should check with your Depository Bank to validate their procedures for posting Saturday work.

Availability

Availability is assigned by check endpoint. Items drawn on your Depository Bank are generally available on the day of deposit. Items drawn on other banks are generally available on the day following the date of deposit. Your Depository Bank can provide you with availability schedules and endpoint analysis reports for your deposits.

Contact Photon Commerce at lockbox @ photoncommerce.com today for a consultation.