Prompt processing of money remitted to a business is essential. The longer it takes, the less cash the company has on hand and the less visibility into the true state of its cash flow. However, with payments potentially originating from many sources, some means of centralizing the process is vital. For decades, businesses have relied on traditional lockbox services offered by banks.

With these services, your customers send payments directly to the bank, usually to a so-called lockbox that contains all the payment-related mail for your business. The bank processes all this information, adjusts account balances as needed, and provides you with the data necessary to reconcile your accounts. However, when those reconciliations are more complex than planned, your staff could spend hours or days resolving the issue.

With Tungsten Automation platforms for workflow automation, such as TotalAgility, a different approach to lockbox processing is possible. A ready-to-use solution for such a service is available in the Tungsten Marketplace. Simply called Lockbox by enChoice, it’s our Marketplace solution of the Month. Let’s explore why a new approach may be necessary for some companies and how this solution works.

The Disadvantages of Traditional Lockbox Solutions

Third-party lockbox services are widespread. Virtually all leading banks offer some form of the service. Other facilities stand in as a middleman for your payments. However, while these solutions may suit some companies, they aren’t appropriate for everyone. Some limitations and drawbacks to external lockbox services can leave some companies looking for a better solution. Those drawbacks include:

• The costs associated with paying for transactions. You may incur additional charges, mainly when problems occur, even if the fault was not on your end.
• A lack of control over the process. You must trust the financial institution you work with to deliver a high-quality service, which isn’t guaranteed.
• Poor visibility. It might not be easy to tell which payments originated from which buyers, or matching and reconciling accounts may be difficult.

It’s possible to avoid these problems by taking advantage of the power and reach of a workflow automation platform such as Tungsten TotalAgility. Making it happen begins with exploring the digital Lockbox solution from enChoice.

Exploring the enChoice Lockbox Solution

Lockbox uses TotalAgility as the foundation of its functionality. The goal of this solution is simple: incorporating capabilities to process physical payments into the business. With this solution, you can meet your requirements for lockbox service without relying on potentially problematic third parties.

The process begins with data ingestion. Lockbox supports receiving data inputs from mailroom scanners by Opex. The solution also supports ingestion from any desktop scanner supported by Tungsten platforms. After ingestion, automated classification of checks and remits occurs. The system can even process and sort money orders you receive, too.

If there are issues with extraction or validation at any point, you can route approvals and resolutions to specific workers. Configurable business rules allow you to determine when this occurs and when payments enter straight-through processing. Similar transactions are bundled together so you can quickly verify and reconcile payments. An additional solution by enChoice lets you extend the reach of this process.

Extending the Lockbox With Other Marketplace Solutions

The X9.37 Cash Letter solution works in tandem with the Lockbox solution to provide a complete, end-to-end internal processing service. This component is easy to integrate into a TotalAgility process, letting you call it upon it only when needed. After ingesting, classifying and bundling all the checks from the first step, you can use this solution to generate the image cash letters that banks need to finalize your transactions.

The Benefits of Transitioning to an Internal Lockbox

Combining these advanced and ready-to-deploy solutions can reap critical benefits for companies. Chief among them is a cost reduction. Companies can free up budget space or boost their bottom lines with less reliance on third-party lockbox services.

Likewise, you can exert more control over the quality and reliability of your payment data. That, in turn, saves time that would otherwise be lost to error resolution and problematic reconciliation. Streamline the financial services your business uses today. Enjoy greater control over your payments and develop a keen insight into cash flow.

Reimagine the Way Your Business Processes Payments

With a simple way to ingest payment data, classify it and prepare it for transmission to your bank as a deposit file, many improvements are within reach. Eliminate troublesome reconciliation issues with automation that streamlines problem resolution through in-depth insights. Populate your business systems with accurate, reliable data and gain the advantages of detailed knowledge of your daily cash flow. Explore more about the enChoice Lockbox solution and supporting tools in the Marketplace today.