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Payments Hub Solutions: Why You Should Implement

Clarity and Consolidation Create Opportunity

A singular, consolidated platform for all types of payments is no longer a pipe dream, but a reality. Banks and institutions, including the Federal Reserve, have been implementing payments hub solutions to increase their speed and efficiency, reduce costs, and adapt to customer demands and preferences. With a 360-degree view of your entire payment ecosystem, your organization can capitalize on improved clarity and standardization and speed up your ability to adapt to an increasingly complex and fast-paced industry.

As cashless payments are expected to increase 42% by 2025 (according to PwC research), the payment landscape is changing and innovating every day due to sophisticated and developing customer demands. Utilizing one source to manage all payments, including multiple real-time payment systems and applications, improves customer experience, and reduces the cost and complexity that come with adopting new payment models.

Successfully implementing a payments hub involves more than just identifying the right technology. It’s about how you design and use the technology to maximize efficiency and scalability.

“At the root of it all, it’s about change management and making sure the technology will not only be adopted by users, but will be championed and positioned to maximize the benefits for your institution.”, says Jason Matthews, President at Heitmeyer Consulting.

By approaching this project with a carefully planned and considered strategy, you can present a strong business case to garner support, staff or strengthen your team with the appropriate talent, and realize cost savings quickly. Your institution has its own unique needs, benefits, risks, and priorities that will influence and dictate how you craft the ideal payments hub strategy. Here are a few elements to consider when beginning your journey.

 

Seeing Results Early with Phased Implementation

Let’s be honest, implementation will take time—but surprisingly, that’s what you want. Rather than bringing all payment workstreams, from RTP to Wire to ACH and beyond, together in one massive shift, we recommend implementing a payments hub solution in phases.

A phased approach can mean immediate results and cost savings earlier in the process. Robin Collins, Sr. Director of Advisory and Consulting Services at Heitmeyer Consulting, advises “We see fear of disruption often holding clients back from implementing a payments hub solution. It doesn’t have to be that way. When you choose a phased approach, you can get a quick win and begin saving money earlier in the process. You’ll prove that modernization is not only necessary but beneficial. From there, you’re poised to finish implementation with more support and resources than ever before.”

The order of implementation is dependent on your business goals, so prioritizing and understanding the benefits of converting each payment system is critical to the planning stage. For example, onboarding a new RTP system to the payments hub first can mean immediate cost savings and a better customer experience, which will in turn support the lengthier process of converting older, legacy systems.

The order of systems is key to the change management process and building support across your organization. The first system brought onto the payments hub platform can serve as a clear, visible win and a lauded example to encourage continued adoption.

 

Identifying the Right Infrastructure and Software

As payments hub solutions gain in popularity, and with new options abound, it can be difficult to know which is the right fit for your organization. Selecting a new technology isn’t just about finding the right feature set, but rather it’s about bringing stakeholders together and creating enthusiastic consensus around change.

Thoughtful change management at the start of the technology selection process leads to smoother adoption later on. Even if your organization already has a payments hub solution in place that has stalled in implementation or is only partially used, re-engaging stakeholders to review the infrastructure and software choices can be a catalyst to driving the project forward with renewed vigor and support.

At Heitmeyer, we often see hesitancy around transitioning at least one legacy system. It can be daunting to onboard a working, but outdated system; however, we find that selecting the right technology and thoughtfully communicating its benefits and risks can make all the difference to breaking down roadblocks and reducing fear of change.

 

Alleviating the Burden of Fraud and Compliance Management

Payments hub solutions can clarify one of the most complex elements of finance: fraud and compliance. Simply put, a payments hub solution can maintain the unique fraud rules associated with each payment type, while providing you with a 360-degree view of all issues and rules. This removes gaps across services and applications, thus reducing risk.

Managing fraud and compliance has only become more pressing with the rise of real-time payments and other new payment types. With increased innovation comes changing compliance needs and new legislation, and that’s where a payments hub can simplify your organization’s fraud and compliance management. Updating rules and identifying issues is greatly simplified when all your systems are in one singular location.  Efficient business processes yield results and enabling one central hub of rules management not only saves your staff the administrative burden, but it also bolsters your business’ ability to remain agile in the face of ever-changing regulation.

On top of this need to manage innovation, banks are simultaneously dealing with increasingly sophisticated fraud attacks. A payments hub solution can help you adapt quickly to evolving regulations and legislation, advanced forms of fraud, and new products and offerings, all while maintaining consistent compliance and a seamless customer experience.

Craig Levering, Practice Lead for Lending and Financial Crime and Advisory and Consulting Services at Heitmeyer Consulting, advises, “With advanced tools to monitor and detect fraud, a payments hub solution can be a major strength in your organization’s fight against fraud. Providing complete visibility into all payments, this centralized system is a critical, and much appreciated, point of control for your regulatory and compliance teams.”

 

How To Get Started

Implementing a payments hub solution is a big undertaking, and we are here to help you find the right system, staff appropriately, manage the change, and see those critical cost savings and efficiencies as soon as possible.

As Jason Frase, Chief Transformation Officer at Heitmeyer Consulting, explains, “Across the board, we see our clients enjoying immediate benefits when implementing a payments hub solution. Whether it’s consolidating a fractured view of compliance and regulatory systems, or creating a seamless customer experience across multiple payment types, or even saving on costs, every institution we work with comes to the table with a unique need. While each client is looking for a technological solution to the problem, we know that the solution is more than just the end product. Our team works with you from the beginning to identify and prioritize needs, build a strong business case, create a flexible implementation plan, and finally put in place a solution that works for you, your employees, and your customers.”

A successful implementation process is more than just selecting the right technology. Based on our experience, we find that clients often underestimate their needs in two key areas: staffing and change management.

Regardless of your organization’s size, we find that additional staff is often needed to either contribute technical expertise to the implementation or to support existing staff who have competing tasks and priorities. We can help you identify your staffing needs and find the right talent.

And lastly, we cannot stress change management enough. A big transformation requires building consensus amongst many and varied stakeholders. Rushing that process can create long-lasting downstream consequences and challenges. Our team works with you to collect inputs from all stakeholders and craft an informed timeline and process. In the end, we see that the clients who take this measured and strategic approach benefit the most. When all stakeholders are involved and a change management strategy is utilized, institutions end up with a payments hub solution that teams enthusiastically and effectively use. With increased adoption comes increased value. Teams that use the product to its fullest potential also reap the highest benefits in scalability, cost savings, and efficiency.

Partner with Heitmeyer Consulting to revolutionize your organization, as our team of industry experts helps you confidently select, implement, and manage the right payments hub solution tailored to your needs. Start the conversation today with our team of experienced consultants.

 

Founded in 1999, Heitmeyer Consulting is a Financial Services focused consulting firm based in Columbus, Ohio. Deeply rooted in the Financial Services Industry, Heitmeyer Consulting currently has 600+ consultants engaged with 40+ clients across the U.S and Canada. We are a preferred partner for many banks, insurance, technology and service providers offering Advisory and Consulting Services, Fit for Purpose Staff Augmentation, and Direct Hire / Contract to Hire staffing alternatives.