Transition to Remote Capture Helps Drive Increased Demand for Low-Volume, Image-Based Remittance Solutions

By Mark Brousseau

While many industry observers describe the market for high-volume remittance solutions as sluggish, the market for low-volume, image-based remittance solutions is going strong, especially among organizations that process less than 5,000 payments a day. Wally Vogel, president and founder of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada-based Creditron, Inc., believes the low-volume market will not only stay strong, but also will likely see accelerated growth.

Creditron expects solid growth in 2007, Vogel noted, adding that the company has received so many orders already that it is expanding operations to keep up. What’s more, Vogel said Creditron’s level of inquiries and interest from prospective clients is higher than ever, which bodes well for the future. The interest is coming from all of the vertical markets Creditron serves, including government, utilities, insurance, banking, newspapers and non-profits.

To what does Vogel attribute this growth? One factor is the transition to remote deposit capture, which is increasing demand for image-based remittance solutions. “In the past, organizations had three options for processing remittance payments: in-house manual processing, in-house automated processing, and outsourced lockbox processing,” Vogel explained. “For those organizations that decide to take advantage of remote deposit, option No. 1 no longer is available: the Fed accepts images, but it won’t accept hand-drawn facsimiles. Checks will need to be scanned, and that means imaging equipment and software that can also be used to facilitate automation.” Since the majority of low-volume remittance operations currently process manually, there will be a significant drive toward imaging and automation – whether that means purchasing an in-house system or outsourcing to a lockbox.

Additionally, more low-volume remittance processors are discovering the business benefits of automating with image technology. Vogel noted that, “The benefits of automation and remote deposit apply to any organization that receives payments, although each vertical has its own unique needs which need to be addressed. We find clients are looking for increasing levels of automation through advanced recognition technologies, software features that handle complex business rules, and automation of reporting, A/R updates, and other functions. They want technology that requires little if any human intervention to handle the remittance process.”

Vogel will be speaking at TAWPI’s Payments in Transition conference in March.

Mark Brousseau is the facilitator of TAWPI’s Payments Capture & Clearing Council and Forms Processing Leadership Council. He also is president of Brousseau & Associates, a strategic marketing and PR firm specializing in the payments and document automation arenas. Brousseau can be reached at 717-767-2574 or via m_brousseau@msn.com.


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