Payment technology for consumer based payments has changed immensely in the last 10 years. We now have prepaid debit cards, mobile wallets, mobile remote deposit capture and faster payments via the ACH system fulfilling the need for immediate funding. Technology is now focusing on providing the same types of benefits for a business to streamline their payment capability. Two companies have recently announced their enhanced disbursement services for businesses.
“Atlanta-based Repay said its Instant Funding service enables organizations to send funds directly to eligible Visa Inc. debit and prepaid cards via Visa Direct, the network’s real-time debit service. Repay’s lending clients, for example, can use Instant Funding to push funds to a Visa card instead of issuing checks or submitting an automated clearing house transaction, Repay says.
“Instant Funding will enable our clients to gain efficiencies and to provide a more customer-friendly experience,” Chris Arnette, Repay vice president of product management, said in a statement. “In today’s fast-paced world, it’s all about immediate gratification—and that’s what Instant Funding can provide.”
Push payments utilized the payment rails of existing brand networks to facilitate payments that are in real-time or almost real-time. Many businesses have cash flow problems which often cause them to fail or take out business lines of credit. With push payments a small business/or any business could receive their funds in hours/days completely changing cash flow problems of having to wait days/weeks for payment. Not to mention the cost saving associated with not having to issue checks.
“For San Antonio, Texas-based Payment Data Systems Inc., push payments are a component of its new money-disbursement platform that offers automated clearing house payments, push to debit cards, and virtual and physical card issuance. The platform also enables disbursement to Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay mobile wallets. The platform is part of a customizable card-issuance service. Businesses can now offer contractors, employees, and other payment recipients the ability to choose among the issuance of a prepaid debit Mastercard, real-time deposits to checking accounts, traditional ACH or direct deposit, or paper check, Payment Data Systems said. “There is a lot of excitement about virtual card issuance and real-time payment disbursements. Consumers want options when it comes to how they get paid—most are seeking a faster way to receive pay and some simply don’t have access to an account that can retrieve real-time disbursements,” said Louis Hoch, Payment Data Systems chief executive, said in a statement.”
Virtual payments are the wave of the future, businesses no longer want to deal with paper checks when it relates to accounts payable as it is a time-consuming task. An additional benefit for businesses or employee’s, is the benefit of still being able to receive funds electronically even if the recipient does not have a formal bank account, as the funds can be provided on a prepaid debit card which spends just like cash.
“This forces complexity on businesses tasked with making these payments and often requires them to partner with multiple providers and/or integrate with multiple systems. By combining our traditional payment services with our card-issuance platform, we now offer a solution that can disburse funds in a variety of economical ways.”
Expect this wave to continue with new innovations and products directed at businesses to assist in reducing a major pain point!
Overview by Sue Brown, Director, Prepaid Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
