Managing Financial Operations in This Remote Economy

The spread of COVID-19 across the globe has upended normal business operations for many companies. Finance chiefs have already taken steps to secure business continuity by refining contingency plans, reviewing existing credit and debt facilities, and taking a closer look at the impact of prolonged disruption. Many finance leaders are also rethinking payment and treasury management practices, looking for digital solutions to replace manual or paper-based processes that are no longer practical.

The following checklist is intended to help you learn about some of the different digital banking and payments options available to help better manage financial operations now and in the future. 

Remote Banking

• Online Banking Portal – With an online banking portal, you can gain more control over cash flow and have access to accounts and information 24/7. You can view daily balances and robust transaction details, initiate online transactions, monitor activity and control cash positions to capitalize on investment and borrowing opportunities and manage deposits, disbursements and debt for better overall visibility into cash positions, among other things. 

• Remote Check & Cash Deposits – Explore solutions that allow your team to deposit checks or cash via USPS or with a check scanner via mobile app to avoid unnecessary trips to the branch.

Payments

• Check Processing – Some processes are more difficult to replicate in a “work from home” environment, particularly check processing. Look for ways to automate by migrating paper checks to digital – for example ACH, card programs, and wires. Note that as of March 20, 2020 Nacha has increased per-transaction limits for Same Day ACH from $25,000 to $100,000 providing greater coverage across your supply base.
• Mobile – Incorporate mobile payment approvals where possible to enhance business continuity  
• Customer Portals – A customer payment portal allows your customers to receive invoices and log into a secure system to pay their bills avoiding the need for paper checks or in-person payments.  
• Cost Containment – Digital transactions are typically far less expensive to process than paper checks. In addition to improved safety and efficiency, digitizing payments should also drive costs down.
  • Explore corporate virtual card programs and electronic accounts payable solutions.
  • Consider shifting balances to demand deposit accounts to offset fees in this low interest rate environment.

Talk with Your Banking Partner 

During this period of uncertainty, partner with banks that have a strong balance sheet and a broad array of products and services designed to sustain you through these uncertain economic conditions. In addition to talking about how to implement or improve many of the solutions discussed above, ask your banking partner about other remote banking services they offer, including fraud management, liquidity management and international solutions.

 

Looking Ahead 

Economic cycles and disruption are a normal part of doing business. What is different now is the speed at which this disruption is occurring.  We don’t know exactly how broad or long lasting the impact of the COVID-19 virus will be, but this uncertainty underlines the need to go beyond crisis management and rethink treasury management strategies, diversify supply chains and customers, make capital investments, and modernize systems and processes.