Paymentus - Sept 2023

MEET THE TAMING THE & PAYMENT

THE TEAM THE BILLING MONSTERS

One of the key functions that businesses must be able to execute in the digital era is payments. What seems like such a simple transaction on the internet today increases in complexity when taking into account the measures that are put in place to manage and move large sums of money, ensure security of transactions, and create a much simpler user experience than that of cold hard cash.

Digital payment solutions have become integrated into the lives of businesses and consumers, with millions of applications used globally. However, this isn’t to say that each payment system is operating to its maximum potential – each business is different and has a unique mix of problems to be acknowledged and addressed.

The first step for organisations looking to optimise their billing and payments capability is perhaps the most difficult: understanding and quantifying the problems they have, the impacts these issues have on the business, and the potential growth they are missing as a result of these inefficiencies.

This is where Paymentus has created a rather unique method of breaking down barriers for companies to allow them to understand the many layers of complicated processes and identify the challenges hiding within them in developing a family of billing and payment Monsters. By characterising the problems that its customers face, from the adoption stage to continued digital

Nicole Haskins and Chris Trainor from Paymentus reveal ‘Monsters’: the lurking issues hidden within payment and billing processes

optimisation, Paymentus shines a light on the hidden pitfalls within billing and payment processes. That awareness leads to action, resolution, and ultimately, better solutions that future proof digital strategies.

A core tenet of Paymentus’ monstertaming capabilities is its ability to deliver a holistic bill presentment and payment experience. The majority of payment solution providers on the market deliver disparate components of a billing and payment system. Paymentus separates itself by bringing these varied components together in a holistic solution, built from the ground up, that can be leveraged to tame and contain the monsters in its clients’ businesses.

“Many providers and solutions in the market have similar core features like web, IVR, and digital wallets. But it is how it is built that matters and truly can either be a solution or be a burden. When you install

a system, implement it, and begin taking millions of dollars in payments, you very quickly see what’s under the hood that maybe you did not dig out of enough during the sales process, and it truly

matters,” says Nicole Haskins, Vice President of Sales & Marketing (and Monster Taming Expert) at Paymentus.

CHRIS TRAINOR PRODUCT, MARKETING, PARTNERSHIPS AND GROWTH EXECUTIVE, PAYMENTUS

“ We provide our clients, regardless of the payment method, with a single deposit and then we give them visibility to reconcile down to the penny”

NICOLE HASKINS

TITLE: VP OF SALES AND MARKETING

COMPANY: PAYMENTUS

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Nicole Haskins is Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Paymentus. For more than 20 years, Nicole has been committed to connecting great solutions and providers with utilities and local government agencies to improve their electronic payment initiatives. Dedicated in advancing service and automation with technology, Nicole has worked with hundreds of the top cities, counties and utilities to implement successful streamlined revenue collection processes and payment solutions that evolve and transform these critical processes to maximize adoption, security and customer engagement.

CHRIS TRAINOR

TITLE: PRODUCT, MARKETING, PARTNERSHIPS AND GROWTH EXECUTIVE

COMPANY: PAYMENTUS

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Chris Trainor is responsible for platform strategy, innovation and partnerships at Paymentus. He has more than 20 years of banking and payment technology experience, helping clients and partners modernize their payment ecosystems. Prior to joining Paymentus, Chris was a Senior Vice President at Bank of America.

“You see a lot of layers, siloes, disparate solutions, and a lot of duct taping together different pieces. So, we needed a way to expose these underlying issues to billers, whether that be insurance companies or utility providers, online banking and financial firms, and say, ‘you need to understand that these problems don’t go away on their own and implementing a solution that solves the underlying issues and provides you with the user solutions you crave is critical,’” explains Haskins.

Understand the Monsters hiding in your billing and payment systems

Cue the Monsters – the marketing strategy that allows Paymentus to get to the heart of business concerns, and understand the needs of its clients to simplify conversations for all levels in an organisation so they can truly resolve what is plaguing them today.

By outlining each monster’s characteristics, clients are able to look objectively at their processes and determine whether their problems fit one of the Paymentus personas

– all without the scariness that such heavy conversations may imply.

In addition, the many titles and skill sets that go into solution searches and ultimately decision makers range from finance to customer service, to of course IT. However, oftentimes understanding and uncovering the “why” organisations need to solve for this or that is as critical as the vendor they choose. Sharing and identifying the problems along with educating the many hidden pitfalls truly brings together all the needs

of an organisation so they can focus on the problems they need to solve and pick the right solution for them.

This could be in the early stages whereby a client is still operating with a legacy system and is yet to transform to a digital process, something more niche like understanding there is a lack of cohesion and communication between systems that they have in place, or a more real-time challenge like cybersecurity that impacts the most sensitive areas of the business.

While the idea has grown to now include nine monsters, Paymentus initially recognised six different pain points that are common across the majority of its customers and the actions needed to tame them and create long-term improvements:

• Clunky payment experiences that place barriers in front of users throughout their payment journeys (Brock)

• Incohesive reporting and reconciliation of siloed solutions that don’t work together as they have been added on top of each other piece by piece (Argus)

• Legacy systems that impact the entire process but seem impossible to change, making it more difficult to digital offerings (Ingrid)

• Outdated payment platforms and sluggish systems that get in the way of seamless transactions (Mort)

• Vulnerability in systems resulting in cybersecurity risks that sting billers in the transaction process (Stinger)

• Poor user experience and an unattractive user interface that makes it tricky for the person using the platform to make a payment (Crunkus)

“I would say most of our billers are dealing with a half dozen or more at a time, and

there’s only nine. That’s a big statement,” says Haskins as she explains how Monsters can help a customer assess the status of their billing and payment system in its current state.

“You have different teams within a biller agency that are trying to solve different problems, so it’s never just a siloed purchase. It’s a finance purchase that also includes the person in charge of customer experience and support. Ultimately, you might have

Companies dealing with this Monster will recognise the need to develop their user experience as an important component of the payment function. Crunkus is made to look ugly to represent how the system looks on the front end and will ultimately equate to a dissatisfying user experience.

Taming Crunkus can be done by creating a convenient, easy to use means of paying bills, any-time payment solutions, increasing flexibility, and providing users with more options for viewing their bills.

With Argus around, you never know which way to look. This represents the typical scenario whereby a customer is faced with multiple incohesive components pieced together to temporarily enable new functions. This problem usually includes multiple vendor relationships to manage and very complex reporting mechanisms.

How to tame your payment Monsters

The idea of creating these monsters is akin to a pinpointing exercise that allows customers to quickly see the faults and inefficiencies within their processes, which not only identifies the underlying problems but helps companies quickly get to the point of action.

“Customers start to understand these common problems and begin to ask, ‘what other issues do we have?’ They start to fit them into other monster personalities and realise what keeps them up at night,” says Haskins.

While the goal isn’t to give customers nightmares or pretend that there are monsters hiding in their closets, understanding the effects that these characters have on their businesses is what allows Paymentus to take action and support clients with holistic services.

payment with multiple stages thrown in, information to complete, and security to be dealt with. This is caused by Brock, and as tired as customers are with clunky payment experiences, he also has an exhausting job putting barriers in the way.

Brock could be the monster scaring away customers in the payment stage as the time it takes to complete payment information or the sheer level of detail required, may just be too much for everyone.

Paymentus addresses the key problems that arise on a day-to-day basis. Chris Trainor, Vice President of Growth and Strategic Partnerships at Paymentus, explains the specific approach taken by clients that often results in the greatest positive impact.

“In our experience working with thousands of billers, including more than 25 Fortune 500 companies, the most important step in a successful modernisation journey is a mindset shift.”

“Inertia (Ingrid) is a powerful and dangerous anchor that hinders progress. To counter this dynamic, we’ve designed our platform, integration capabilities, and onboarding experiences to simplify change for the billers, enabling modernisation

“Customers start to understand these common problems that span multiple departments and affect their consumers significantly, and begin to ask ‘what other issues do we have?’”

NICOLE HASKINS VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING, PAYMENTUS

regardless of a biller’s perceived and real constraints.”

“Organisations that are challenged by legacy and outdated solutions cannot resolve those issues with outdated thinking. Those that apply broad, cross-functional solutions focused on elevating their user experiences have the best outcomes.”

Suboptimal user experience is the domain of Brock. Taming him means reducing the number of barriers in the payment process to create a fast, simple way to complete a transaction with less friction in the customer’s preferred interaction channel. This ethos is what led to the expansion of the Instant Payment Network to include bill presentment and payments through digital wallets like PayPal,

Stuck with a legacy system or an outdated way of working?

This is likely a result of Ingrid’s wrath as she ensures systems aren’t to evolve any time soon. This makes them heavy and cumbersome and the user will be dying to get their hands on a newer, simplified solution.

This usually consists of outdated payment systems and legacy solutions, creating an overwhelming reluctance to transform. But, this is where customers must break free and implement AI and machine learning to improve the speed of interactions — a chatbot solution to assist users being a great example.

While Mort isn’t as brash as Ingrid, he’s not in a hurry to update platforms and can leave things looking a little messy. He’s got a weight on his back that prevents customers from revamping their outdated payment solutions, and leaves them facing a slippery slope if left untamed.

at thousands of retail locations via a barcode, at over 300 banks and through intuitive text and chatbot-based experiences.

In addition to extending a biller’s reach, Paymentus maintains a constant focus on improving user experiences in all interaction channels. Recent enhancements like ‘remember me,’ and known phone number recognition, allow customers to authenticate and check out securely without the need to provide account details.

“The single greatest point of breakage in bill pay is at the authentication step. Consumers rarely remember their account numbers and often forget their login credentials, leading to poor user experiences when trying to make a payment, as well as inbound phone calls to the biller. Paymentus has developed numerous innovations, several of which are patented, to streamline the process for consumers while minimising PCI burden for billers,” says Trainor.

Avoid the need to build the perfect payment solution Recognising that many of the billing and payment providers on the market allow customers to build their preferred solutions, Paymentus looks to alleviate this step through its holistic, best in class bill presentment and payment solution.

By developing an integrated solution with a number of different functions and expanded payment methods and channels intertwined with minimal coding adaptations, Paymentus’ service – coupled with its

Keep tabs on security, because Stinger is known for looming in the background and silently causing havoc in a number of different areas if left to Stinger’s own devices. Not only does this represent the importance of cybersecurity, but the nature of hackers and their attacks on billers’ information.

Keeping tabs on security, compliance and sensitive customer data through working with a trusted billing and payment provider is crucial for keeping this beast at bay.

solutions to identify problems

– allows a more proactive approach and helps companies continuously monitor their processes with the key pain points in mind.

Working with Paymentus, customers are able to leverage the company’s expertise in billing and payment activities and minimise the need to inject resources into optimising this for themselves – all while gaining a good night’s sleep.

While today’s billing and payment monsters may always be lurking, Paymentus has the demonstrated success and proven long-term strategy to keep them tamed and contained.