Electronic bill presentment and payment, or EBPP, improves PCI Compliance by removing employees from having access to credit card information. Instead of credit card numbers on fax forms or employees accepting payment information over the phone, simply send an e-invoice which the customer can click to pay.

The image below shows the landing page after a customer clicks the text message or email link to pay.

Better than electronic invoicing, our solution enables customers to make payments right from the email. Why is this important? By delivering the invoice and the ability to pay without logging in, you’ll dramatically reduce time from invoice to payment collection.

EBPP sales sheet (PDF)

Our EBPP is fast, easy to use, and requires no capital investment to implement. For sales call Christine at 954-942-0483 or click here for more information.

Our business to business service company frequently alters invoices after  a customer calls in. After CenPOS delivers an electronic invoice, how can I change it?

Customers cannot change any information in CenPOS. The audit trail is a significant feature of the payment platform. Merchants cannot change anything. If a merchant wants to keep the same invoice number, here are methods to resolve the situation:

• Allow a partial payment. If the new amount due is less than the original invoice, allow the customer to make a partial payment by turning on the option in the EBPP merchant configuration. Communicate the new amount due with the customer outside of CenPOS and have the customer make a payment against the original invoice delivered.
• If the new amount due is more than the original invoice, issue a second invoice for the difference.
• Mark the invoice as paid and issue a new invoice with the same number. This removes the invoice as pending within CenPOS, but is probably not a best practice for accounting.

About CenPOS: “Creating efficiencies through payment innovation”
Founded in 2009, Miami-based CenPOS is a SaaS, private cloud payment technology provider. CenPOS is an intelligent payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for businesses and consumers by using state-of-the-art technology to replace inefficient, outdated payment systems. Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment, EBPP, streamlines the collections process and creates many efficiencies for merchants and their customers. EBPP is easily implemented with existing accounting systems, and includes both a secure merchant portal and secure customer portal. Global Sales: Christine Speedy (954) 942-0483.

What are hard cost savings from converting paper invoices to electronic invoices? Download this handy calculator and compare your current costs with any proposed solution. The sample shown is for checks only.  If your goal is to reduce paper, printing and postage costs, emailing invoices achieves that. If your goal is to reduce float, improve cash flow, or increase security, an integrated payment solution is needed. CenPOS, a suite of private cloud payment processing solutions, including for checks and credit cards, offers unique features to reduce float, reduce the cost of accepting credit cards, and reduce the scope for payment card industry (PCI) security.

UNDERSTANDING THE PAYMENT OPTIONS

Business to business:

• RDM- Paper checks received in the mail are scanned and deposited.
• ACH, Electronic check, and E-check are all the same- Customers pay by check online.
• Merchants cannot convert a paper commercial check to ACH. E-checks must be initiated by the customer, not the merchant.

Business to consumer:

• RDM- Paper checks received in the mail are scanned and deposited.
• Check 21- Paper checks recevied in the mail are converted to electronic checks. Customers must be informed in advance.
• ACH, Electronic check, and E-check are all the same- Customers pay by check online.

Electronic Invoice ROI calculator  Excel spreadsheet.

Need a solution? Contact Christine Speedy, blog author. (954) 942-0483.

What cloud solution improves EBITDA for franchisees and makes your business more appealing to new franchisees?  CenPOS is a fast growing payment processing solution, including payment gateway, that creates efficiencies for both merchants and their customers.  Additionally, most franchisees do not have the tools or education to comply with PCI DSS (Payment card industry data security standards), putting their enterprises at serious financial risk. CenPOS reduces PCI burden.

Top 5 problems solved:

1. Cash flow:  The CenPOS Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment solution is proven to improve cash flow. While it takes days to print and deliver an mailed invoice,  a portion of customers receiving an invoice powered by CenPOS will pay instantly.
2. Collections: How many times does accounting have to follow up on unpaid invoices? Resend copies of invoices? CenPOS will automatically resend invoices if a customer has not paid their bill.
3. Ease of making a payment: What steps does your customer have to go through to make a payment today? The powered by CenPOS customer has the option to securely save their ACH and credit card information. To pay a bill they click the pre-filled payment object, select the stored payment method, and pay.
4. Integration to accounting: Merchants can optionally integrate into accounting and ERP solutions. Contact us for the latest integrations available, an API, or to refer us to your software company. We’re always seeking new solutions to integrate into. With already created emulators- there may be no integration required at all.
5. Transparency for multiple locations. CenPOS dashboard provides real-time reporting and audit trail of payments on a hierarchy basis.

About CenPOS “Creating efficiencies through payment innovation”
Founded in 2009, Miami-based CenPOS is a SaaS payment technology provider. CenPOS is an intelligent payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for businesses and consumers by using state-of-the-art technology to replace inefficient, outdated payment systems.

Global Sales: Christine Speedy (954) 942-0483.

EBPP  comparison chart of 3Delta Systems, BillTrust, and CenPOS. This is not a comprehensive chart of all features, but rather highlights some of the product differentiators, primarily for mid-size business to business, including manufacturing and wholesale distributors.

Additional strengths and weaknesses may be highlighted in future articles. Subscribe to our feed for future articles.

CenPOS has Level III certifications to First Data, Vantiv, Moneris Canada, and TYSYS. Certifications to other processing platforms are forthcoming, including Chase Paymentech.

About CenPOS

“Creating efficiencies through payment innovation”
Founded in 2009, Miami-based CenPOS is a SaaS payment technology provider. CenPOS is an intelligent payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for businesses and consumers by using state-of-the-art technology to replace inefficient, outdated payment systems.

Global Sales: Christine Speedy (954) 942-0483.

CenPOS merchants use the Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment service as a tool to avoid future disputes. EBPP sends electronic invoices via text or email in seconds with no integration required.  For business to business merchants, it’s common for the cardholder to be different from the person purchasing.

Avoid these issues:

• Buyer wasn’t authorized for the purchase amount
• Buyer bought something the boss wasn’t aware of or didn’t approve
• Exposing personal card information to other people so they can make a purchase
• Losses from fees related to disputes won or lost
• Unauthorized buyer ships product to a different address

3 Ways CenPOS solves these problems:

1. Cardholder can choose to store their payment methods directly with the merchant, never exposing their data to internal employees or the merchant employees.
2. Cardholder can personally manage all payment methods via secure hosted payment site
3. Cardholder is automatically notified when the card is charged
4. Cardholder can inspect invoices remotely from anywhere, even if a purchasing agent has been designated to get the invoice.

In addition to the above, CenPOS has robust fraud tools for merchants to manage.

Example with traditional processing: A commercial repair shop employee calls a dealer for a part. He gives the parts manager his bosses credit card info over the phone and then picks up the part.

Example with CenPOS EBPP: A commercial repair shop employee calls a dealer for a part. The parts manager confirms the part is in stock,  selects the invoice template from the secure web page, adds an amount to charge and presses send via email or text message for the boss to pay. The boss opens the message, views the prefilled payment object on  a secure web page, selects his stored payment method, and presses submit.

Both the seller and buyer save time by eliminating the conversation about card numbers, PCI Compliance issues with recorded phone conversations, or poorly designed fax forms that don’t protect the merchant. Additionally, the payment receipt is delivered electronically to the owner. This e-billing solution is an effective tool to prevent future disputes with greater purchasing transparency.

Global Sales: Christine Speedy (954) 942-048

What does it cost to use BillTrust e-invoice solution vs CenPOS? Hard costs include installation and set up fees, monthly fees, and per transaction or per invoice fees. Soft costs include time for project set up, efficiency of the solution and credit card interchange qualification fees. Neither company publishes their fees but we do have some general numbers to share.

I’ve heard of quotes of $3000 and up for installation and set up, however, this information is from third parties. I invite you to comment below on estimates or actual costs.

Soft costs are harder to measure or comment on. BillTrust is an invoicing solution. CenPOS is a multi-channel payment acceptance solution. We have many merchants that send e-invoices, but also accept payments online, in retal stores, via mobile etc.

The BillTrust and CenPOS EBPP blog series highlights product differences to help business to business companies select the best e-invoicing solution. Each company serves the electronic bill payment and presentment marketplace, but how they accomplish the goal is very different. Each article will address one specific item of interest.

ABOUT BILLTRUST: BillTrust is an established company with a history of customer billing success. They provide billing via US mail, email, and fax, and they offer customers the ability to collect a one time payment online without customer registration.

ABOUT CENPOS: CenPOS is a fast growing, intelligent payment processing network that streamlines the payment experience for businesses and consumers by using state-of-the-art technology to replace inefficient, outdated payment systems. CenPOS offers a single payment platform and gateway for all payment points, including online, retail, kiosk, ecommerce, mobile, and EBPP. CenPOS launched their first EBPP product in 2010, and provide billing via email and mobile.  CenPOS also offers merchants the option to collect a one time payment online without customer registration. For information, contact your blog host and CenPOS sales Christine Speedy at (954) 942-0483.

Do you use Sage Business Works for operational efficiency? You can signficantly improve EBITDA and cashflow with CenPOS Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment. Here’s a workflow for a company that sells mostly wholesale, and 95% checks.

CURRENT PROCESS: Does this sound familiar?

1. Create invoice
2. Email invoice as PDF attachment
3. Admin gets a reminder in 30 days if invoice is not paid to send another invoice
4. Admin sends an invoice via email
5. If still unpaid, admin gets another reminder
6. Admin sends a fax
7. If still unpaid, admin gets another reminder
8. Admin mails the invoice

What is your average length of time from first invoice sent to merchant to receiving the check?

OUR PROCESS:

1. Create invoice ( You create in your system)
2. Send your invoice via API or our ‘printer; We deliver your invoice as PDF attachment AND with a prefilled payment object for customer to click and pay.
3. Customer automatically gets a reminder on the schedule YOU create,  if invoice is not paid, again with a click and pay
4. Admin can choose to send invoices via other methods if desired

OUR BENEFITS:

• Merchant paid faster because it’s easier to pay
• Merchant spends less time on billing because it’s automated
• Merchant spends less time answering billing questions because customers can access their own portal
• Customer is happier because they can easily access their invoices, history, and update payment methods whenever they want.

What if customer mails a check? You can easily mark the invoice as paid.

Eco-friendly invoicing needs to complete the entire process, not just delivering an email with an invoice.

If you’d like our e-invoicing solution integrated to Sage, CALL ME and let your Sage representative know as well that they can contact me. Set up is quick, easy, and does NOT require an upfront investment. You can even try it free.

Christine Speedy

CenPOS Channel Sales