Umpqua Bank Launches Integrated Receivables to Save Businesses Critical Time by Automatically Matching Payments with Invoices

Cloud-based platform seamlessly and quickly reconciles high volumes of payments with remittance information, improving cash flow and boosting working capital

PORTLAND, Ore., (June 13, 2023) – Umpqua Bank today announced the rollout of Integrated Receivables, a powerful cloud-based platform for business customers that will help accounting departments streamline the processing of high volumes of invoiced payments each month, strengthening companies’ cashflow management and overall efficiency.

Umpqua’s Integrated Receivables helps eliminate a critical pain point for American businesses. The platform, developed in partnership with Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology, uses algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to sift through invoices, emails, and checks to match a payment to its payer, virtually eliminating typical errors and delays that accompany time-consuming manual processing. Used in tandem with Umpqua’s Integrated Payments, which streamlines the process of paying vendors, Integrated Receivables completes the automation of payments end-to-end for companies.

According to Kathryn Albright, executive vice president and head of global payments and deposits at Umpqua Bank, the new platform arrives at a time when businesses face rising costs, accelerating a competitive need for greater operational efficiency.

“As companies face higher costs and shortages in both labor and goods and services, they must continue to identify opportunities to automate office tasks,” Albright says. “Integrated Receivables should be at the top of the strategic planning list for all businesses in 2023. It operates as a software-as-a-service in the cloud, offering an extremely effective solution that will greatly reduce the painstaking task of searching for invoices to match with incoming payments. Integrated Receivables also integrates seamlessly with nearly all ERP and accounting platforms. It’s a critical tool for any company with incoming payments received via checks, remote deposit capture, ACH, lockbox, wires and other payment vehicles.”

Without this kind of automation, the business challenge of reconciling incoming payments will only accelerate. Transactions via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) rose to 30 billion in 2022, according to Nacha, the National Automated Clearinghouse Association. The continued shift to electronic payments leaves companies vulnerable to higher processing costs as businesses are challenged by matching payments to remittance information and uploading the information to their accounting software.

Albright noted the following trends:

• According to the Institute of Finance & Management, 56% of large corporations say managing multiple payment channels has a negative impact on receivables
• According to research from Aite-Novarica Group, 50% of payments cannot be processed straight through without manual assistance, and 34% of corporate users rely on spreadsheets to consolidate receivables information

“Integrated receivables has lagged behind other automated processes in accounting departments due to the challenge of capturing and matching automatically large volumes of payment information from various sources, such as invoices and emails,” said Matt Wilcox, president of digital payment solutions at Fiserv. “Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, scanning technology, and algorithms have now made integrated receivables an affordable and compelling product.”

How Umpqua’s Integrated Receivables Solution Works:

• Information Gathering. The solution imports a file of open receivables records from the company’s accounts receivable system. It also imports payments such as checks, ACH, wire and credit cards, along with associated payment instructions, including lockbox remittance forms, email instructions, spreadsheets, flat files or PDFs. An e-payment portal option provided to businesses as part of the Integrated Receivables solution allows for electronic invoice delivery and records the payment receipt.
• Invoice Data & Payment Matching. AI algorithms automatically read payments and instructions without manual setup or templates, then link them to open receivables records. Superior image recognition technology and proven payment reconciliation processes also help provide a high matching rate.

Integrated Receivables has all the rich features that are essential for driving efficiency: 

• Uses a cloud-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution
• Works with any existing payment process, enterprise resource planning (ERP) or accounts receivable system
• Automatically loads and posts based on a customer-defined schedule
• Collects payments through a web portal, with automatic logging
• Offers a quick, single-click resolution for easy exceptions handling
• Features easy setup and support for enterprise users and role management

“Integrated Receivables is no longer a wish-list type of product for companies that process inbound payments,” Albright says. “It’s a must-have component that’s affordable, with a robust return on investment. The platform will free up personnel to conduct more critical tasks and allow companies to completely automate the cash cycle and access working capital faster, giving them another edge at a time when costs are rising rapidly.”