Precision matters. More than ever.

Getting bill payments right the first time, every time is vital for the financial services says Edward McLaughlin.

It’s been 20 years since MasterCard RPPS first debuted. In the last two decades, we’ve introduced many industry firsts driven by an unchanged commitment to reliability and quality. We’re a trusted source for hundreds of payment senders and receivers who, in turn, serve millions of consumers who entrust their financial lives to the complex system that supports their electronic bill payments.

All of these people count on us for speed, accuracy, and reliable service – to the tune of $250 billion worth of payments passing through our network every year. In fact, we’re connected to every consumer online bill payment provider in the US. Our customers share one of our most important ideals: impeccable precision in everything we do. And their customers expect smooth, flawless payment processes. Customer satisfaction and loyalty are at stake every day. 

That’s exactly why precision matters. Down to the tiniest increment. Across enormous volumes. Consider this: if a surveyor is off by a single degree at the start of a five mile tunnel, he’ll be precisely 460.8 feet off the mark at the end. From transportation to medicine to commerce, getting things right the first time, every time, is absolutely vital.

With the explosive growth of online bill payment, we’re moving beyond the era of adoption and into the era of optimization. It’s no longer about growing the category. It’s about fulfilling its broader promise. But to do that, the focus has to shift from simply solving problems to preventing them. Here are a couple of new ways we’re helping the industry to do precisely that.

Fighting the rapid rise in the price of unpostables
Unpostable bill payments can represent one of the worst glitches associated with converting account numbers.

Most conversions result in failed transactions that affect originators, processors, credit counseling services, and the portfolio acquirer. The impact on business is cascading. When a transaction that has always been reliable suddenly fails in a consumer’s first experience with their new service provider, the ultimate cost can be quite high. Tower Group research shows that the attrition rate for customers experiencing unpostable payment problems can be up to three times greater than that of other customers.

In the midst of matching old account numbers to new account numbers, organizations can also lose a lot of money just trying to rectify unpostable payments during account conversions. Billers must typically address conversion issues outside of the electronic bill payment network. In-house solutions often rely on manual research and posting of payments, which causes delays to the updating of account payment information, as well as increased expense.

Although unpostable rates remain low, the associated transaction dollar value is not. Tower Group estimates there are more than 82 million unpostable bill payments a year in the US. The transaction value of these unpostable transactions is over $26 billion. The impact costs companies over $533 million annually.

The new MasterCard RPPS account conversion service enables our customers to conduct near-pain-free account conversions. It turns a labor-intensive manual operation into an automated process, complete with notifications of change for originators, all but eliminating the headache of conversion-related exception items. Plus, it offers another MasterCard RPPS first: an electronic stop-payment functionality.

Backed by our open, self-healing network, the account conversion service spots incoming payments that require account number conversion, automatically changes the old account numbers to the new numbers and routes payments to the appropriate recipient. This entire function is integrated into the electronic payment process. It’s transparent to both the consumer and the biller.

The service also delivers automatic notification of change (NOC) information to originators so that payment account information can be corrected before any future payments are sent. This unique feature facilitates the updating of consumer payment profiles, whether the originator chooses to perform the updates proactively or notify affected consumers about needed changes.

A same-day service that gets it right. Fast.
Precision is about more than flawless account conversions – it’s also about punctuality. There’s no better example of that than consumers who make same-day payments and count on them to get through.

Recent research by IPSOS shows that interest in the guaranteed same-day payment service is strong with seven out of ten online bill payers surveyed. Consumers want to able to make a same-day payment through their current primary bill pay site because it’s convenient compared to other, more expensive and time-consuming methods, the study found.

Currently, consumers most often choose to pay their almost-late bill at the billing company’s website. Some sites charge a service fee up to $20 – a great source of frustration if the payment doesn’t make it through.

Our new same-day payment service cuts costs and enhances customer relationships for billers. With it, a sender can transmit a payment through our network to a biller and be guaranteed that the payment will post on the business day on which RPPS received it. The service is supported by a funds model in which payments are fully funded; edit checks also ensure the funds get posted correctly. Plus, it offers the flexibility to enable consumers to choose their preferred bill payment channel – a winning equation for bankers, billers, processors, and consumers. Superior reliability. A sound funds model.  Consumer choice. It all contributes to an enhanced customer relationship and lower costs.

Precision matters. To you, to us, and to the consumers we all serve.
MasterCard RPPS helped invent this industry 20 years ago. We know our stuff and we’ve always had the best interest of our customers – and theirs – at heart. Which is why we consistently deliver innovations that move online bill payment forward, and why we are best positioned to lead the industry into this new era with true breakthroughs like guaranteed same-day payments and flawless account number conversion.

Precision matters. It’s part of every facet of every transaction we touch. In years to come, our focus will remain on getting things right the first time, every time. Setting the standard in our industry for speed. Accuracy. Quality. And reliability.

Edward McLaughlin is Global Group Head, MasterCard Bill Payment. To talk to MasterCard RPPS about how we can serve you, contact MasterCard RPPS Sales and New Business Development at 1 800 535 2130.

Consumer interest skyrocketing in same day payment

• 91% say convenience is a very influential factor, 69% say it is extremely influential.
• 88% say that the charging of a fee for use is a very influential factor, 74% say it is extremely influential.
• 75% say that the speed with which payment will be posted is a very influential factor, 46% say it is extremely influential.
• Interest in and anticipated frequency of use for the same-day payment service is very high.
• 40% are extremely interested, 28% are very interested, 22% are somewhat interested
• 82% says they would use once a month, 10% would use once every three months.