The voice of P2P automation from the finance process gurus at PayStream Advisors

PayStream Releases Revenue Cycle Management Report

The new report Revenue Cycle Management: Increasing Control Over the Order-to-Cash Process published by PayStream Advisors reveals that Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) solutions offer considerably more functionality within an expanded universe than they did five years ago and are working to significantly increase cash flow.   Continue Reading +

Digital Payments and innovation: Should the banks be worried?

Until a few years ago, the business of facilitating payments seemed a particularly unpromising one for start-ups to enter. Most transfers of money still run down a few main routes that link banks to one another. To consumers, most payments appear to be free because they are given away by banks as part of a bundle of banking services that some customers subsidies through low interest rates on deposits.   Continue Reading +

PayStream Makes Fortune Magazine's Fastest Growing Inner City Companies in 2011!

PayStream Advisors among the 13^th Annual ICIC and Fortune Magazine’s Inner City 100 winners all Annual ranking showcases the 100 fastest-growing inner city businesses in America. BOSTON, MA - The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and Fortune Magazine released the 2011 Inner City 100 list of the fastest-growing inner city companies in the U.S.   Continue Reading +

Keeping the Tax Auditor at Bay and Saving Time and Money in the Process

The regulatory environment surrounding sales and use tax is much more complex than most people realize…at least until you consider that there are over 13,000 taxing authorities in the USA, and that they made over 1400 rate changes in 2007. Jurisdictional boundaries are constantly changing, too.  Incorporated municipalities regularly annex adjacent tracts of land, regional school districts often add or drop students from neighboring municipalities and so forth.  And while a jurisdiction’s sales tax rate may be quoted as 6 percent, the price point at which the next penny of tax is collected can vary from the first dollar to the second and even beyond. How a product is used can also affect its taxability and multiple layers of taxing authorities create additional variables.  The typical fortune 500 corporation will offer over 1000 unique products and services, and will file returns each month with more than 74 different tax jurisdictions.  Even if everything you sell is for resale, you still need to validate sales tax exemption certificates.  In order to get it right and to then process all the filings requires significant dedicated resources. Dealing with government auditors is another drain on resources.  With state and local jurisdictions strapped for cash, government revenue departments are increasingly turning to audits to boost cash flow.  The dollars involved are huge.  Thirty-five states rely on sales tax for over 25 percent of revenues.  The states also claim that e-commerce reduced sales taxes by a whopping $21.5 billion last year, and they are finding innovative ways to get their piece of that pie.  For example, New York State has enacted the so called ‘Amazon Tax,’ which attributes nexus to online stores that merely get customer referrals from other websites based in New York. As a result, businesses are turning to Tax Compliance Automation (TCA) solutions to address the complexity of their sales and use tax environments.   Continue Reading +

The Advantage of Self-Sevice Autopay Enrollment

If you need consolidated evidence that there are tremendous advantages that electronic collections and/or payment networks promise to collectors, look no further than Bank Technology News' recent article, "The Innovators 2007." I call attention to two impressive details having to do with customer enrollment:

• Bank of America reported that online customers are 27% more profitable than traditional customers, with deposit balances 15 percent higher and loan balances 28 percent higher.
• SunTrust Banks found that customers who receive at least three e-bills per month have a 78 percent lower attrition rate and were 86 percent more profitable than offline customers.   Continue Reading +
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Payment Tsar & Payment Quotient - Which Comes First, the Chicken or the Egg?

We talk a lot about Business and Financial Process Optimization at PayStream. To quote Austin Powers, "It's our bag." But these two terms are fuzzy and often used in the industry without really drilling down into what exactly they do and/or mean. I personally believe the novelty and uniqueness of our approach lies in the methods and goals we advocate for.   Continue Reading +

Consumer Electronic Bill Payments: DOs and DON'Ts

"Build and they will buy," was Henry Ford's mantra in the early 1900's when he introduced his first horseless carriage, the Model T. He built, and consumers eagerly lapped up the cars as soon as they came off the assembly line.   Continue Reading +

Consumer Electronic Bill Payments - Choice, Convenience and Control: What's your Payment Quotient?

Did you know that each Starbucks store offers almost 70 different types of beverages? Order a Blended Crème Frappucino at a Starbucks and don’t be surprised if they ask if you want to make that a Double Chocolate Chip, a Tazo Green Tea, a Strawberries-and-Crème, or one of five other types of Blended Crème Frappucino.   Continue Reading +