In today’s competitive landscape, optimizing your company’s operations and improving bottom lines is key to staying ahead and staying paces away from competitors.  One proven way to keep your competitive edge is through enhancing day-to-day banking efficiencies. Most companies would be surprised to realize how many inefficient processes are being used – and how they’re impacting their bottom line.

Here are some key questions to consider when evaluating your payment processing methods and your banking relationships:

1. Check Usage: Is your company writing physical checks? If so, how many are being written each month? Not only can checks be costly and time-consuming, they can put you at greater risk for fraud attacks, as check fraud is one of the primary targets for fraud according to the Association of Fraud Examiners. Minimizing check usage and adopting Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments can lead to significant savings in processing fees and administrative overhead. If issuing checks is a core part of your business model, it’s important to invest in safety solutions like Check Positive Pay and Payee Positive Pay, which detect fraud.
2. Wire Transfers: Is your business sending more wires than necessary? Wire transfers typically come with hefty fees. By assessing whether wire transfers are being used judiciously, companies can reduce unnecessary expenses and streamline their payment processes.
3. Utilization of ACHs: Are you making the most of ACH transactions? ACH payments offer a cost-effective alternative to checks and wire transfers. Understanding the benefits of ACH transactions can lead to increased efficiency and reduced transaction costs.
4. Account Consolidation: Does your business have accounts scattered across multiple banks? Having accounts spread too thin can lead to increased complexity, especially when you need to monitor account activity and analyze transactions. Consolidating accounts with a trusted banking partner can streamline operations, facilitate better cash management, and provide easier access to account reports. Consider this: should you have a question about your accounts, would you want to connect with one primary team, or with multiple people across different organizations? Having one banking partner that knows your industry and understands your needs helps ensure they’re better equipped to provide guidance and alleviate any pain points.
5. Consider Treasury Solutions: Treasury solutions are a basic, but critical component to improving banking efficiencies and mitigating risk. Fraud detection tools like Check Positive Pay and Payee Positive Pay fall under this category. In addition, the OneCard, a flexible, commercial purchasing card is unique in that it offers up to a 56-day float period of no interest – more than any other purchasing card on the market – which provides businesses with an opportunity to optimize their cash flow. Not only does OneCard’s float period make it an advantageous tool to improve your bottom line, but it makes managing business expenses – like paying vendors or managing employee travel expenses – easy with an activity monitoring and reporting system that’s easily accessible. This increased visibility gives companies greater control over their expenses so they can see where spending limits need to be adjusted. 

Prioritizing day-to-day banking efficiencies is essential to maximize profitability. By asking the right questions and leveraging innovative solutions, companies can streamline operations, reduce costs, and position themselves for long-term success.

Interested to know how treasury and other solutions can help maximize your bottom line? Our team at Valley Bank can identify the right solutions to meet your needs.  

For informational/educational purposes only. The information in this content is not advice on legal, regulatory, technology, fraud or other matters. You should always consult your own financial, legal, accounting or other professional advisors before entering into any agreement for bank products or services.