U.S. Bank Tries To Streamline B2B Electronic Payments

U.S. Bank announced Wednesday (Oct. 29) that it had launched a Payment Plus system that streamlines the process to set up B2B electronic payments by simplifying the payment instruction fields that are transmitted from the customer to the bank.

“Now, organizations with limited IT resources can quickly and easily gain the benefits of electronic payment through U.S. Bank Payment Plus,” U.S. Bank Payables Product Manager Bob Kaufman said in the Bank news release. “The basic payment instruction file complements other Payment Plus payment instruction file formats to offer customers more choices and get them on the road to electronic payment faster.”

The basic payment instruction file is designed for organizations that want to quickly transition from payment by paper checks to electronic payments, reducing costs and enhancing cash management. By removing the need for IT support, the Payment Plus implementation cycle is shortened, according to the release. The Payment Plus basic payment instruction file transmits payment instructions from the customer to U.S. Bank though a CSV file. Because the system requires completing fewer information fields than the standard payment instruction file, typical users won’t need dedicated IT resources to program it. The Online Payment Plus aims to simplify B2B electronic payment and calls for “little-to-no-technology investment,” the release said.

“After a couple of hours of work and a few clarifying questions with the U.S. Bank team, the project was done,” said Mike Anderson, chief financial officer for Lakeview Construction of Pleasant Prairie, Wis., one of the first users of the Payment Plus basic payment instruction file. “Anyone who has an accounting system with basic reporting tools should be able to create the file pretty easily. Overall, the process was very streamlined and took very little IT time.”

Wednesday’s announcement comes less than a week after U.S. Bank announced the launch of its mobile app that extends mobile banking options to corporate clients.  That app allows corporate travel and purchasing card clients the ability to retrieve real-time account information instead of relying on checking a computer for their banking needs, according to a PYMNTS.com article. This data-management a reporting tool is aimed at simplifying account management for the cardholder and ease the burden on administrators who previously had to manage the accounts from a computer.