Lost and delayed international payments currently cost UK businesses in excess of £4 billion every year with 35% of companies sending international payments experiencing a problem.[1] GlobalPay offers organisations a secure and reliable web-based platform that helps to eradicate the fundamental challenges associated with international payments.

As one of the world's leading software companies, Albany Software already provides an integrated and powerful software solution to help its clients with their domestic payments process. Their dynamic alliance with Travelex means they can now offer clients greater visibility and control over their international payments process too.

GlobalPay streamlines international payments, reduces costs and helps to eliminate payment errors for businesses. The web-based global payments platform is developed and provided by Travelex and facilitates single and multiple transactions, allowing both manual entry and the uploading of payment files from any accounting package directly into the payments system. The unique 'Find a Bank' functionality within the solution enables validation of bank account information on entry to ensure all details are correct before committing to the payment(s); critically reducing errors associated with corporate international payments.

Adrian Stafford-Jones, Managing Director of Albany Software, explains, "Through a secure log-in, businesses can access their GlobalPay account, enabling organisations to build a record of beneficiaries; reducing the re-keying of data and facilitating international payments at the click of a button." He continues, "The online portal also helps organisations enhance communications with international beneficiaries by automatically emailing the payee to advise them the payment has been released. This added functionality ultimately improves relationships between the company and its suppliers and reduces the amount of inbound enquiries related to innternational payments."

GlobalPay enhances organisational workflow by facilitating multi-user access and a hierarchical permissions structure which allows specified staff access to set-up an international payment. Once set-up is complete, an email is sent to the Financial Director or key decision-maker for authorisation to submit payment. Along with comprehensive reporting capabilities, the online global payments solution affords organisations high levels of control and visibility when facilitating international payments.

Through a transparent pricing structure in GlobalPay, organisations are able to enter the payment amount in the currency of their choice. The system will then automatically select the real-time foreign exchange rate and provide a quote for the transaction. Competitively priced, GlobalPay can provide substantial cost savings in comparison to traditional methods of international payment.

David Sear, Divisional Managing Director, Travelex Global Business Payments, comments, "Our alliance with Albany Software is integral to our strategy to enhance and extend our business payments offering. With Albany's extensive experience providing businesses with domestic electronic payments solutions and its knowledge of the payments industry, we are able to offer businesses an intuitive payment platform for international transactions. This will allow organisations to reduce time spent on processing international payments, subsequently releasing time to focus on core business activities."

Stafford-Jones comments, "We are delighted to be working with Travelex, such a well-known and reputable international payments brand, to offer both new and existing customers a secure and reliable web-based solution for international payments. This latest opportunity offers organisations the ability to effectively manage global payments via a secure online portal, allowing businesses to improve workflow throughout the organisation and enhance communication with its beneficiaries. The solution also offers flexibility via online access irrespective of time and location, affording both significant time and cost savings for businesses."

Stafford-Jones concludes, "In an increasingly global economy, the ability to transfer funds around the world quickly and reliably is of growing importance. GlobalPay offers organisations of any size and sector value for money, secure and reliable international payments - finally extending the existing provision for domestic payments into the corporate arena."

[1] Travelex Global Business Payments research conducted by Maven Research, Spring 2007