Heartland Payment Systems (NYSE: HPY), a leading provider of credit/debit/prepaid card processing, payroll, check management and payments services, has integrated alphanumeric remittance ID tagging into its remote deposit capture solution - making it even easier for businesses to efficiently handle check payments.
The tagging ties a check payment to a corresponding remittance document or file for streamlined accounting and occurs when checks are scanned for deposit using Heartland Express Funds. The user is provided the option to assign a remittance, account or some other ID number to associate with the check throughout the deposit, funding and returns process. The number can be keyed in or scanned. The user also has the option to place the number on the check for systemic transcription to avoid data entry in the deposit process. This enables the user to search for a check or checks connected to that payment using the assigned number.
"The remittance ID tagging feature not only adds a connection between the check and the remittance document for added search functionality, it also connects with the user's accounting system for improved cross-referencing and simplified payment reconciliation," explains Tony Capucille, director of check services at Heartland Payment Systems.
"Tracking the remittance, invoice or other relevant payment information at the point of scanning adds a level of control to accounting departments," notes Michael Shirman, chief technology officer at transmodus, the on-demand, online check services processor that powers Heartland Express Funds and developed the ID tagging functionality. "Reconciliation processes are usually labor intensive, tedious and prone to a high level of exceptions. The ability to capture a remittance tag at scanning brings a new level of efficiency."
Heartland's Check Management solutions go beyond remote deposit, verification, and remittance ID tagging to funding, returned items processing, recovery, secondary collections and paperless submission of bad checks to prosecutor programs in more than 150 metro areas in the country. These services are delivered through a single system powered by transmodus which speeds and simplifies the entire check payment and collection process.
"Integrating the remittance feature throughout the entire process makes it easy for an accounting professional to access a live transaction real time," concludes Capucille. "This includes deposits that are returned and later collected and paid. Attaining this level of detail in the check management process is often a manual process for most accounting departments. Now there is a single place for documenting and automating the lifecycle of a check payment ... even when returned."