A secure and reliable electronic payments solution was required to automate the weekly check run with the aim of reducing the risk, cost and time overhead of paper checks. The system needed to integrate with the existing Accounts Payable (AP) module of the client’s existing Management Reports Incorporated (MRI) accounting package.

Outcome

The chosen solution was to interface with Bank of America’s Paymode-X digital online payment service to transmit payment and remittance data by integrating a windows component into the AP check processing workflow using the MRI Application Toolkit.

Business Case

A secure and reliable electronic payments solution was required to automate the weekly check run with the aim of reducing the risk, cost and time overhead of paper checks. The system needed to integrate with the existing Accounts Payable (AP) module of the client’s existing Management Reports Incorporated (MRI) accounting software package.

Solution

The chosen solution was to interface with Bank of America’s Paymode-X digital online payment service to transmit payment and remittance data by integrating a windows component into the AP check processing workflow using the MRI Application Toolkit.

The customizations to MRI included entry form, report and database enhancements which enabled the system to differentiate between physical check and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) payment methods. The windows component performs payment batch validation and processing and generates an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file containing all the data required to effect payments from the client’s relevant disbursing accounts. The file is transmitted securely to the bank’s File Transfer Protocol (FTP) endpoint.

Project

The project lifecycle included technical analysis, design, development, documentation and support of the end product.

The project progressed along multiple parallel tracks, with Bank of America driving the accelerated vendor network enrolment program and preparing their own systems to support the new interface. Open Box coordinated the technical aspects of the project between the client’s business team and Bank of America’s implementation managers in weekly team meetings.

• Man-days = 50 days
• Duration = 5 calendar months

After successful testing cycles, the first live electronic payment was received and processed by the bank in June 2010.

Benefits

The client enjoys significantly reduced transaction costs and increased efficiency and security in making payments to its Paymode vendors.