TM Forum Newsletter

Your trusted online source for Treasury Management news In this issue:

U.S. Bank SinglePoint® Dashboard adds functionality, flexibility Options for initiating payments U.S. Bank launches mobile app for treasury management clients Insisting on healthcare EFT standards can reduce provider payment costs

Winter 2014

TM Forum Newsletter U.S. Bank SinglePoint® Dashboard adds functionality, flexibility It is now easier than ever for treasurer staff using the U.S. Bank SinglePoint® Dashboard to quickly access customized data and initiate their most common tasks from a centralized location. The recent upgrades to the clients with tools to perform treasury functions easily and efficiently, incorporate feedback from treasurer professionals who used a beta version of the new system. “We have had many conversations with clients about the Dashboard,” says Randy Lade, vice president and group product manager at U.S. Bank. “Because we use our own proprietary software and develop our systems internally, we have the flexibility to provide the functionality, heightened efficiencies and level of service our clients require.” SinglePoint is the bank’s Internet treasury portal. The Dashboard enables users to incorporate up to a dozen tools — known as “widgets” — into their default landing page. “It’s very intuitive and users can click and drag items to customize their Dashboard,” Lade explains.

Take action widgets

• Report Delivery:When creating a “manage file” delivery schedule, the report can be sent to your email and/or Dashboard. The most current report link will be displayed on your Dashboard. • Check Inquiry:Quickly perform a check inquiry directly from your Dashboard.

News and information widgets

The Dashboard widgets fall into three categories: actions, financial tools and general information. Here’s a quick rundown of the 10 action widgets and their function:

The “financial tool” widgets include “From the Treasurer,” a quarterly update from top treasury and economic professionals at U.S. Bank, and “Industry Articles,” which contain daily relevant news from Bloomberg, Reuters and other sources, updated by 9:00 a.m. CT.

• Account Balances:View balances for up to five accounts on current day, previous day, international or all account options. • Account Services:View number of account opening and signer management items you have in each status. • Favorite Reports:Pick up to five reports for viewing from the Dashboard. The most current report will always display. • Initiate ACH Batch:Select your five most used ACH batches to quickly initiate a batch from your Dashboard. • Initiate Book Transfer:Pick your five most used book transfer templates to quickly initiate from your Dashboard. • Initiate Wire Transfer:Select your five most used wire transfer templates and repeat codes to quickly initiate from your Dashboard. • Pending Approvals:A consolidated view of all items pending your approval, arranged by service (payments, non‑payment items and non‑transaction templates). • Positive Pay:Quickly view and act on your Positive Pay exceptions. Tabs within this widget include processing deadline, a countdown to the deadline, the number of accounts with exceptions and total number of exceptions.

“General information” widgets include a list of processing schedules, monthly best practices articles with recommendations on getting the most from the SinglePoint system, and a tutorial on customizing your Dashboard. U.S. Bank monitors clients’ use of the Dashboard, both to determine the popularity of various widgets and for client training purposes. The most commonly used widgets to date are Account Balances, Favorite Reports, Pending Approvals and Positive Pay. “We look at which clients have configured their Dashboards, and whether their widget configuration is optimum for their overall utilization of the SinglePoint system,” Lade says. “When it appears that a client may not be reaping the full benefits of the Dashboard, we will offer to provide some training to help them extend the value.” Summing up the latest improvements to the Dashboard, Lade explains that “our goal is to help our clients get more done in less time.”

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TM Forum Newsletter Options for initiating payments A large part of a treasury manager’s job has always involved initiating and overseeing corporate payments. Over the years this responsibility has remained a constant, but automation and technology have revamped the process, making it faster and more secure. U.S. Bank offers two automated modes of payment origination: direct transmission from the client’s computer to the bank’s system, and the U.S. Bank SinglePoint® Internet treasury portal. Clients may use one or the other, or both.

Characteristics of direct transmission As a general rule, organizations that use direct transmission typically have higher levels of automation. Direct transmission requires the ability to create payment files within the organization’s own systems, such as Treasury Workstation or enterprise resource planning (ERP) system — without manual intervention. “Organizations that have a payroll or payables system that can create industry standard files have the foundation for using direct transmission,” explains Judith Grussing, vice president and group product manager at U.S. Bank. Transmission customers commonly automate their confirmation or acknowledgment file. This means they receive a file from U.S. Bank that is automatically incorporated into their payment origination software or ERP. Such organizations regularly have a high volume of predictable payment transactions, such as vendor payments or payroll, which can be scheduled in advance. Generally, if a client has a high volume of payments, has its own controls in place and can create a payment instruction file (standard or custom), then direct transmission is the more efficient option, according to Grussing. Even if a client cannot provide its transactions file in the appropriate format, they can still initiate payments using direct transmission, she says. The bank will create industry standard file formats for the transactions before processing the file. Direct transmission has the added advantage of allowing clients to send a transaction file with mixed payment types. Thus, Automated Clearing House (ACH), wire, virtual card and paper check payments can all be combined into one single initiation file.

Why choose SinglePoint? SinglePoint is generally suitable for a wide range of organizations, from small businesses to large corporate entities. It is especially useful for those that do not

necessarily have a high level of automation in their own internal systems and are equipped and staffed to drive the composition, delivery and reconciliation of transactions from their Internet browsers. SinglePoint offers a wide array of payment services from low volume check printing to wire and ACH origination. SinglePoint gives users the ability to enter one‑off transactions, import files of multiple transactions, or initiate wire or ACH batch payments. SinglePoint also offers built‑in controls through client level approvals and token based user initiation, while maintaining a high level of flexibility. “For instance, templates can be customized when they are set up by requiring one to three levels of approval, dollar limits for payments initiation and from 12 to 15 different user entitlements,” says Randy Lade, vice president and group product manager at U.S. Bank.

Freedom of payment choices U.S. Bank clients are not restricted to one method of payment initiation. Many large organizations that use direct transmission also use SinglePoint to initiate transactions. It effectively processes one‑off, non‑scheduled transactions as well as large batches. “U.S. Bank strives to offer its clients flexibility and services that meet their particular requirements,” Grussing says.

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TM Forum Newsletter U.S. Bank launches mobile app for treasury management clients U.S. Bank Mobile SinglePoint clients can now access banking functionality while away from the office with an iPhone or iPad app. The new apps provide clients access to select tools that allow them to manage critical banking functions such as wire transactions, book transfers and password resets anytime, anywhere. This is an extension of U.S. Bank SinglePoint®, the web portal to U.S. Bank’s suite of treasury management services, and SinglePoint Essentials for small businesses. U.S. Bank piloted the app earlier this year with a select group of corporate clients, whose feedback helped shape the functionality of the apps now in general release. “This technology allows us to virtually take the office computer along with us wherever we go,” said Deitra Mangrum, treasury manager for Equity Residential, an early adopter of Mobile SinglePoint. “The Mobile SinglePoint iPhone app is convenient and easy to use. It provides a great business benefit.” “In today’s world, business and treasury managers have their mobile devices handy wherever they go, and U.S. Bank is committed to providing the latest innovative technologies to make completing their vital banking functions seamless,” said Mary Burchette, senior vice president for U.S. Bank Global Treasury Management Group. “The Mobile SinglePoint apps allow users to approve a variety of transactions while away from the office — at home, in an airport lounge or while traveling overseas.”

The Mobile SinglePoint app allows for easy‑to‑navigate experiences designed specifically for the iPhone and iPad, which clients have come to expect. Mobile SinglePoint is a secure way to bank; the same security features that protect the SinglePoint full site are built into the Mobile SinglePoint service. To learn more, contact your Treasury Management Consultant or visit usbank.com/mobilesinglepoint.

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TM Forum Newsletter Insisting on healthcare EFT standards can reduce provider payment costs As the healthcare industry increases its adoption of electronic payments, providers such as hospitals and medical practices get to choose what payment methods to accept from health plans. More to the point: Providers don’t have to accept costly virtual card payments. Many health plans have begun making virtual card payments to providers as a way of reducing their costs and streamlining their payables processes. What’s made this particularly troublesome for providers is that often the payers don’t ask before sending these types of payments. And, in many cases, the provider just accepts the new form of payment, not understanding that virtual card payments carry an average interchange fee of three percent of the transaction.

AMA survey illustrates trends In testimony in summer 2014 before the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, the American Medical Association (AMA) reported results of its survey of physician practices in May and June. Results that illustrate these trends included: • Nearly seven of 10 respondents (68 percent) had received virtual card payments in the past six months. • Nearly all respondents (96 percent) said the virtual card payments arrived without their prior authorization.

set the standard for electronic remittance advices (ERAs), and the Affordable Care Act has affirmed the ERA standard and established a standard format for the payment itself. In addition, the Affordable Care Act requires healthcare payers to deliver EFTs and ERAs in formats compliant with those standards when providers request it. An ACH payment that meets the healthcare EFT standard is generally the most economical electronic payment option, Holland says. To illustrate, she outlines the difference in cost to providers when accepting a $2,500 claim payment using different EFT payment types. Taking into account bank pricing information from industry researcher Phoenix‑Hecht and card fees published by MasterCard, she reports it would cost a provider about $75.10 to accept a $2,500 virtual card payment, around $10.73 to accept a wire transfer in that amount, but only 34 cents to receive a similar payment in an ACH CCD+ transaction in the healthcare EFT standard.

• Four out of 10 respondents that received virtual card payments (40 percent) were unaware of interchange fees associated with processing such payments. Priscilla Holland, senior director, healthcare payments, at NACHA — The Electronic Payments Association, the standards organization for the healthcare electronic funds transfer (EFT) through automated clearing house (ACH) transaction, says the testimony included a case study of a North Carolina radiology practice that received more than 2,000 virtual card payments during a four‑and‑a‑half‑month study period. “It was eye‑opening that those payments came from not one but 48 different insurance companies,” Holland says.

Growing pressure to comply

Healthcare EFT standard For providers that want to receive electronic payments, the most efficient and cost effective option is an ACH payment that meets the new healthcare EFT standard. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

HIPAA and the Affordable Care Act have required healthcare payers to deliver EFTs and ERAs to providers using the new standard upon their request since January 1, 2014. A health plan can’t create a HIPAA‑compliant ERA with a virtual card transaction, Holland notes. “If the health plan does not comply, a provider may file a HIPAA violation and CMS [the federal Centers for Medicare

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TM Forum Newsletter and Medicaid Services] will work with the health plan to ensure they are compliant, and may issue a fine for non‑compliance,” she says. The Affordable Care Act also requires health plans to certify with the Secretary of Health and Human Services that they are compliant with the healthcare EFT standard and operating rules. The certification requirement will be enforced beginning December 31, 2015. Payers that fail to comply will be subject to a mandatory penalty of $1 per covered life per day.

How U.S. Bank can help U.S. Bank can help both payers and providers adopt the new healthcare EFT standard. “The bank offers payers a disbursement solution tailored to health insurance claim payments,” says Jim Moynihan, senior vice president for U.S. Bank Global Treasury Management Group. “Using Payment Master, payers can send U.S. Bank a remittance file and the bank will convert it to a HIPAA‑compliant 835 file and originate healthcare EFT payments.” The bank manages provider ERA/EFT enrollment, implementation, training and service; maintains a provider database of payment instructions, including bank account information; and delivers the ERA/EFT to each provider enrolled in the service. Payment Master users can offer access to a secure portal where they can view remittance details for each transaction, including an EFT trace number. To reconcile payment remittance to a deposit in their bank account, providers using U.S. Bank SinglePoint® can compare this number

associated with the deposit using the ACH Healthcare Claim Payments report. The ability to conduct this matching process is especially helpful to providers that may receive multiple payments in the same amount from any particular health plan. While Payment Master is primarily a health plan solution there are also additional healthcare solutions for providers. U.S. Bank Payment Consolidator enables healthcare providers — with limited human intervention — to electronically receive, post and reconcile all payments and remittances received from healthcare claims payers. This service incorporates paper checks and remittances received in U.S. Bank Wholesale Lockbox, as well as EFTs and ERA files. Payment Consolidator includes management of remittance advice files from hundreds of claims‑paying organizations, linking to these advice files through a variety of claims clearinghouses and direct connections with payers. In addition, the capture of key patient and claim data directly from paper explanation of benefits (EOB) statements is automated. Providers have the option to receive a HIPAA‑compliant file to automate posting or to access critical data from an online portal to facilitate the posting and reconcilement processes. Additionally, Payment Consolidator provides a variety of research and workflow tools through a portal designed to support healthcare providers. All information regarding claims payments is available through one, easy‑to‑use website that includes high quality images of payments and EOBs. Features such as image transmission, extended image archive and workflow management tools for denials and correspondence are available to aid with revenue cycle management.

U.S. Bank SinglePoint is a registered trademark of U.S. Bank National Association. ©2014 U.S. Bank National Association. All rights reserved. 7479 MMWR57541 (12/14)

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