Blogging from the TAWPI Payments in Transition Conference

I am in Las Vegas for the fifth annual TAWPI Payments in Transition conference (with the largest attendance yet: approximately 140 billers, bankers and vendors). TAWPI - the Association for Work Process Improvement - is focused on payments automation, distributed capture, and imaging/forms processing. The Federal Reserve's latest research indicates that 50% of consumer-to-business (C2B) payments are still paper. And since most B2B transactions remain stubbornly paper-based, TAWPI provides a collaborative forum for banks, corporates, and vendors seeking best practices for managing paper checks and remittances.

Recurring themes:

• Payment data alone is insufficient without remittance/customer information. There’s been significant attention paid toward electronifying the check, but what about the supporting documentation?

• Much of the discussion is on how to manage dual processing streams paper decreases but linger on at increasingly at lower volumes for the foreseeable future.

• Declining check volumes increase unit costs and drive consolidation among a handful of key providers. Most (vendor and bank) representatives expect that large billers will move toward outsourcing their lockbox/remittance processing as they lose economies of scale.

• With the emphasis on migrating from paper to electronic, it’s no wonder Check 21 is a hot topic. Almost all speakers note the wild success of remote deposit.

• No one size fits all – solutions must vary to meet specific needs of customer segments.

Click on the session title to view my notes/observations from each presentation:

TUESDAY

Keynote Address: Managing the Changing Mix of Payments
Brian Hurdis, President, Metavante Image Solutions

Back Office Conversion: Too Little Too Late?
Bob Meara, Senior Analyst, Celent

Distributed Capture: Trends, Opportunities & Challenges
David Peterson, Executive VP, Goldleaf Financial Solutions

The Convergence of Payments & Forms Processing
Mark Fairchild, Chief Technology Officer, BancTec

Payments in Transition Town Hall Meeting
Joseph Sass, Senior Regional Manager, US Bank;
Jay Matyas, VP & Sr. Product Manager, PNC Bank
Steve Nugent, Director, Product Mngt., First Data Corp
Ronald Victor, VP, Receivables Product Mngt.,JPMorgan Chase
John Mintzer, VP, Citizens Bank
Moderator: Mark Brousseau, Brousseau & Associates

Business Drivers for Payment Automation
Andrew Pery, Chief Marketing Officer, Kofax

Check 21 Road Map: One Bank's Journey Into the 21st Century
JR Thornton, AVP Indirect Client Services, Wilmington Trust

Check 21: Open Discussion Among Bankers, Billers, and Vendors

WEDNESDAY

Keynote Address: Unlocking the Value of Your Customer Data
Malcolm Netburn, Chairman and CEO of CDS Global

Image Integrity—A Critical Component of Check Electronification
Kerry Atha, Director of Product Development, Viewpointe
Perry Bailey-Kopp, Group Vice President, Check Production Support, SunTrust Banks, Inc.

Distributed Capture Panel Discussion
Wally Vogel, President, Creditron
Mary Hockridge, Executive VP, NetDeposit
Brandon Kunz, Director of Product Strategy, Enterprise Payments Division, Goldleaf Financial Solutions
Charles W. Kelly Sr., formerly Senior VP, Huntington National Bank
Jon Reneslacis, Director, Product Management, VSoft