The challenge
Delivering pensions around the globe
When people think of international payments, the first thing that springs to mind is importing and exporting goods. But there are many other industries that need to send and receive payments in foreign currencies. Quantum Advisory is an independent financial services consultancy that provides solution-based pension and employee benefit services to employers, scheme trustees and members. This often involves making large numbers of international payments to pension members who live overseas.
With their its provider, Quantum Advisory was challenged by the amount of time it took to set up new beneficiaries on the system, which sometimes took up to two weeks to complete. This meant pensioners were waiting longer than expected for their funds to arrive. In addition, the company makes payments to customers in several obscure countries, and their incumbent provider could only make payments to these areas by check. This caused further inconvenience to customers. Quantum Advisory was also paying a fixed cost of £2.74 per payment, which was a significant expense.
The solution
Efficient, cost-effective payments
Convera introduced Quantum Advisory to its GlobalPay and EDGE platforms which provide the ability to manage, set up, suspend, and delete beneficiaries in real-time. Convera’s platforms also offer an on-demand reporting suite which allows the company to run and create reports to easily reconcile pension payments.
Working with Convera also provides the ability to view support cases, including rejected payments that may be missing information. Rejected funds can be held for up to 90 days, so that relevant information can be gathered from the member and a new payment initiated.
Quantum Advisory has also been able to take advantage of Convera’s expansive list of currencies and country reach to replace checks with electronic payments. This means regardless of where they reside, members receive their pension payments quickly, and without the inconvenience of having to cash a checks at a bank.
The results
A transformation in payment efficiency
One immediate benefit provided by Convera was a fee-free payment service. Quantum Advisory has seen a dramatic reduction in costs by removing £2.74 per transaction fee it was paying previously.
Convera has provided Quantum Advisory with a dedicated industry specialist client coordinator and a key account manager. This allows Quantum Advisory to raise and resolve issues in a timely manner, and also provided thorough communication and support during the implementation process. As a result, Quantum Advisory and Convera have built a strong relationship in a short period of time and the company is confident that its improved payment processes will help it win and maintain business when tendering for new and existing schemes.
The team at Convera made the switch from our previous provider seamless. They were always there to help with any questions we had, answering in simple terms, so the process was easy to understand. Moving to Convera has transformed our provision of foreign payments to our pension recipients. We would happily recommend the services of Convera to other pension providers.”
Suzy Lloyd
Financial Controller, Quantum Advisory
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