J.P. Morgan Introduces Total Settlement A/P Tool

J.P. Morgan's treasury services unit has launched a new tool it says will help simplify the payment of supplier invoices and lay the foundation for complete order-to-pay automation. Total Settlement is an electronic payment solution that ACH, commercial card, wire, and standard paper check payments in a single file, eliminating the extra effort in accounts payable involved with processing multiple payment types. A self-service web portal for suppliers provides payment status information, remittance details and allows suppliers to maintain their own contact and payment-related information.

According to a release, organizations using Total Settlement can streamline payment processing with more than 75,000 suppliers in the J.P. Morgan Business Settlement Network, with little to no enrollment effort. The J.P. Morgan Supplier Services team can provide assistance to recruit new suppliers into the network and expand the value of any check-to-electronic payment initiative.

Total Settlement is part of J.P. Morgan Order-to-Pay, an on-demand service that connects buyers with their suppliers across a secure settlement network to automate purchase order delivery, invoice and payment processing, and discount management.

The financial institution says that companies using Total Settlement can benefit in a variety of other ways, including:

• Strengthened supplier relations—The combination of a supplier portal and electronic payments with delivery of detailed remittance information helps eliminate payment status phone calls to accounts payable while allowing suppliers to improve cash flow forecasting.
• Improved fraud protection—Digital signatures help ensure that only authorized payments are processed, and high-dollar payments can be routed for a second signature or security audit review. The self-service supplier portal enables vendors to maintain accurate contact and banking information. Payment level controls are utilized for card based settlement.
• Low overhead costs—As there is no software to install. J.P. Morgan's on-demand delivery model can speed deployment and eliminate maintenance to lower total cost of ownership. Through a Web portal, buyers can quickly extend their existing ERP and legacy applications with minimal IT involvement.
• Easy expansion options—Total Settlement provides for a single connectivity engine that facilitates product growth.