In this recurring SmartPayments feature we sit down with professionals from the corporate and banking space to talk with them about the issues they face on a daily basis. In this installment we interviewed Camille Lambert, Payroll and Accounts Officer at Quantum Advisory, an independent financial services consultancy that provides solution-based pension and employee benefit services, and asked her about her experience with securing the payment process.
Camille Lambert, Payroll and Accounts Officer at Quantum Advisory
SP: Quantum Advisory recently upgraded its payments security platform, what prompted the switch?
CL: We constantly review our technology platforms to ensure we’re maximising efficiency and functionality -- particularly as it relates to payment security, which has always been a priority at Quantum Advisory. The payment platform we had been using was working well but we were looking for a little more flexibility as we expanded our member base and attracted increasingly larger clients. Quantum Advisory makes nearly 10,000 pension payroll payments monthly, in addition to our employee payments. That’s a lot of people relying on us for income. Because our previous platform was software-based, someone had to physically be in the office to authorise those payments. That’s not exactly ideal, especially when technology enables mobility in so many other areas. In order to avoid any potential payment disruptions, we wanted a solution that would enable us to approve payments from anywhere.
SP: What are the benefits you’ve realized since implementing the new platform?
CL: The solution we adopted is cloud-based and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. Approvers can now approve payments remotely through a secure mobile app. They simply access the system online, receive a verification code and securely log into the app – wherever they are. This functionality has greatly improved our payment flexibility. We are now confident that recipients will always receive payments on time, whether the approver is out of the office on leave, sick or even in the event of a disaster. Another significant benefit to the new cloud-based platform is that all updates to the system are done automatically, we never have to worry about it. With the on-premise solution we had to dedicate labour hours and deal with sort code registry changes anytime there was a product update, which is a big distraction. This has freed up employees to focus on more business-critical tasks.
SP: What advice would you offer to organisations considering a change to their security practices?
CL: I can’t stress enough the importance of finding a technology partner that isn’t going to walk away after the sale, one that will do whatever it takes to make sure your business is covered for every eventuality, particularly with payments regulations changing so rapidly. You should also choose a provider that really understands the regulatory landscape and is proactive about what’s coming down the road and pushing boundaries to stay ahead of the curve – a necessity because it doesn’t take much to get behind. Our support team recently notified us of regulatory changes expected to hit in the next few years and the steps they are putting in place to help us stay compliant. This has given us tremendous peace of mind in knowing that our business is prepared for whatever may come. So, if you’re asking yourselves the same thing we did ‘Do we stay with what’s working or upgrade to the latest technology?’ you should ask yourself one more question: ‘Can we afford not to?’. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Posted by
Germaine Lang
