Retail lockbox services are important if you receive payments from numerous customers. Working with Alliance, you could outsource account receivables such as loan payments, credit card bills, utility and cable bills. No matter what payment types are handled, our automated retail lockbox system will reduce postal delays and overall remittance processing time. Electronic payment options are also available, including ACH direct and ARC payments.

We utilize a two-pass remittance process. Our automated system utilizes image-based technology, which eliminates errors often made during a manual process, such as transpositions and mathematical mistakes.

The steps are simple. Payments are routed to a special P.O. Box and a courier retrieves them twice a day. The payments are then opened with high-speed OPEX sorters and sorted into four categories (single / single matched, multiple check / single stub, single check / multiple stub, checks only). We have the ability to process all categories of payments. However, if you have specific requirements, they will be handled accordingly.

After the payments are opened and sorted, they are imaged and encoded. During Pass One, items are automatically fed through our high-speed transports where scan lines are read and validated. At the same time, the back of each item is endorsed with an audit trail and bank stamp. Transactions are then imaged and sorted by type. At this point, the imaged transactions are ready to be balanced. Operators retrieve batches of work at their PC workstations. Check amounts are key entered. Missing information is added and out-of-balance situations are resolved. For improved accuracy, balancing occurs at both the transaction and batch level.

Pass Two begins when the balanced batches are returned to the transport. The checks are encoded and the deposit is ready for release. Cash letters are prepared and the checks are bundled for deposit at your financial institution. A daily report and posting file are then sent to you for account updates.

When the processing cycle is completed each day, multiple activities take place:

The electronic stub and check images are safely archived on a CD-ROM.

The electronic data is sent to the host for account posting.

The bank deposit is endorsed, encoded and balanced.

Payment data and images are available for on-line review by the end of the business day.

Exceptions are handled according to your requirements.

Remittance coupons will be stored for 30 days; then shredded or returned.

For more details regarding our retail lockbox services and processing workflow, please contact us directly. We can review your specific payment types and determine the most efficient route to take.

For a summary of terms and definitions, click here.