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Treasury & Capital Markets
BoAML launches new payment solution
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) on September 30 launched its digital disbursements, a new payment solution that enables companies to make payments to their customers digitally, eliminating the need to issue a cheque.
Chito Santiago 30 Sep 2014
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BoAML) on September 30 launched its digital disbursements, a new payment solution that enables companies to make payments to their customers digitally, eliminating the need to issue a cheque.
 
The payments are directly routed to the bank account of the individual payee's choosing using either a mobile phone number or an email address as an identifier. The solution leverages the technology behind person-to-person payments - a capability currently available to individual customers of BoAML consumer business.
 
Digital disbursements will be initially introduced to clients making payments in the US. However, given the product's global application and that clients and their customers want the same convenience wherever in the world they do business, the bank expects to extend digital disbursements to the other regions, including Asia.
 
Ather Williams III, managing director and head of global payments in global transaction services at BoAML, says the new payment solution will likely be launched in Asia in 2015, adding that he was in Singapore last week to discuss the product.
 
He notes there are certain issues that need to be addressed when launching the payment solution in the region, including the local KYC (know your customer) issues in each market and there is also the onshore daily requirements in certain markets.
 
Williams says digital disbursements emerges from the rapidly evolving world of payments in which both the consumers and corporations are increasingly opting for faster, easier ways to send and receive money electronically. "Through this method, customers do not have to wait for the cheque to come in the mail and there is no need for companies to maintain sensitive personal bank account information," he points out.
 
The types of business to consumer payments that could be supported by digital disbursements include rebates, refunds, claims payments and remittances.
 
Digital disbursements were created to serve the middle market, large corporate and public sector clients. It uses the proven technology already in existence for person-to-person (P2P) payments, a capability currently offered by BoAML's consumer business through the bank's alliance with clearXchange.
 

    

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