Applied Pay® is a digital payment platform providing a safe, convenient way for insured customers to pay their premiums online from any device and integrates seamlessly with Applied Epic, Applied CSR24 and EZLynx. Curtis Reed, head of marketing for Applied Pay® Digital Payments, answers a few questions about the product in this article.
Why invest in digital payments?
Curtis Reed (CR): Over the past several years, fueled partly by the pandemic, big tech companies like Amazon and Etsy have leveraged payments technology to simplify and speed up the digital buying experience, driving up consumer confidence and standardizing the process.
Fueled in part by paper checks being wrought with fraud, over 69% of US adults said they elected to pay electronically on purchases made in 2023, increasing the rising trend towards cashless transactions.
Offering a more modern payment experience, complete with the ability to pay from any device, use of preferred payment methods and instant confirmation, Applied Pay gives your insured customers the type of experience they have come to expect from forward-thinking brands.
For agencies and brokers, adding digital payments to your collection efforts can mean quicker access to cash, enhanced operational efficiency and greater protection against fraud and liability.
Why was Applied Pay built?
CR: Applied Pay is Applied Systems’ answer to the industry’s growing demand for digital payments. In today’s competitive marketplace, leveraging digital payments as a way to speed up and enhance the collection process can be the difference between growing your book of business and falling behind.
We created Applied Pay to save agencies and brokers time and effort during the payment collection roundtrip. By providing an easier, more client-friendly way to collect and apply premium payments we help agencies become more efficient, user friendly, and more secure.
With Applied Pay automating much of the payment journey, more time can be spent on obtaining new clients and servicing existing clients and less time worrying about collecting premiums.
Unlike competitor offerings, Applied Pay was built specifically to service Applied’s user base and is the only natively integrated payments solution with full API integrations into Applied Epic, Applied CSR24, and EZLynx platforms.
This focused engineering allows for deeper automation and functionality to be built directly into the Agency Management System (AMS) architecture, providing CSRs and finance personnel a frictionless experience when managing transactions. It also creates more security when it comes to managing data within the closed-loop environment.
How are payments collected through Applied Pay?
CR: Taking payments through Applied Pay is simple. Due to our deep integrations with Applied Epic and Applied CSR24, agencies/brokers have the flexibility to collect payments with workflows that best align with their preferred way of doing business.
Applied Pay helps you to meet your clients and prospects where they are. With Applied Pay you can:
- Prefill a payment page link and send it to someone for an exact amount (invoiced amount or one-time request). On clicking the link, customers are taken to a predefined checkout page where they can review amounts and make payments,
- Send a unique, agency-specific, customized payment page link that can be provided to a client or prospect at any time to collect a payment and automatically tie that payment back into your AMS,
- Take a payment over the phone directly into the client or prospect record in Epic or within EZLynx, and
- Promote customer self-service through CSR24 or EZLynx Client Center.
What type of automation does Applied Pay offer?
CR: Using automation to reduce steps in the payment process is a top priority of Applied Pay. Along every aspect of the payment lifecycle we are looking for opportunities to reduce manual processes and give back much-needed time to CSRs and finance personnel.
Here are a few of the current automation enhancements offered by Applied Pay:
- Check a box to automatically add client-specific pay link to all outgoing invoice emails.
- Automatically apply credits-to-debits on clients with accounts in Epic and for EZLynx users who have EZLynx Accounting.
- Directly write-back to Epic for any transaction taken without client validation.
- Create notifications and payment confirmation email.
- Daily batch payout emails with intricate client details and payment commentary.
A case study done internally revealed that on average our users are reducing manual work associated with payments reconciliation by 50%.
What type of payments does Applied Pay accept?
CR: Applied Pay allows insureds to pay using ACH (bank file) or credit/debit cards at checkout. Payees are also provided a login to a personal payment account where they can store preferred payment methods for future use and review past payment history.
How does Applied Pay handle compliance?
CR: To ensure our payments platform is always performing to standards, our system is thoroughly tested for security vulnerabilities by independent third parties on an annual basis. In addition, all client data captured at checkout is encrypted both at rest and in transport using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 encryption.
We also comply with all PCI DSS and Nacha Compliance measures, helping you remain compliant while accepting digital payments.
How much does Applied Pay cost?
CR: To become a merchant and gain access to the Applied Pay platform, there is a standard support fee of $100 a month. There are no additional upfront, implementation, training or set up costs required. Also, there are no additional fees for unlimited branches or sub-agency accounts
How long does it take to get set up with Applied Pay®?
CR: Launching a new product or service can be daunting, but Applied Pay simplifies the process with a dedicated team to guide you every step of the way. We have a proven onboarding process that gets most businesses up and running in about two weeks, although some have been ready in just hours.
Our implementation team is expertly trained in both payments processing and Applied accounting, allowing us to provide top tier onboarding support to larger, well-established organizations and small upstarts just getting in the game.
Final Thoughts
Collecting payments shouldn’t be the hardest thing your company does. Leveraging a digital payments platform as part of your overall digital agency experience can help to improve client engagements, simplify the collection process and provide better visibility over all your payments data.
Applied Pay is here to help you grow your business. By providing our clients with a superior digital payments’ solution, coupled with best-in-class support, we are confident in our ability to help you collect more payments and build better relationships with your clients and prospects.
To learn more, talk with one of our sales associates and see if Applied Pay is right for you.
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