Small businesses are the heartbeat of the Canadian economy, driving innovation and creating opportunities in communities nationwide. Payments are the lifeblood of any business, and we’re committed to ensuring that small businesses can send, receive, and manage payments securely and efficiently.
Deliver seamless payments, every time
Central 1’s payments infrastructure and modernized payment capabilities — now and through the future payment services portal — empower small businesses to manage cash flow and transactions smoothly, pay and get paid in time, reduce missed payments and simplify accounting processes. These capabilities include the ability to send data-rich information with every payment, move money between financial institutions, detect fraudulent activities, streamline cross-border payments, and more.
A business use case scenario for small business success
Small business owners often face administrative burdens and technology challenges. They sometimes experience delays when getting paid, as well as in processing payments for their employees and vendors.
To help tackle these challenges, consider asking your small business customers the following questions: How often do you experience late payment? Have you encountered issues with errors or disruptions to invoicing? How much time do you spend on invoicing task each week? Are there business transactions that you would like to enable through Interac e-Transfer®, but transaction limits get in the way?
For example, a small coffee shop serves individual customers and provides regular coffee and catering services to local businesses. The owner manually creates and sends invoices from multiple software applications, reconciliation is time-consuming and affects daily operations.
Reflecting on the questions above, the owner’s key pain points:
- Time-consuming: Manually creating and tracking invoices takes valuable time away from running the coffee shop.
- Late payments: Some businesses delay payments, which impacts the shop’s cash flow and ability to manage expenses. This also includes challenges in making payments to vendors and managing incoming and outgoing payments.
- Tracking: The owner struggles to keep track of which invoices are paid, which are outstanding, juggling spreadsheets, business software and their online banking.
- Business insights: Without real-time balances and holistic oversight of invoice status (paid and still outstanding), it is difficult to make quick or confident business decisions on the spot.
Solution: Central 1’s smart payment offerings and Small Business Invoicing
Flexible payment options such as Interac e-Transfer and Interac e-Transfer for Business offer a convenient way for businesses to send and receive data-rich transactions through online or mobile banking. With these methods, the owner can pay or get paid instantly, receiving transparent payment status notifications at every step. Modernized payment solutions create a convenient way to pay contract/temporary workers for businesses. Additionally, enhancing reporting facilitates easier or automated reconciliation, among many other benefits.
With Central 1’s Invoicing solution integrated into online banking, the owner can quickly generate and send invoices directly from his online banking platform. The system tracks and reconciles payments, providing clear visibility into outstanding invoices and provide insights into his current balances. By automating and integrating invoicing within online banking, the coffee shop owner saves time, improves cash flow with timely payments, and gains better control over financial tracking, allowing more focus on business growth and customer service.
As we celebrate Small Business Week, we remain committed to providing the solutions that help financial institutions and their small business members to grow — today and in the years to come.
