is a very real concern. While all valid concerns, an effective

invoice portal does have benefits. It can achieve many things

for a credit department.

FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS:

+ It can help them manage multiple invoices, as well as

access an archive.

+ Your customers can pay in any number of ways including

electronic checks, PayPal, Apple pay and credit cards.

+ Many systems give your customers that ability to pull

down a variety of reports generated from their own

account data.

AUG

8/14 WEBINAR: Surviving the Technology Wave

8/22 WEBINAR: Demystifying Trade Credit Insurance –

A Guide to Understanding and Negotiating

Your Credit Insurance Policy

8/23 WEBINAR: Credit Enhancements:

Beyond the Personal Guarantee

8/24 NACM Heartland Construction

Credit Exchange Meeting

8/24 NACM Heartland Board Meeting

8/24 NACM Heartland Iowa Cubs Game

8/24 WEBINAR: Financial Shenanigans

8/30 WEBINAR: Five Nations that Matter to the US

8/31 WEBINAR: Leadership Webinar Series –

Executive Decision-Making

SEP

9/4–12/3 ONLINE COURSE: International Credit &

Risk Management

9/5–12/15 ONLINE COURSE: Accounting

9/6 TELECONFERENCE: Loose Lips Sink Ships

9/11–12/8 ONLINE COURSE: Business Law

9/11–12/8 ONLINE COURSE: Credit Law

9/11 CERTIFICATION: Applications due for the CBA, CBF

and CCE November 6 nationwide exam

9/13–9/14 NACM Heartland Annual Meeting & Golf Outing

9/13 WEBINAR: Tips for Controlling Legal Costs

9/17–9/22 CERTIFICATION: Financial Statement Analysis 1

9/18 WEBINAR: Alternative Collection Strategies

9/21–9/22 CFDD Annual Conference

9/26 WEBINAR: How Technology Could Change Credit

Management Practices

9/27 WEBINAR: Overview of the Litigation Process

9/28/17 NACM Heartland Construction

Credit Exchange Meeting

9/28 WEBINAR: Leadership Webinar Series —

Driving Accountability

OCT

10/1–10/6 CERTIFICATION: Business Credit Principles

10/16 WEBINAR: Collections Conversation

10/26 NACM Heartland Construction

Credit Exchange Meeting

10/26 WEBINAR: Leadership Webinar Series —

Driving Change and Executive Plan

PUBLISHED BY NACM HEARTLAND

The pros (and a few cons) of online invoicing

Technology has been a key instigator

of creating efficiencies in all areas of

basis, so it is no surprise that credit

departments are looking at it to help

create more efficient invoicing and

accounts payable processes. One

solution— online customer portals —

AUGUST 2018

>> PAGE 4

CALENDAR

NEW MEMBERS Rembrandt Foods

Bosselman Energy

Ag Valley Coop

Consumers Oil and Supply Co.

FOR YOUR CREDIT DEPARTMENT an invoice portal can:

+ Create easy access to customer information.

+ Encourage efficient payments.

+ Handle reoccurring invoices.

+ Automate a collection process to send reminder

emails for nearly due and overdue invoices.

REAL LIFE EXPERIENCESTy Knox, a NACM Heartland board member and director

of credit and risk for EFCO Corp., agreed that these

are important client benefits. He said his company is

actively seeking an invoicing solution that will give their

customers more access to their account information

and also expedite payments. One of their challenges,

however, is finding something that will work with their

custom A/R invoicing system.

NACM Heartland’s partner BARR Credit currently offers

an online portal that allows their customers to pay

invoices, as well as download reports, trust statements

and other account information. They have found this to

be a nice feature that a few clients have embraced, but

they do find that many clients still contact their sales

reps for the information they need.

NEXT STEPSSo, what are your next steps? If you are interested in

researching invoicing portals you’ll want to create a list

of the features you know you’d like your solution to

have. This will take a bit of research to determine what

is available. You’ll also need to engage your IT

department to ensure you find software or programming

that matches up with your existing systems.

There is little doubt that invoice portals are still evolving,

but they are likely here to stay – at least in some

capacity. The intent is too good for it to disappear. Not

only are you serving your customers, but you are also

creating internal efficiencies.

>> ONLINE INVOICING

is gathering more and more buzz because many of the

existing solutions address both.

Yet, as we talk to members, it is clear there are few members

who have yet to tap this solution. For some, it is a matter

of finding a solution that can blend with existing A/R and

invoicing systems. Others worry about creating an experience

that may create an illusion that automation is more important

than customer service. And, for many, the concern about cost

HEARTLAND

HEAD LINER

4

CREDIT MANAGER’S TOOLBOX:

UTA’s Credit Card Surcharging Solution

AS MOST OF OUR MEMBERS WILL REMEMBER, a credit card

surcharge is an additional fee that a merchant may pass to

a consumer when he or she elects to use a credit card as a

means of payment. In the recent past, state laws and major

credit card companies prohibited surcharging, but that’s now

changing. Provided you follow the rules, a merchant is now

permitted to apply a surcharge to customers who pay with a

credit card. Our partner United TranzActions (UTA) can help

you eliminate the cost prohibitive credit card acceptance fees,

while adhering to compliance requirements, as you accept

credit card payments over the phone or at the point of sale.

The UTA solution is designed to …

+ Apply surcharge fees to most Visa, MasterCard,

Discover, and American Express payments.

+ Eliminate compliance exposure.

+ Smart surcharge calculation will apply the fee

automatically.

+ Card validation occurs at the point of entry so that

only qualified payments are surcharged.

+ Surcharging notification and disclosure requirements

will be provided.

+ No software to purchase.

If you are considering surcharging credit card transactions

for your business, keep in mind the following regulations.

1. You must be registered with Visa, MasterCard, and

Discover (Registration process takes 30 days).

2. Alert your processor 30-days before implementing

surcharging.

3. You must be sure your state allows for surcharging.

4. You must inform your customers at the point of entry

and the register that a surcharge will be added to

their bill before completing the transaction.

5. The amount of the surcharge must not exceed

your retail cost of acceptance or 4%.

6. The total amount plus the surcharge must be

processed together as one transaction.

7. The receipt must show the total amount on one

line and the surcharge amount as a separate line

item on the receipt.

8. You can never surcharge a debit card or a

prepaid card.

Michael Williams, Vice President of NACM Relations

with United TranzActions, is available to advise

NACM Heartland members on the latest in credit card

and electronic payment processing technology.

LEARN MORE

Q: How was your 2017 Credit Congress experience?KNOX: I was a presenter (as a National

Board member) during the opening

session. I attended five education

sessions that were all very informative.

I met with several of my vendors in

the EXPO Hall and spoke with a few

others who had products I have been

interested in and had dinner with my

third party collections company.

LARSON: I attended the education

sessions at Credit Congress. For me,

the most beneficial aspect of Congress

was the vast array of credit topics that

were covered. The courses I attended

covered anywhere from analyzing

financial statements to collection

practices to minimizing stress in the

workplace. It’s great to be able to

pick from a variety of classes as all

attendees have different strengths

and weaknesses.

Q: Anything stand out for you in the education sessions?KNOX: I took a session called “The

Psychology of the Debtor: What

is Going on in Their Head?” which

offered great strategies for working

collections with different personalities. I

immediately worked a session with my

team and shared the great info from

that session.

LARSON: A lot of the classes I attended

were based on financial statements and

finding key ratios. What I’ll bring back

to my department is to not just quickly

glance at two or three key ratios, but

actually dive in deeper and take a little

longer to make a more sound decision.

Q: Did you have an opportunity to visit the Expo? KNOX: I always visit the EXPO as many

of the exhibitors are current and past

vendors of mine. It is always nice to put

a face with a voice and you can learn a

lot about the products and services with

the face-to-face interactions.

LARSON: I did visit the expo. A lot of the

vendors have really interesting products

and services. Even if you know you’re not

in the market to spend any money on an

outside party, chatting with the vendors

is very interesting and the conversation

will most likely spur some thoughts on

how you can change/improve internal

processes you have in place.

Q: In the end, what are the benefits of attending Credit Congress?KNOX: Credit Congress is the Mecca

of the credit world. You will never have

another opportunity to spend time with

a thousand people who know exactly

what you go through in your daily grind.

Credit Congress Wrap-Up from Two Members

NACM HEARTLAND HEADLINER // AUGUST 2017

Credit Congress is the single best

networking event a credit professional

can attend.

LARSON: I was fortunate enough to win

the scholarship this year and that’s why

I attended for my second year. It is a

great opportunity to meet other credit

professionals of all ages and throughout

different industries. It’s a great way to

network with others and hear different

ideas from different backgrounds. It’s

easy to get stuck in old, maybe inefficient,

ways if not exposed to other ideas once

in a while and Credit Congress is a great

exposure to new things.

IT’S A WRAP ON THE MOST RECENT CREDIT CONGRESS! More than 1,000 credit professionals from across the country gathered in Dallas to celebrate and learn about all things credit. With several members from NACM Heartland attending we checked in with two of our own to give us their perspective about this annual event.

So what happens if you are not compliant while surcharging credit card transctions. It’s not pretty. Fines range from $1K-$10K

PER transaction depending on the rule(s)that were broken and how often they were broken. And, the worst case scenario: you

are placed on the MATCH list and won’t be able to process with any processors, not even the high-risk processors.

If you would like to schedule time with Michael and learn about both

the NACM Automated Credit Card Surcharge Solution as well as

United TranzActions own Credit Card Alternative, contact him directly

at mwilliams@unitedtranzactions.com or at 305-606-6703.

Merchant Surcharging4 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

WHAT IS MERCHANT

SURCHARGING?

A payment surcharge, alson

know as a checkout fee, is an

additional fee that a merchant

adds to a consumer’s bill when

he or she uses a credit card

for payment.

WHAT CARD TYPES SUPPORT

MERCHANT SURCHARGING?

Merchant surcharging is allowed on credit

card transactions only. It is NOT allowed on

debit cards (signature or PIN-based). Visa

and Mastercard check cards do not allow

surcharging, whether processed as a credit

card sale (signature) or a debit card sale.

WHAT INDUSTRY TYPES

SUPPORT MERCHANT

SURCHARGING?

Merchant surcharging is

allowed on all card present

and card not present industry

types, including recurring

transactions.

WHAT PAYMENT BRANDS SUPPORT

MERCHANT SURCHARGIN?

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and

Discover all support merchant surcharging,

though rules should be reviewed on the

payment brand website. Each payment

brand requires that merchants register to

support surcharging functionality.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY United TranzActions

32

TY KNOX

Ty Knox is Director of Credit and Risk for EFCO Corp. in Des Moines, as well as a member of the NACM Heartland and NACM National board of directors. He has participated in Credit Congress several times throughout the years.

CONNOR LARSON

Connor Larson from Helena Chemical was this year’s scholarship winner. It was his second Credit Congress.