ICBC launched Split Payments, the only bank to create this new tool aimed at companies that aims to transform one of the most sensitive and least digitalized processes in the corporate world: the management of payments to suppliers.
It is a platform that integrates buyers and suppliers in the same environment, allowing you to define how a payment will be made before its execution, within a completely digital circuit.
“Split Payments is the platform that integrates our clients’ value chain, allowing “buyer and supplier digitally connect and define the composition of payments”, said Alejandro Ansaldo, Product Manager & Team Leader Sales Cash Management Corporate Banking at ICBC.
The initiative arises, according to Ansaldo, after detecting that there are still ample opportunities to improve efficiency in companies’ financial processes, especially with regard to payments, where informal tools still predominate.
ICBC digitized payment management with Split Payments
In many companies, Payment management still depends on emails, spreadsheets and multiple communication channels that make tracking difficult and the execution of operations.
ICBC highlighted that this scheme generates inefficiencies, errors and lack of traceability, in addition to complicating the standardization of processes.
“Payment processes can have manual interventions with ‘N’ tools that are difficult to incorporate into a standardized scheme. Payment conditions can be agreed upon in multiple ways, but they are difficult to follow, consult and even execute,” explains Ansaldo.
Alejandro Ansaldo, Product Manager & Team Leader Sales Cash Management Corporate Banking at ICBC.
In that context, Split Payments appears as a solution that organizes this circuitcentralizing all operations in a single, digital and controlled environment.
At a conceptual level, ICBC highlights that the tool works as a step prior to the execution of the payment, which allows agreements to be formalized between the parties before completing the operation.
How the platform that connects buyers and suppliers works
The process begins when the purchasing company uploads a payment intention on the platform, detailing the amount and the corresponding supplier.
From there, the provider receives digital access where they can view the information and define how they want to collect that amount, for example, dividing it into different echeqs.
“The supplier is the one who defines how he wants payments,” explained Alejandro Ansaldo, highlighting the active role he acquires within the process.
Once the provider confirms their choice, the system automatically generates payment instruments within the Multipay platform, allowing the buyer to complete the operation.
This scheme not only speeds up times, but also reduces errors and rework, by eliminating manual intervention in critical stages.
Furthermore, the tool does not require additional development or complex integrations, making it easy to adopt in both large companies and SMEs.
Impact on the relationship between companies
One of the points that stand out the most from ICBC is the change in the dynamic between buyers and suppliers.
Far from a unilateral scheme, Split Payments introduces a more collaborative model, where both parties participate in the definition of the payment.
“We understood that a model like this strengthens the relationship between both, since not only are there substantial benefits, but also is carried out in a protected and 100% digital framework”, yesAlejandro Ansaldo pointed out.
Along these lines, ICBC maintains that the tool allows improving financial predictability, optimizing cash flow and, above all, strengthening commercial relationships.
An important point to highlight is that suppliers do not need to be clients of the bank to operate, which significantly expands the reach of the system and eliminates barriers to entry. The Buyer/Payer company must be an ICBC client and if so, it must activate the Supplier Payment and Echeq service, which will be enough to operate with Split Payments.
Looking to the future, ICBC anticipates that the solution will continue to evolve with new functionalitiessuch as direct integrations with business management systems and a higher level of information on the status of payments.
In a context where companies seek to reduce costs and gain efficiency, the digitalization of financial processes appears as a key step, and tools like Split Payments mark a turning point in the way payments are managed in the corporate sphere; offering a comprehensive product (Split Payments + Payment to Suppliers) which allows you to streamline, automate and 100% digitize your payment process. Adopting it is simple and the benefits of its implementation occur instantly.
