UOB attempts to help businesses accelerate payment collection and improve cash flow through its new QR-based solution.
The bank launched the QR solution «mCollect» which allows businesses to collect payments from buyers through fund transfer service PayNow at the point of delivery.
Businesses can provide their customers with a QR code generated by mCollect which can be scanned to make payment which then leads to immediate crediting and automatic reconciliation. According to UOB, cash flow management is one of the «perennial bugbears» for local SMEs due to issues like late payments, citing a four-day industry average when manually dealing with payments.
«While good progress has been made to encourage more cashless payments among businesses, there is still a gap when it comes to the collection process, specifically with cash-on-delivery payments,» said So Lay Hua, UOB's head of group transaction banking and group wholesale banking.
Cash Handling Risk
In addition to faster cash flow, the bank is also wary of the risks of handling physical cash, which continues to be a common practice. UOB noted that more than two-thirds of its corporate customers still receive cash payments from buyers, especially those that are smaller businesses most commonly in the wholesale, retail and services sector.
«We make hundreds of deliveries each day,» said Steve Wong, CEO of Boong Group, a meet supplier and food processor firm that participated as a user of mCollect’s pilot. «When collecting payment, which is often made in cash, our salespeople have to spend time verifying the amount and payee details and tallying the payments at the end of the day.»
