Back Office Conversion - Is it Hype or Opportunity?

Jon McCormick, Vice President Business Development, Balance Innovations, LLC

Paul Cox, Vice President of Finance, K-VA-T Food Stores, Inc.

This session was presented at the 2007 N.G.A. Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Back Office Conversion (BOC) presents retailers with a significant opportunity to reduce costs and further automate check processing.  But BOC should not be confused with other options such as Image Capture, POP, and ARC. Electronically depositing of checks is one of the most important emerging trends in the industry today.   But how do you realize this benefit?  Is it just another electronic form of payment with empty promises?  What are some of the considerations when looking for a solution?

Attendees to this workshop learned about what BOC really means to the retailer, how it affects their back office, front end, and their customers.  They learned what types of issues they have to address and how to move forward and exploit this exciting opportunity.

To view handouts: 

Back Office Conversion – Is it Hype or Opportunity? (.pdf 691 kb)

Are You Ready? Back Office Conversions is in Effect March 17^th.

Andrew Starinsky, National Account Executive,
Director of Reseller Services, CheckAGAIN

This workshop was presented at the 2007 N.G.A. Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. It educated the N.G.A. members on BOC and how the new NACHA rule that went into effect on March 17, 2007 can affect them with regards to this new ACH transaction type. Back office conversion will provide grocers with the lowest cost settlement option for consumer checks. Some of the benefits that grocers will see with back office conversion are: grocers get credit for depositing consumers’ checks in the back office, BOC checks will now clear faster than paper checks deposited physically at bank, reduce bank check deposit fees and improve fraud detection. This workshop will provide information to the N.G.A. members to prepare for the changes and also educate them on the products and services that will be available.

To view handouts:
Andrew Starinsky, Back Office Conversions is in Effect March 17^th (.pdf 8.2 mb)

A Comprehensive Look at Saving Money on your Energy & Utility Costs

Tom Sherman, National Account Executive, The E Group (A FirstEnergy Company) 

This workshop was presented at the 2007 N.G.A. Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

During the last few years, energy prices have impacted all businesses.  In retail, grocery stores are highest in energy usage per square foot making them more vulnerable than most business to volatile energy prices.  For example, if energy expense is 8% of revenue, current market volatility could increase that expense to 10% or more over the next 12 months.  This level of risk to earnings could remove a percentage point or more from a grocer’s net profit.  Therefore, it is imperative that grocers consider a comprehensive energy management program to mitigate this risk to earnings and at the same time, reduce total energy spend to improve profitability.  A robust energy management program can reduce total energy spend by 20% to 40%.  Using the example of energy expense equaling 8% of revenue, a 20% reduction will add a full percentage point to net profit.

A comprehensive energy program starts with an Energy Master Plan, which

comprises an energy strategy, bill processing and data capture, bill auditing, historical bill audits, data warehousing and information management, risk  management, procurement strategy, budgeting, conservation and demand side management, rebates and benchmarking.  This session showed how to start and maintain a comprehensive energy program.  It also showed many “quick hit” examples of what grocers can do at little or no cost to reduce generate energy savings.

To view handouts:
A Comprehensive Look at Saving Money on your Energy & Utility Costs - Tom Sherman (.pdf 21 mb)

The Evolution of Payment Cards: How to Make Sense of an Array of Prepaid Products in the Marketplace

Mike Stables, Vice President, Enterprise Customer Development, First Data Commercial Services

This workshop was presented at the 2007 N.G.A. Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Attendees to this session learned to navigate the complex choices and gain an understanding of how prepaid cards work as a cost-effective payment alternative. From gift cards and phone cards to check cashing and health benefit cards, the payment card market continues to evolve. Estimates are the industry could reach $288 billion by 2008, led by gift cards, which currently dominate the prepaid industry with anywhere from $40-$44 million in sales. Mr. Stables explained why prepaid products are gaining in popularity, the choices in products and how payment cards can impact your revenue and bottom line.

To view the presentation handouts:

The Evolution of Payment Cards: How to Make Sense of an Array of Prepaid Products in the Marketplace - Mike Stables (.pdf 128 kb)

Understanding Credit Card Costs, Risk, and Compliance

Ross Federgreen, Vice President/Co-Founder, CSRSI

This workshop was presented at the 2007 N.G.A. Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This session covered the major areas associated with the cost of credit card acceptance including traditional credit cards, debit cards both on-line and off-line. Specific areas addressed were: how fees are determined, areas where fees can be manipulated, critical areas in the processor agreement that every grocer should be aware of, how to reduce the cost of accepting payment cards, the risks associated with the acceptance of various types of payment cards, and basic PCI compliance regulation.

Attendees were empowered to: compare the true costs of various formats of payment card acceptance, review merchant service statements looking for critical ratios, review a merchant service contract and understand the inherent security and risk issues associated with the acceptance of payment cards, and understand which compliance regulations are required. The ultimate benefit of attending this session was to learn the empowerment methods to reduce the cost and risk associated with the acceptance of credit cards.

To view the presentation handouts:

Understanding Credit Card Costs, Risk, and Compliance – Ross Federgreen (.pdf 1.5 mb)

Financial Management Services

• 2006 Points of Impact Study — Survey (.ppt 941 mb.)
• Conference Review
• FMS