CheckMate Changes Checks for BSR

Microplastics. The smell in the break room when someone microwaves salmon. Paper checks. 

Some things linger, despite our hopes otherwise.

And so, we adapt.

The inefficiencies of paper check payments drove ePayPolicy’s founders to create their core platform for online payments 8 years ago. They saw how most other industries took payments, and knew they could help insurance organizations like theirs make the leap.

And now, agencies, MGAs, PFCs and carriers get paid faster. Problem, meet solution – right?

The Persistence and Pain of Checks

“There are still people out there who feel that a paper check is more secure,” says Vickie Harmon of Bailey Special Risk. “That’s their preconceived notion. And then there are others who tell us their owners don’t allow them to pay online.”

The combination of digital payment preferences in the 18-34 age bracket and the surge in online payments driven by the pandemic has proven to be lasting. B2C consumer preferences for fast, flexible and secure payments have bled into B2B transactions. And paper checks are anything but fast, flexible and secure.

“Just getting checks to the office is a pain,” said Harmon. “Someone could send a check from 2-3 hours up the road, and a week later, it might get to us. Then someone has to open it, scan it, and reconcile it back to (Vertafore’s) AIM.”

A 2022 McKinsey study affirmed what most already know – 9 out of 10 Americans utilize digital payments. Online payments are faster, more secure, and commonplace. But compared to most industries, the insurance space has an above average amount of holdouts still using checks. 

“We look at the amount on the check. If there’s a comma, we might take it to the bank today,” joked Harmon. “If not, maybe we’ll wait until the end of the week and see if another one comes in.”

“We know that our customers love the ease of online payments,” said ePayPolicy CTO Nish Modi. “But they’re still getting these checks – in some cases, despite their best efforts. We started thinking, could we make check payments as easy as their online payments?” 

More than a lockbox

Some large insurance organizations utilize generic bank lockbox solutions to offload the administration associated with check handling at the offices, especially with multi-location companies. But not all lockboxes are created equal, and many come with high and fluctuating fee schedules, long-term contracts and insufficient integration with insurance management and accounting software.

“We could have had a lockbox at any point, but then it would just be a matter of them emailing us the information,” said Harmon. “We’d still have to spend the time to manually enter all of that.”

Feedback like this led to the development of CheckMate – the first integrated, secure lockbox solution built just for the insurance industry. When it came to rethinking the lockbox concept, Modi’s team was adamant that CheckMate would be built to integrate with the actual management and accounting systems being used today.

“A lockbox without the (Vertafore) AIM integration doesn’t save me anything, other than maybe it gets to the bank a little quicker.” Harmon added. “But with CheckMate, there’s no manual entry.”

As an integrated insurance solution, CheckMate works in 3 simple steps:

Secure, Daily Collection – Checks are routed to the closest CheckMate lockbox location for daily collecting, batching and processing.

Dashboard Details – Check images and remittance details are viewable in the ePayPolicy dashboards, so there’s just one dashboard for all your payment types. No additional software required. 

Magic Invoice Matching – Customers that connect their accounting systems can utilize CheckMate’s intelligent scanning to match payments with open invoices, eliminating double work and repetitive data entry.

“With CheckMate, the deposits get to the bank faster – by at least 1-2 days, and what used to be 2-3 minutes per check to process has become 2-3 minutes per batch,” said Harmon. “We don’t want to have to spend our time processing checks, we’d rather spend it servicing our customers.”

CheckMate is now available for insurance organizations looking for an integrated solution for modern check payments and accounting.

ePayPolicy ranked #1565 in 2023 Inc. 5000

Austin, TX Aug 16, 2023- Inc. magazine announced that ePayPolicy is No. 1565 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, one of the most well-known rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. 

The ranking provides a data-driven look at the most successful companies within the economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent, entrepreneurial businesses. Chobani, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other household name brands gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. This was ePayPolicy’s second year to apply, and second year to make the list.

“We’re honored to be recognized again as one of the fastest growing private companies,” said CEO Mark Engels. “It’s a testament to the value that our products bring to our customers, and the incredible team we have that works hard to build them.”

ePayPolicy was built for the insurance industry and serves them exclusively. ePayPolicy’s founders experienced the firsthand frustration of limited tech solutions and entrenched customer behaviors when it came to payments, leading to most payments still being handled in the form of paper checks. 

The company started with secure, online payment pages branded to the insurance organization’s business. Last year, they introduced CheckMate, an integrated lockbox solution for companies still dealing with a mix of online and check payments.

“Our customers continue to tell us what tools they need to keep making payments easier for them,” said Engels. “It’s a partnership that allows us to build the tools that agencies, managing general agents, brokers, carriers and premium finance companies are asking for specifically.”

Already this year, ePayPolicy has announced Payables Connect – an integrated, automated payables solution as well as the upcoming release of Finance Connect, which will allow ePayPolicy’s customers to add integrated premium financing, with their existing partners right at online checkout. 

“At the end of the day, we want to make payments one of the easiest things our customers do,” said Engels. “And we are as focused as ever on building the platform to make that a reality.”

About ePayPolicy

ePayPolicy offers easier payment tools, built just for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages, automated check processing, payables reconciliation and more. 6,500+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy and their expert, live support team to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 

Methodology 

The 2023 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2019 and 2022. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2019. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2022. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2019 is $100,000; the minimum for 2022 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons.

New Product – Finance Connect

We’re thrilled to announce the addition of Finance Connect to our suite of insurance payment and reconciliation products for insurance companies. Finance Connect enables insurance companies to offer premium financing options – with their existing premium finance partners – at the point of online checkout for their insured customers.

“Premium financing is essential in our industry because it gives customers greater payment flexibility with financing options,” said CEO Mark Engels. “We’re combining the ease of integrated online payments with financing at checkout to help improve conversion rates for our customers and eliminate the manual aspects of enrollment in a financing agreement with their partners.”

ePayPolicy has over 6,500 customers in the insurance industry, including Premium Finance Companies (PFCs). Existing customers will have early access, with integrations to their existing PFC partners to ensure a seamless experience for all parties involved.

“As premiums increase, access to financing becomes more important,” said CTO Nish Modi. “Finance Connect is going to help insureds pay faster and bind policies sooner, helping both insurance companies and their PFC partners.”

Finance Connect is the latest integrated product for an industry in need of greater digital efficiency and automated back-office operations. ePayPolicy’s founders experienced firsthand the operational pains of check collection and manual reconciliation in insurance, which led to the company’s first product – secure, online payment pages that were fully customizable to match the insurance company’s brand. 

ePayPolicy recently introduced CheckMate, an automated check reconciliation solution that utilizes machine learning, and announced the Payables Connect tools for automating the reconciliation, creation, and payment of market payables.

Finance Connect is the next of several product releases, with the goal of continuing to streamline the accounts payable, receivables and disbursement experience for customers in the insurance industry.

“We want to be the place our customers go to reconcile their payables and receivables and to tie it all together with their existing accounting solutions,” said Modi. “We’re building an industry-wide network that allows money and the associated data to flow freely through the industry while saving time and providing security for our customers.”

Key Features

  • Allows insurance companies to work with their existing PFC partners
  • Premium financing options presented at checkout alongside option to pay in full via ACH or credit card
  • Auto-payment enrollment and payment reminders for enrolled customers
  • Simplified financing enrollment and upfront terms for insureds
  • Easily generates consolidated premium finance agreements (PFAs)
  • ePayPolicy is integrated with over 90% of the most popular agency management systems, saving time and manual data entry

ePayPolicy Wins Built In Austin’s 2023 Best Places to Work Award

Built In announced that ePayPolicy was honored in its 2023 Best Places To Work Awards. The annual awards program includes companies of all sizes, from startups to those in the enterprise, and honors both remote-first employers as well as companies in large tech markets across the U.S. 

“It’s always an honor to receive recognition like this, especially in a city like Austin with so many great companies,” said CEO Mark Engels. “Our culture, benefits and smart, motivated people help us keep and attract the talent that makes ePay such a rewarding place to work.”

ePayPolicy celebrated the award of four Comparably awards just last month, and was an Inc. 5000 winner in 2022. The company now serves more than 6,000 customers in the insurance industry.

Built In determines the winners of Best Places to Work based on an algorithm, using company data about compensation and benefits. To reflect the benefits candidates are searching for more frequently on Built In, the program also weighs criteria like remote and flexible work opportunities, programs for DEI and other people-first cultural offerings.  

“It’s my honor to congratulate this year’s Best Places to Work winners,” says Sheridan Orr, Chief Marketing Officer, Built In. “These exemplary companies understand their people are their most valuable asset, and they’ve stepped up to meet the modern professional’s new expectations, including the desire to work for companies that deliver purpose, growth and inclusion. These winners set the stage for a human-centered future of work, and we can’t wait to see that future unfold.”  

ABOUT BUILT IN’S BEST PLACES TO WORK 

Built In’s esteemed Best Places to Work Awards, now in its fifth year, honor companies across numerous categories: 100 Best Places to Work, 50 Best Startup Places to Work, 100 Best Midsize Places to Work, 100 Best Large Places to Work and Editor’s Choice: 100 Best Hybrid Places to Work. The program honors companies – remote, hybrid and in-office – with the best total rewards packages across the U.S. and in the following tech hubs: Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Colorado, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC. 

ePayPolicy Celebrates Positive Company Culture with Four 2022 Comparably Awards

AUSTIN, TX – ePayPolicy, the insurance industry’s most popular payments platform, announced today four awards that highlight company culture and leadership. The recognition comes from the workplace site Comparably, where ePayPolicy was selected from tens of thousands of companies, winning awards for Best Company Culture, Best CEO, Best Company for Women and Best Company for Diversity.

Comparably Awards are derived from sentiment ratings anonymously provided by employees about their workplaces in multiple categories on Comparably.com during a 12-month period. Winners are then determined based on 20 core culture metrics, ranging from work-life balance and environment to compensation and career growth.

ePayPolicy joins other respected companies in the Small/Medium-sized category, such as Strava, Mixpanel and Route. This was ePayPolicy’s first year to apply.

“We didn’t set out to win vanity awards,” said Allyson Hoffman, ePayPolicy’s Direct of People Operations. “We wanted to hear directly from our people what they felt was working and what we could make better for them. Comparably gave us timely and specific insight, and we were honored that so much of it was so positive.”

“The awards were an unexpected bonus,” added Hoffman.

“Our mission is to delight our customers in the insurance industry,” added CEO Mark Engels. “That’s not possible if our employees don’t feel valued, respected and heard in the workplace. I’m really proud of the work environment we’ve created and the company that we’re building together.”

ePayPolicy was previously honored this year as an Inc. 5000 award winner, as well as one of BuiltIn Austin’s Best Places to Work.

Headquartered in Austin, TX, ePayPolicy is currently hiring for a number of positions. Learn more at epaypolicy.com/careers.

About ePayPolicyBuilt by insurance professionals for the insurance industry, ePayPolicy is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to move money for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages and automated check processing, with CheckMate. 6,000+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy to handle their payments every day. Learn more: ePayPolicy.com

Should You Integrate?

Wondering if an insurance payment system integration is right for your agency? The answer is yes—especially if you’re processing 10 or more payments per month.

The average company uses more than 100 SaaS (software as a service) tools, and some studies suggest that number is closer to 275. Given this high usage of tools designed by different teams, integrations have become essential for running a connected, efficient business.

At ePayPolicy, we believe payments should be the easiest part of your day—but we know they don’t exist in a vacuum. Each payment triggers accounting, reporting, and reconciliation work that can slow your team down. 

Integrations help make magic out of that process. By connecting your payment solution with your agency management system or accounting software, you can save time, reduce errors, and automate the flow of financial data.

Insurance Payment Integration System: What It Is and How It Works

An insurance payment system integration is a software program that works by connecting your payment platform with your agency management system, accounting platform, invoicing software, and other digital tools your business needs. Integration allows everything to sync automatically and securely, saving your team from manually moving data between systems.

When implemented correctly, the integrated system:

  • Pulls invoice and customer data directly into your payment portal
  • Processes payments through a secure online platform
  • Pushes payment records back into your accounting system for reconciliation
  • Eliminates double entry, delays, and the risk of human error

Integrated systems automate processes from end to end, whether you’re streamlining communications, reconciling payables, or collecting premiums.

Who Should Integrate Their Insurance Payment System?

Without putting a firm cap on it, we’d suggest any agency taking more than 10 insurance payments a month consider integration. If you’re taking even a dozen checks and looking for ways to bring efficiency to your operations, integrations offer added value. And if you’re in the more-than-30 bracket, integration is a no brainer.

Integrate your insurance payment system if you:

  • Handle more than 10 inbound or outbound payments each month
  • Accept physical checks and want to go digital
  • Waste time chasing or matching unpaid invoices
  • Use multiple tools to manage billing, payments, and reporting
  • Need to reduce administrative overhead and scale operations

Why Payment System Integration Just Makes Sense

The bottom line is that integrating your insurance payment system creates time for you, allowing your teams to refocus efforts elsewhere. Here’s how:

  • Real-Time Data Syncing: Integrations make sure all the data displayed on your payment page during the payment process is pulled directly from your accounting system.
  • Automated Reconciliation: The record of each payment makes its way back to the software your agency uses to reconcile the payment to your invoices and accounts.
  • Manual Entry Elimination: Integrating connects your custom payment page to your open invoices, removing double work, human error, and time-sucking manual data entry.
  • Feature Enablement: Integration unlocks specific features that make life easier for your customers and your account team, including AutoPay, Batch Payables, and Invoice Notifications

Each of these benefits of software integration is designed to reduce workload, accelerate cash flow, and improve the transaction experience for insurance providers and their customers. 

Integration Is Easy with ePayPolicy

Many customers delay integration because they assume it’s complicated, or they worry it might disrupt revenue during the transition. But with ePayPolicy, setup is simple. In fact, we handle most of the process for you.

How to Integrate Your Payment System with ePayPolicy

Follow these steps to work with ePayPolicy to integrate your payment system:

  1. Schedule a kickoff call with our Support team
  2. Share access or basic account details for your current AMS or accounting platform
  3. Approve or test the integration setup, which we handle for you
  4. Start accepting payments and automating your workflow

That’s it. Our Support and Account Management teams do this for our customers all day, every day, and they love to do it. We build our integrations to be as easy as possible to set up. In many cases, they can be handled in one or two emails and in just a few minutes. If you can schedule a meeting with Support and respond to just a handful of email tasks (at most), we can help you do the heavy lifting of integration.

ePayPolicy Integrations Unlock Game-Changing Features

In addition to making it easy, ePayPolicy offers a robust catalogue of integrations that work seamlessly with the industry’s most popular management systems—and we’re adding more all the time. For providers using niche or in-house systems, we can build custom APIs to work with your system’s unique setup. These integrations are designed to power connected agency payments, reduce manual work, and unlock automation across your financial workflows.

Here are just a few of the features you can access with ePayPolicy integrations:

  • Finance Connect: Let customers finance premiums at checkout, creating a frictionless payment experience.
  • CheckMate: Simplify your collections process by effortlessly turning paper checks into digital payments.
  • Quotes & Invoices: Make payments faster by creating, sending, and tracking invoices through our platform.
  • Payables Connect: Instantly scan, match, and reconcile invoices for more accurate payment processing.

Together, these tools support automated premium collections, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the experience for both your team and your insureds.Ready to learn more about how insurance payment integrations can make life easier at your agency? Schedule a chat or sign up for a 60-day free trial of ePayPolicy and see the difference for yourself.

Introducing: CheckMate

We had to change our mission. And get rid of a dinosaur.

When ePay began, our website boldly claimed that we were “on a mission to replace paper checks for all agency billing.” We commissioned a local mural artist to design a massive mural in our office, featuring a giant Godzilla-esque dinosaur burning paper checks across the city. Because, why not?

But like the age of the dinosaurs, that era has come to an end.

Our founders felt the firsthand frustration of slow, manual and delayed payments that relied on checks. That led them to create our first product – our custom payment pages and dashboard – that helped grow ePay to what it is today.

5,500+ insurance companies – carriers, agencies, PFCs, brokers and MGAS – trust ePay with their digital payments.

But unlike the dinosaurs, paper checks haven’t gone away. For many companies, it’s not a quick pivot directly into digital ACH and credit card options, as much as they might prefer it.

Some customers just prefer to pay with checks.

We sat with customers across the country to see how they handled check payments, and the results were all over the place. Some processed daily, others in weekly batches. Others had “check signing parties” (woo) where they blocked out hours of time on a scheduled basis to grind through the often very manual and tedious process of reconciling check payments.

And over the past year, we’ve worked to develop a solution that we’re now proud to introduce: CheckMate.

CheckMate solves the pain of paper payments with rapid and secure check routing and automated reconciliation to your accounting systems. In the same way our digital payment pages are integrated with the most popular management and accounting systems (as well as custom API integrations), CheckMate uses those same integrations to reduce manual, double-work.

Also, no more checks piling up for dreaded “check parties.” CheckMate batches and processes checks every day, and uses the same ePay dashboard as our digital payments. One hub for all your payments. Woo.

As we talked to customers, one of them joked that they’d like to “never touch a paper check again.” With CheckMate, that’s actually possible. You can leave the checks to us.

CheckMate is the next of several enhancements we’ll be announcing over the coming months. If you’re an existing customer, and curious, we’d encourage you to reach out to your account manager or schedule some time here. If you’re new to digital payments for insurance, there’s never been a better time to schedule a demo and see how much time it’ll save your company and your customers.

ePayPolicy ranked #1256 in 2022 Inc. 5000

Austin, TX Aug 16, 2022- Inc. magazine revealed today that ePayPolicy is No. 1256 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, one of the most prestigious and well-known rankings of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. 

The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment— its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000. This was ePayPolicy’s first year to apply.

“Everyone that’s been here is well aware of the growth we’ve been experiencing,” said CEO Mark Engels. “We were optimistic we might make this list, and it was a real honor to see where we landed. Our ranking is a reflection of our amazing team’s tireless efforts in delivering and supporting digital payments services for the insurance industry.”

The COVID-19 pandemic helped accelerate the adoption of online digital payments for insurance, an industry that has lagged behind in more modern payment adoption and where the majority of payments still change hands in the form of paper checks. But even as a post-pandemic “normal” has set in for many Americans, growth at ePayPolicy has not slowed down. 

“We were thrilled to hit our own 5,000 milestone last year, when we added our 5,000th customer,” said Engels. “And our pace of growth continues to accelerate, which allows us to invest in new digital automation services for the insurance industry, including agencies, managing general agents, brokers, carriers and premium finance companies.”

ePaypolicy’s upcoming product release, dubbed “CheckMate,” was built based on customer feedback, and is designed to help offload the burden of check payments for companies whose customers might be slower to adopt digital payments, all while keeping them on the ePayPolicy payment platform. Engels says the team has other enhancements and products planned for later this year.

“Our focus on the insurance industry allows us to have a deep understanding of the challenges our customers face as they transform the way they digitally engage with their insureds,” added Engels. “It’s this industry expertise that will continue to fuel our growth and allow us to compete for the Inc. 5000 list for years to come.”

About ePayPolicy

Built by insurance professionals for the insurance industry, ePayPolicy is the fastest, easiest and most secure way to move money for insurance. ePayPolicy’s products bring insurance payments up to speed for agencies, carriers, MGAs and PFCs, with secure online payment pages and automated check processing, with CheckMate. 5,500+ insurance companies trust ePayPolicy and their expert, live support team to handle their payments every day. Learn more: epaypolicy.com

More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 

Methodology The 2022 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2018 and 2021. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2018. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2021. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2018 is $100,000; the minimum for 2021 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 5000 are featured in Inc.’s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000.

Simpler, Better Plans for Our Customers

Existing customers who have been with ePay for years may notice a change to our plans. We slimmed down from 3 plans (Basic, Custom and Integrated) to 2, and we simplified the pricing for both.

Why the Change?

It’s not lost on us that our customers pay a monthly fee to access the benefits that our online payments pages provide. When you take a monthly fee as a provider, the onus is on you to keep adding value to that subscription.

At ePay, we’re investing more than we ever have in upcoming features, and ongoing integrations and improvements to make payments the easiest thing insurance companies do, be it a large carrier, premium finance company, MGA or agency. The next logical step was to see how much more value we could add to our plans, to help our clients achieve better digital payment adoption.

What Changed?

Previously, our Custom Plan was the mid-tier option that unlocked features like Image Assist, Recurring Payments, Attachment Uploads and custom form fields and disclaimers. For many companies, these were “had to have” features when they otherwise might have preferred the Basic plan. After talking to those customers, we didn’t want them to feel held hostage to a plan just for compliance reasons.

We also just started asking “what could make ePay better?” for our customers who were not yet integrated, and still getting up to speed with digital payments. So, we took all the features from the previously $50 Custom Plan, added them to a new $25 Essentials plan.

Integrated Plans

We’ve worked for years to develop integrations with some of the most popular management systems, as well as building custom API integrations for companies using other tools. Integrations unlock massive time savings, reducing double work and manual data entry. Our integrated customers love them, and we’re always encouraging customers considering integration to try it free for a few months and see for themselves.

Seriously, our integrated customers have gone as far as describing integrating as “life changing.” I kid you not.

Some of our integrations require more setup and maintenance than others, so we previously offered tiered pricing depending on that effort. But, going back to the “what could make ePay better?” question, we didn’t want to put any pricing confusion in the way of our clients trying out something that could help as much as integrations do. So, all Integrated Plans are a flat $50 per month.

What About Customers on Basic Plans?

Current customers on the $20 Basic plan are not currently required to upgrade. If they wish to take advantage of the additional features in the Essentials or Integrated plans, we recommend talking with your Account Manager so you can try them for yourself and see if they add the value we believe they bring.

What’s Next?

Our expanded product and development team has several launches and enhancements planned for this year, all of which will help serve our goal of being the fastest and most secure way to move money in the insurance industry. And our customers will be the first to know and access the helpful enhancements. Thanks for staying with us, and we always want to hear your ideas and suggestions for how we can better serve you.