Client Overview
A prominent Information Processing and Payment Management services company, Cass Information Systems Inc. provides customized, intelligent solutions to its client base. Focused on exceeding the expectations of their consumers, Cass believes in cost-effective methods to deliver high-quality, streamlined, and process-improved outcomes. Conducting practices with a dedicated service, they provide market insight in Logistics & Supply Chain, Cloud Management, Banking, Utility, Telecom, and Accounting oriented services to their global client base.
Cass is supported by the hundred-year-old established Cass Bank, now a subsidiary of it. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri; Cass has gradually expanded globally over the decades, now operating in Europe, South America, Singapore, the UK, and North America. Cass offers expert solutions to B2B networks and its portfolio of Fortune 500 companies. Their suite of services includes Freight processing, Waste and Utility Management, Cloud Security, Auditing and Invoicing, Billing and Payments, Sourcing and Procurement, Private Banking, Telecom Expense Management, and more.
Premiers professional relationship with Cass has come a long way as a partner, celebrating a long-term, mutually beneficial liaison since its inception in 2010. Cass shares our commitment to delivery and singular, customer-centric support, which helped build a synergy between the two entities.
The Challenge
In the beginning, Cass required a low-cost solution to deal with their backlog of Data Entry for Invoice processing, done internally; while employing an outsourced, high-quality workforce. Succeeding with the initial challenge, Cass further desired Premier’s Knowledge Process Outsourcing capabilities for their Client Relations roles. More than happy to oblige, our expanded team surpassed their requirements with flying colors. Spreading out our service range for the third time, Cass further entrusted us to masterfully take care of their Expense Management company dealings. Further having confidence in us to handle any role, Cass then counted on Premier’s Software Testing Services to ensure consistency in corresponding information entered in their systems. For each of Cass’s dedicated clients, the Premier testers were required to maintain an end-to-end check for every service rendered. All this was expected with sharp expertise in language and subject matter to ensure Quality Assurance. Premier took on more challenges gradually and quickly rose to the occasion every time. While our relationship with Cass galvanized even more; we increased in volume as well as the types of work outsourced to us.
Expectation
Cass anticipated Premiers offshore operations to reduce overall expenses significantly, while quickening their Data Entry, Coding, Screening, Sorting, and Invoice Management. As the relationship grew Cass expanded the scope to decision-making roles for effective Client Relationship Management. Applied through their proprietary software CassPort, it allowed the Premier Research and Support Analysts to handle customer queries and delegate on behalf of Cass. From Accounts Receivable/Payable, Client Relations, Data Management; Cass further anticipated that Premier could facilitate other branches and roles such as augmented verification of Software Testing Cycle errors. Our team was meant to build upon, oversee, and maintain the Cass client Knowledge base through CassPort, distinct for each client. For every new customer of Cass that Premier would handle, an extensive training program would follow for personalization and protocol.
Our Action Plan
Our team was responsible for processing automatically transferred information from the Cass mailroom to the uploaded Cass processing systems, with a high degree of accuracy and significantly reduced errors. Initially, due to a lack of streamlined structure, the Premier team facilitated Cass with scanning to start the program. Scanning was later replaced by Cass with OCR technology to expedite functions, yet still needed human intervention on the Premier end, to mitigate anomalies caused by machine automation.
For each of Cass’s customers, a certain set of rules/requirements was provided by Cass to apply and administer in all operations. Starting from Data Entry and Accounting functions, the Premier team gradually increased in number and responsibilities assigned to them, while Cass’s operations successfully grew alongside. Our team executed operations in increments of different phases, performing all four presently while looking forward to more services in the future.
Functions performed by our FTEs
Challenge One – low-cost Data Entry for Invoicing
Solution:
Sorting/categorization of scanned bills specific to each client’s requirement, as provided by Cass (shipper/consignee, carrier name, account associated amounts, invoice number)
Screening for preparation of data for final verification (liability checks, receipts, Bill of Lading numbers, commodity codes, amount, back-up documents, etc.)
Decision making on behalf of Cass for their multiple clients for shipper/receiver, freight information, and identifying any underlying issues
Creating Invoice queue classified according to markers set by Cass (location, city, state, address)
Entering the accessorial codes and service codes from the client to the carrier
Reviewing carrier names after they are audited
A/P, A/R management, and billing
Challenge Two – Client Relationship Management
Solution:
Client Relations Management, negotiation, and additional support with a quick turnaround (claims, queries, overbilling, request for credit, refunds, invoice routing)
Knowledge Process Outsourcing for strategic outcomes (liability, commodity, payment, and customer management)
Challenge Three – Expense Management Operations
Solution:
Expense Management operations employing human input to reduce electronic deviations (data transformation for hardcopy, softcopy, and system)
Customer query handling for bills processing and invoices through emails (CRM)
Mailbox management, cleansing tasks, and data scrubbing
Challenge Four – Software Testing for Quality Assurance
Solution:
Ensuring consistency through Software Testing services for individual client data by cleansing and aligning according to business logic
The development team to run system checks, queries, and reports, for coherence in the format of stored data, in the automated database (CassPort)
End-to-End feedback for data assurance and test analytics while complying with regulations
Resolving testing cycle errors and communicating possible escalations
Value-Added Service
Our team members added value through KPO roles for Client Relations, accomplishing strategic outcomes that exceeded Cass’s expectations. Our capability for decision-making functions inspirited Cass to further outsource their operations to us in other parts of the world. Becoming integral to Cass’s outsourced operations, the Premier team is mobile in three different geographies for Cass operations; US, Asia, and Europe. Growing with Cass in the complexity of services, we have also expanded their global footprint alongside ours as the partnership progressed.
Premiers employed individuals are comprehensively cross-trained across teams to produce results for each of Cass’s customers in our dealings. Branching out to other functions, the Premier team facilitated Testing and Quality Assurance parallel to domestic resources, without the extensive costs. Our team retains the versatility to render any service related to the Freight industry, tailor-made to suit the client.
Our Achievement
Starting with workday back-office operations, Premier built upon the trust Cass saw in us through our impeccable conduct. Our personnel capably adapted for higher-level functions with decision-making prowess in a short time. Expanding from the US to the Asia Pacific, and then to Singapore branches; our rapport with Cass has only arisen. Our dedicated team members produced exceptional results through effective, constantly upgraded performance:
Active turnaround time to Client Relations – within 24 hours
Around 500 invoices processed per FTE
The average time is 1 to 5 minutes to process a bill, depending upon the complexity
100% coverage of records when managing kick-outs and exceptions of OCR
30 to 40 thousand Invoices processed a day
The Impact
Starting on a small-scale basis, the collective efforts of the capable Premier team, inspired Cass to increase FTEs to 14 within the first six months of the operation. Now nearly 105 FTEs work every day producing results for tens of thousands of invoices daily. Cass possess a portfolio of hundreds of vendors and customers, each with a unique requirement set to be met. Premier effectively and remarkably manages all these customers of Cass through CassPort, while maintaining 100% accuracy. As Cass entrusts us with more and more positions of power, our bolstering relationship is a testament to our ability as well as our execution.
Our Testimonial
“We have been outsourcing for over 4 years with Premier. Premier LLC has allowed us to lower our cost, maintain our quality and increase productivity.”
Colleen Heese, Director, Operations, Cass Information Systems, Inc.
Why Premier
Premier creates an amalgam of the best of manpower with front-line technology to produce a synergy of out-of-the-box solutions. Our motto is to deliver augmented, custom-designed services to our clientele for cost-effective, long-term, aligned solutions. Our primary focus is Customer Service par excellence, paving the way for mutual growth. Having the subject-matter expertise for each industry by operating for a manifold of clients, we thrive on collective experience as well as precision, while immersing ourselves within the client’s operations.
