Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of attending and addressing the annual Payments Automation conference of The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI). Like most conferences this year, it was not as broadly attended as it had been in the past. But, in speaking with my friend Debbie Bianucci, President of the Bank Administration Institute, what she observed at the Transpay meeting, which her association hosted in San Diego last week, was the same thing I observed in Ft Lauderdale; people are serious and intensely interested in learning how to improve productivity and work process.

“Necessity is the Mother of Invention.” With companies cut beyond the bone, down to the marrow, everyone who remains employed has two reasons for seriously wanting to improve process;

1. For many, it is the only way or hope to not having to work 50-60 hours per week just to keep their heads above water.
2. Everyone is on the cusp and trying to protect their jobs. Improving their company’s processes and their bottom line is about the only thing close to a sure way of remaining employed.

So, what do we have to look forward to on the payments automation front in the year ahead?

1. While interest rates are low, managing the float around business-to-business payments is not as important, but saving processing costs and improving cash flow predictability are. The net result is a new burst of energy and focus around electronification of business-to-business payments.
2. Payments integration is happening at an accelerated clip, aided in large part by a new breed of integration technologies centered in cloud computing.
3. The marketplace of vendors providing remote deposit capture (check conversion) software and hardware platforms is overbuilt and in the process of a major consolidation from over 100 vendors to less than 20 in the next couple of years, according to the predictions of one panel of experts.
4. The ACH, which has seen a remarkable volume growth due primarily to check conversion products, is slowing down in growth and facing new challenges as it returns its focus to its roots; payments that originate as ACH transactions as opposed to ACH transactions created first as paper transactions (ARC, BOK etc).
5. As the Check 21 initiative matures, document imaging, storage and management will replace check imaging as the central focus of process improvement projects in the banks over the next couple of years.

In the math of worker productivity, it is clear that most of the gains in the last year have been through reduction in the denominator. The irony is that, cutting staff may very well lead to a doubling up of productivity gains by necessitating workers and employers to find improved methods to keep their heads above water and survive; driving up the numerator.

It kind of reminds me of cramming for a test. Short on time and sleep and resources, you do what you have to do. Judging from the content and depth of dialogue at the TAWPI conference, no matter where the economy goes, this group will be enhancing per worker output by necessity.