Money, perhaps the most significant invention of mankind, has been a major force behind the development of trade. Before the advent of money people used to rely on barter system, in which people used to exchange goods for goods. The acceptance of money as a source for trade has led to the need to transfer money from one location to another. The quest to create some effective money transfer system always propelled people on digging deep for better solutions. The necessity eventually led to the evolution of various money transfer services. Also the expansion of the global economy and migration of people provided the much needed impetus for money transfer services that led to the advancement of different forms of money transfer services.

Today there are various media through which money can be transferred to different locations, and each method has its own benefits. Services like wire transfer, money order, bank draft, instant money transfer and internet money transfer are the various methods that are now used to transfer money. What medium of money transfer is more effective vary according to the requirements and convenience of individuals.

Wire Transfers: Before the inception of computerised banking systems, the world needed a secure method to transfer money from one location to another. This brought wire transfer into context, which over the years has been the common method of transferring money from one bank account to another and in fact the best way to send money. Though the “wire” involved has developed from old world telegraph wires to modern fiber optic cable, the term “wire transfer” has stuck around because the service provided remains essentially the same since its inception. The wire transfers are considered safe and convenient because bank/financial institution verify both the sender and the receiver’s account details and neither of them can stay anonymous. The sender needs to provide his/her account number and the receiver’s account number to the bank/financial institution to transfer the amount. After bank/financial institution receive the account number it transmits the message through SWIFT which is the acronym for Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (allows bank/financial institution to exchange financial data i.e. data regarding money transfers, account status etc.) to the receiver’s bank with the payment instructions.

Money Order: A money order is a payment order usually issued and payable at a bank or post office. The sender has to fill a form that includes name, address, amount to be sent along with the recipient’s name and address. The sender can also write a short message as there is a provision for it on the money order form. The advantage of sending a money order is that the receiver or the sender doesn’t require a bank account. In some countries international money order services are also available, which is similar to a regular money order, except that it can be used to make payments abroad.

Bank Draft: A bank draft or Demand Draft is issued by a bank or any other money transfer company and is cashable at any banking institution. This type of money transfer service is generally preferred by large sized business houses and institutions due to additional security and audit trail features. The main feature of the bank draft is that the amount is already paid for in full before the draft is issued, ensuring its clearance and credibility.

Instant Money Transfer: This facility enables the sender to transfer money anywhere in the world within minutes without the use or need of a bank account. The sender needs to produce his/her original identity document to the bank/financial institution from where he will be doing the transaction along with the phone number (but not mandatory) of the receiver; the amount that the sender wants to transfer to the receiver including the location where the amount needed to be transferred.

Internet Money Transfer: Internet has made the money transfer service more convenient and hassle-free. Today sending money anywhere in the world is just a matter of few clicks. With Internet money transfer services anyone can send money to anywhere in the world within a span of a few minutes. To avail the service you need to have an online Login ID and password (provided by the bank/financial institution). You also need to register receiver’s name, bank account number and the branch location to make online transaction.

Due to the banking crisis of 2008, the question of how banks can protect themselves against future failures has attracted the attention of regulators, banking experts and business media. An important area is the need for better transparency, mainly regarding remuneration in the banking sector, and how boards of banks should improve their corporate governance practices to reduce the chances of a repeat of the credit crunch.

The recent publication of Central Bank of Egypt draft Code of Corporate Governance for banks marks a significant step in this process. Banks together with their respective boards should pay close attention to the corporate governance guidelines.

There are several tips and recommendations for good governance available for the board of banks. Yet, I consider the following `10 commandments` are central in establishing a sound governance regime:

1-Set the right tone at the top.

The main concerns for the board should include guiding, approving and overseeing the bank’s strategic objectives, corporate values and policies. This could be achieved by developing a code of conduct for the bank employees, management, and board members. Likewise, the board should clearly define areas of responsibility, authority levels and reporting lines within the bank.

2-Adequate qualifications of board members

The board should have adequate knowledge and experience relevant to each of the material financial activities the bank intends to pursue to enable effective governance and oversight of the bank.

To ensure that non-executive directors have the knowledge and understanding of the business, the board should provide thematic business awareness sessions on a regular basis and each director should be provided with a tailored induction, training and development to be reviewed annually with the chairman. Similarly, suitable arrangements should be made for executive board members in business areas other than those for which they have direct responsibility.

Non-executive directors are encouraged to spend more time in the business to ensure that they can participate effectively to strategy and other board decisions.

3-Appoint independent non-executive directors

To foster an independent element within the board, banks must consider that independent directors should constitute a significant membership of the board, and that the board should have at least three independent, non-executives directors. Larger banks may have a higher proportion of non-executive directors.

Non-executives directors should be able to devote sufficient time to the role in order to assess risk and ask tough questions about strategy.

In UK, there are recommendations for banks to appoint a senior independent director (SID) whose role is to provide a sounding board for the chairman and serve as a trusted intermediary for the non-executive directors, when necessary.

4-Establish board-risk governance

Banks should establish a board risk committee to work in tandem with existing audit committee. The risk committee would concentrate on risk strategy and management, free from any conflict with demands placed on audit committees. The risk committee would report regularly (as part of the annual report) on risk strategy and risk management. The risk committee has authority to seek external advice to test its risk management assumptions, particularly in the context of risk related to significant banking transactions.

Given the importance of an independent risk management function, banks should appoint a chief risk officer (CRO) with sufficient authority, stature, independence, resources and access to the board. This executive should be reporting to both the risk committee and internally to the CEO. Removal of the CRO should be subject to board discussion and public disclosure.

5-Expand scope of the remuneration committee

The scope of the remuneration committee should be expanded to cover all aspects of remuneration policy on a bank-wide basis with particular focus on the risk dimension. The remuneration committee is responsible to review the compensation philosophy and major compensation programs.

In order to reduce the perceived excessive risk-taking within banks, this committee will also be expected to approve the links between performance targets and pay or bonus schemes. At least half of bonuses should be paid in the form of a long-term incentive scheme.

6-Develop Information Technology (IT) governance

IT governance provides the structure that links IT processes, resources and information to the bank’s strategies and objectives, enhances effective board decision-making and creates greater transparency and accountability. IT governance ensures that related risks are properly identified and managed. The board needs to approve IT expenditures and provide adequate oversight over all aspects of IT governance, including procurement, outsourcing, the efficiency of systems and procedures, IT security, customer data protection and adequacy of anti-fraud and anti-money laundering systems.

7-Improve efficiency through board evaluation

The board and board committees should be subject to a formal and rigorous performance evaluation with external facilitation of the process every three years. The evaluation statement should either be included as a dedicated section of the chairman’s statement or as a separate section of the annual report, signed by the chairman. Where an external facilitator is used, this should be indicated in the statement, together with their name and other meaningful details for the shareholders.

8-Manage conflicts of interest effectively

Banks should establish information barriers (“Chinese walls”) between the different departments so that decisions by staff in one department are made in ignorance of confidential information available to staff in other departments which might affect their decision. Conflicts by board members or senior executives should be disclosed to the banks’ compliance officer. A good corporate governance practice is to put in place and disclose a conflicts of interest policy.

9-Monitor the governance of banks’ clients

It is important for banks that their clients apply the principles of good governance. Banks may consider that it is in their own best interest to check the governance framework and practices of their corporate borrowers. Even in circumstances where a bank cannot directly influence the governance practices of their borrowers, it can have an important influence by “leading by example”.

10-Track potential governance failures

Banks should have in place a policy setting out adequate procedures for employees with concerns about the integrity of the bank’s operations or its staff (so called whistle blowing policy). Employees should be able to communicate their concerns with corporate protection from retaliation from the management. The procedure should facilitate the flow of confidential and direct or indirect communication to the board (or Audit Committee) outside the internal “chain of command”. The establishment of proper communication channels would allow bank staff to discuss their concerns in confidence without fear of retaliatory action.

Conclusion

Good corporate governance is crucial for today’s complex and dynamic banking environment to ensure long-term sustainability and trust of stakeholders including regulators, investors, clients and employees. Therefore, it should be cultivated and practiced regularly within banks at board and executive management levels. Remember; Corporate governance is like a muscle, should be exercised or it will atrophy!

In this brief article we will look at two very different kinds of e-invoicing: emailed invoices and digital invoices. These are often perceived to be similar and/or equivalent methods but, as we will see, they are actually quite different.

Emailed invoices

Sending an invoice via email is usually done these days by attaching the invoice as an Adobe PDF document. This allows the invoice to be sent cheaply and quickly to the recipient who can use a free product (Adobe Acrobat Reader) to open and view it. The simple idea here is that once the customer has reviewed the document (and even saved it to his or her hard drive) he or she can then pay it. In theory (especially in Business to Consumer or B2C markets) the invoice is not only sent out quickly (and at much lower costs than traditional invoicing methods) but means that the customer can send back a cheque or phone in a credit card payment within hours or just a few days (and well ahead of the latest date he or should could technically pay) thereby helping to accelerate merchant cash-flow. Unfortunately, although this works in some situations, the process is rarely this smooth and a number of problems can occur.

Firstly, the merchant needs to have a customer’s email address to be able to send a PDF. Secondly, the PDF is still a flat document which most customers will not only have to open, but will often print and put in a pile to deal with later, when they are ready (just like receiving the paper-based invoice in the mail). This means that the customer may wait as long as they did before to pay the invoice (assuming they do not lose their printed piece of paper in the meantime having deleted their original email). In addition to all of this, an emailed PDF does not encourage the customer to pay by electronic means any more than an invoice arriving in the mail does. Research suggests that customers actually often like to have the option to pay online by debit or credit card for example and can often only do so by calling the merchant (and having to spend time and effort, and within the hours of business operated by the call-centre). Finally, in Business to Business (or B2B) invoicing, the emailed PDF presents a whole new layer of challenges as these often require a digital signature. PDF technology is now much better at allowing digital signatures to be securely added to invoices when they are sent in the mail. However, the process is by no means simple and presents many logistical issues, particularly when multiple approval signatures are required.

Digital invoices

A digital invoice is available at a web site. Sometimes this is embedded in part of a merchant’s web site or it is “hosted” on a third-party web site (to which customers can go directly or can be redirected from a link on a merchant’s web site). In most cases, the digital invoice rendering process is even quicker than emailed invoices, as there is no need to generate a PDF and attach it to an email address. In addition, although a customer may be notified that a new invoice is available via email, it is not necessary to have an email address (as the customer can be notified about the web address by normal physical mail and then subscribe to the web site service to be later notified by either email or even their mobile phone -via SMS). In practice this means that digital invoices will often collect or “scrape” new email addresses from customers progressively.

Perhaps most importantly, a digital invoice is viewed in a truly online way (and does not require printing (as it can be easily stored and retrieved permanently or resent by a merchant at almost no extra cost). This means that not only can the customer view the invoice (in as much detail as they wish) but they can use many online features to both deal with the invoice (save it, schedule it for later payment or send it on for viewing or approval to another person) or even just pay it immediately of course. And if they do choose to pay it immediately, they typically get to do so via their debit card if they want to use their current bank account or by a variety of credit card options (and in some cases even by cash by printing out a voucher and taking it to a local newsagent or local store that takes cash payments). This is therefore much more likely to accelerate merchant cash-flow than in the emailed invoice situation and means that the payment is much easier to reconcile (as less difficult to reconcile cheques or phone-based payments are being made). Finally, the invoice recipient (whether it is a B2C one or B2B one) can elect to pay a bill 24/7 as the bill presentment and payment web site is truly “open-all-hours”.

Conclusion

Emailed invoices are superior to traditional invoices sent in the mail. However, they fall far short of full digital invoices, which offer many additional benefits (which translate into much greater time and cost saving for the merchant). These two approaches are therefore far from equivalent and a merchant can realise considerable advantages by upgrading from an emailed invoice to a full digital one.

When most of us think of financial freedom, we conjure up visions of complicated financial strategies. Financial institutions, banks, investment firms, your rich uncle, all claim they have the answer to your financial security. If you dig just a little deeper, you will find they are really more concerned with their own bottom line. Anyone can give you their best guess about what course of action will lead you to the promised land of financial freedom.

In all reality, financial freedom is a concept that lives in the mind of the individual. There is no exact route or procedure to follow. That is what makes “financial freedom “seem fleeting and always just over the horizon. Each individual views the notion of being freed from daily grind, from a different perspective. A young person may feel financially free after getting their first paycheck from a new job. Many elderly people feel free after they receive their first retirement check. A very successful business deal or a bank account with a high dollar amount will set off feelings of financial freedom and well-being.

Financial Freedom is a state of mind which is clearly recognized by advertisers, advisers, marketers and media. If you are paying attention, you can see the subtle and not so subtle hints all around you. Just open your e-mail program and see how many of your emails are related to your desire for financial independence. Most forms of advertising include this element at some point in their campaigns. The promise and allure money pouring in from all directions with little or no effort on your part is almost irresistible.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, there are numerous examples of people, young and old, who have hit the jackpot. Who seem to have been handed opportunity and success. If you dig deeper, in most cases, there is more to the story. Anytime that a monetary transaction is being made, there is a system in place to co-ordinate that transaction. Financial freedom is only possible when that system is maintained and working properly. A great deal ingenuity, time and effort go into creating a properly functioning system. The system includes a continuous revenue source, a source for residual income, the ability to adjust as income streams change and a budget that balances the inflow and outflow.

Imagine yourself setting up such a system. Start with a product or service that you believe adds value to you and your customer’s lives. Look closely at other systems that are already in place for that type of service or product. Is there a niche that has been left open? Can you visualize a way to improve on your competitors efforts? Mentally build a system and consider as many factors as possible. Stretch the limits of what you know and when you reach your own limits dig deeper. The internet is an incredible resource for knowledge formation and resource building.

The use of computers and the internet have greatly enhanced our ability to create these systems and to spread them across the web as online businesses. There is no doubt in my mind that financial freedom is available to anyone willing to put in the time and effort. The tools are all around us and one has but to pick up and use them. In fact making and supplying the tools and systems can be a source of financial independence. Next time you see an email or read an advertisement, dig a little deeper. See if you can recognize the system that is in play. Can you use this system to your advantage? Can you create your own system using parts from this system?

Use this mental exercise to sharpen your skills eventually you will create your own financial freedom.

When trying to woo underbanked consumers, financial institutions (FIs) must have a strategy because these consumers are a volatile group – they are cautious, demanding, and are liable to run away and never look back. They have the potential to bring substantial profitability to financial institutions, but have thus far appeared to be fickle and highly risky.

What does this all mean for enhancing customer acquisition? Many consumers can fall into the ‘underbanked’ category including: immigrants, recent high school or college grads, and consumers that simply do not trust financial institutions. These consumers are demanding because they have no, or very little, traditional credit history. While they may not be demanding on purpose, or even know they are demanding, they do require a more effort from FIs than do other consumers. They are cautious because they are not heavy users of financial products, they have no, or only a few accounts, but nothing substantial. They are liable to run away and switch to another FI if they get treated like a number rather than a person or if they are not getting adequate attention.

This is quite the challenge for FIs. About 15% of all consumers fall into the underbanked category and have the potential to be profitable if banks could accurately assess how risky or profitable they may actually be. To make an accurate assessment, banks have to modify their traditional processes. For traditional consumers, banks could look at data from traditional credit bureaus and gain a fairly accurate view of each consumer. However, underbanked consumers lack this traditional credit history. To compensate for the lack of data, banks can take another approach – use other data sources. Most consumers have a financial history, even if it is not traditional. Consumers have telephone and utility bills, can utilize payday lenders and check cashers, and consumer behavior can even be assessed through rental histories and payments. When banks alter their processes, this other data can be accessed and consumers can be accurately assessed for how credit-worthy they are.

When banks can make accurate assessments of consumers, even when traditional data is not available, a deeper relationship begins to form. If the consumer is found credit-worthy, they can be offered more premium products or better terms because the bank had additional information. Without access to the alternative data, banks would be left to rely on the minimal traditional data. Because banks can make better offers to underbanked consumers, they are likely to experience greater trust and customer satisfaction.

Overall, underbanked consumers have the potential to be profitable; banks just need a way to access relevant consumer information. While traditional credit history may not be available, banks can use other data sources to accurately judge the financial behavior of underbanked consumers.

ATMs are wonderful creations, after all, they are designed with the consumer in mind because they allow people with a bank account to withdraw money from that account without delay. However, overtime, people have found that using cash machines can lead them open to being mugged and attacked for their money, their card and their PIN. However, while this is rare, it doesn’t have happen, and there are ways that you can protect yourself at the ATM.

When you use a cash machine, you will be recorded on CCTV, this is something that all banks do in order to protect you from crime and prevent further crimes from happening. While this is designed to protect the customer, a lot of the responsibility for safety lies with the customer themselves, and so if you want to protect yourself, your money and your card when you’re at an ATM, then here is what you need to do.

1. When using an ATM, just take a moment to look at your surroundings; are there many people around? Is there a queue behind you? Be aware of who is near you, if you are at the cash machine with a friend or family member make sure that they keep an eye on the people around you.

2. When typing in your PIN or Personal Identification Number, make sure that your PIN can’t be easily seen by anyone standing behind you. To do this, position your body so that the keypad is hidden from view, or use your hand and purse or wallet to obscure the keypad as you type in your pin.

3. Similarly, the amount you take out must be hidden from view too. As you can take out anything from £10 – £200 and more out of a cash machine at any one time, the amount you take out could be very inviting for anyone watching you.

4. Once you have you cash and mini statement, if you asked for one, take the time to put it in your purse or wallet while you’re standing at the cash machine. Don’t worry about the queue behind you, just make sure that the money is safely stashed away and in your wallet, purse or bag before walking away. Flashing the cash can make you a very popular person and a potential target for thieves.

5. Lastly, keep an eye out for your bank statement when it arrives, you check it online regularly so that you can keep tabs on when you withdrew money, how much you took out, and if possible what ATM you used. Skimming scams, where criminals steal your card details and technology are well-known, so if you see any transactions that you can’t account for, call the bank immediately.

ATM’s contain special technology known as EMV, and an EMV ATM is designed to keep the customer’s money safe, so make sure you don;t have your PIN number written down and near your card, and if your purse or wallet is stolen that will ensure that the thieves won’t get access to your money, because they don’t have the PIN.

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Generally, electroplating divided into two methods; brush and tank plating. Each one of them requires specific electroplating equipment. Brush plating also known as portable plating. Most electroplating works use such method due to its practicality in which you can do plating without need to remove certain part from its place. Tank plating is limited by tank size. It is suitable method to plat small objects. It is also useful for proceeding items that have complicated shape. There are various electroplating machines available currently. Each one has different function for specific method.

If you intend to buy such machine for either business or hobby purpose, you can check several electroplating equipment suppliers through websites. You will find several suppliers that provide electroplating machine with different function, quality and price. By visiting such websites, you can find suitable one due to your own objective.

If there’s one thing that Entrepreneurs and SME owners understand, it’s that good cash flow finance is the lifeblood of any business. A healthy cash flow will help a business to thrive and develop, while poor or irregular cash flow can cause it to stagnate or even fail.

Despite this seemingly obvious fact, cash flow issues are frequently neglected until it’s too late to recover. So what can a business do to manage its cash flow effectively? Here are some top tips.

1. Collect receivables instantly

Check the financial health of a new customer before offering them credit. Don’t offer overly generous discounts, and charge a “late fee” to customers who don’t pay on time.

2. Manage your cash

Although you should encourage your customers to pay as early as possible, your own outgoings should be managed carefully. Many people believe in staying ahead of bills and paying them as early as possible, but that’s just poor cash management. Be aware of any late fees you may be in danger of accruing, and schedule your payments to keep your cash flow balanced, as opposed to trying to pay all of your expenses at once. Make sure your employee payday is at a time of the month when you’re least likely to find yourself slipping into the red.

3. Ensure sales continuity

If you offer a regular product or service, consider offering a contract whereby customers can pay upfront to receive it for a fixed period of time. You may be familiar with this technique as it is frequently used in magazine subscriptions. A reader can often subscribe for, say, 24 issues of a weekly magazine for the price of 18, so long as they pay in advance. It’s easy to adapt this structure to almost any kind of regular service or subscription-based product, and helps to promote customer loyalty.

4. Consider using an invoice finance provider.

Invoice Finance is a method of controlling your finance by getting a cash injection when you need it, without resorting to a bank loan. Invoice factoring is a form of cash flow finance that allows you to use your customer invoices as collateral in return for ready cash, in some cases up to as much as 90% of the value of your outstanding invoices. The invoice finance company will then chase up the client payments on your behalf, leaving you with the funds you need, when you need them, and time to focus on other important areas of running and developing your business. Once the invoices have been paid, the finance provider will release the remaining invoice return minus their fees.

When using invoice finance, it’s important to select a factoring company that is well reputable and well-regarded in the industry. Make sure you check out any company you approach thoroughly, and make sure they have the appropriate accreditation. They should also be able to increase your funding as your business grows and develops.

An establishment that understands and utilizes credit options through sales financing for their clientele makes it easy for those customers to make purchases that may have been out of reach before.

Obtaining cash through retail company financing is quick and easy, and once approved, purchases necessary for your business’ success can easily take place each and every day.

An Example of Retail Company Financing in Action

Let’s say, for example, you own a high-end jewelry store. A man comes in looking for the perfect engagement ring for his girlfriend, and excitedly finds it within one of your diamond ring displays. Unfortunately, the price of the diamond ring costs more than the amount of money the man has to offer at this time. By having the option at the jewelry shop to offer retail company financing, the prospective client can buy his sweetheart her dream ring from your store, without having to lower his desires, or your profits. Most importantly, when the individual gets approved for sales financing, he can make the purchase and take the ring home immediately.

The Benefits of Using Retail Sales Financing Companies

There are several ways in which a business can benefit from partnering with an expert and experienced funding corporation. A business can stimulate the economy, especially that of a local economy by allowing customers to make large purchases. This not only earns a business an outstanding reputation within a given community, but also allows the customer to buy exactly what they desire without having to sacrifice quality or type for immediate cost.

Chasing payments from those who choose to not pay bills completely and on time can be a hassle for retailers. Using a funding corporation guarantees that a full payment for your product will be received. This keeps profits high, stress levels low and sales people within your retail shop paid and happy. This also saves valuable hours in your business’ billing departments as well as billing supplies and expenses that would have otherwise been used.

What to Look for in Retail Sales Financing Companies

When considering a partnership with a funding corporation, there are many important details to evaluate. This includes that of valuable experience the company already has had with these type of transactions. Normally, a business that has worked in the field of providing retail company financing for several years will know the ‘ins and outs’ of what will work best for a particular establishment.

It is also important to understand the customer service process at a particular funding company. For instance:

• Will your retail business have to complete stacks of paperwork and wait weeks for a response?

• Or are there only a few pertinent forms to be completed, enabling results to come back quite quickly?

• Will your retail establishment have to take care of the billing or will the finance professionals take care of it on their end?

Also determine which types of fees (if any) will apply to sign up or to complete each transaction. Retail sales financing companies that require and pass on hefty fees can often decrease profits tremendously. Be sure to evaluate the company just as they are evaluating you for a long-lasting and beneficial relationship for both parties. Do not settle on partnering with a company if it doesn’t feel like a good fit. Instead, find a company with a long track of record of success who is willing to make the process simple and affordable for your retail establishment.