Payroll professionals were presented with information about how instant salary payments are changing the global payroll landscape and how technology makes it all happen during the 17 June Global Payroll Management Institute (GPMI) webinar, “How to Transform Payroll Performance with Instant Salary Payments.”
Sponsored by CloudPay, the webinar was presented by Nick Newman, Strategic Initiatives Director of Treasury at CloudPay, and Paul Simpson, Senior Director of EMEA Payroll and Benefits at Ralph Lauren.
Both experts explained how pay-to-card salary payments will soon become a “game-changer” in global payroll, finance, and with HR teams, because these types of payments will take days off the traditional payroll payments process and give time back to the payroll processing function.
“This is going to allow people to improve the speed in which payroll is produced and payments are made,” Newman said.
Ears perked up when Newman explained that companies can now have the tools to change payments to their employees from “three days to two seconds.”
“We believe this will take days off the traditional payments process, but it also gives days back for the payroll to be produced, so we can get more accurate data earlier on,” Newman said. “It saves everybody extra work.”
Through pay-to-card salary payments, companies can send funds directly to employees’ debit or credit cards, which is considered by many to be a faster and more secure route. Newman said this process improves the accuracy of the payroll and delivers payments in a timely fashion.
“The card network is a single, global network,” Newman said. “We know that if you go rent a car or book a hotel, your card is instantly validated, and your payment is processed no matter where you are in the world. It’s that infrastructure we’ve been able to use to facilitate instant payments.”
Simpson provided an inside look at how these payments have been working at Ralph Lauren, which launched its pay-to-card payment method via CloudPay NOW across 17 different countries in 2021. He said his company considers it a “benefit to support employees’ well-being” and allows employees to be more flexible with the way they are paid.
“Flexibility pay is the natural evolution of payroll,” Simpson said. “It’s a way for payroll to contribute to strategic goals…and elevate our payroll brand.”
From Ralph Lauren’s point of view, Simpson said CloudPay NOW has developed a willing partnership with the company. Ralph Lauren has fully embraced the benefits using the CloudPay NOW app and what it brings to the table for its employees.
“This is going to be the future of payroll,” Simpson said. “The usage of this tool is going to be across the board.”
“How to Transform Payroll Performance with Instant Salary Payments” is available on demand on the GPMI website through 31 May 2023.