A total management system for retail, bankcard, and private label The Credit Management System (CMS) is designed as an on-line parameter-driven, accounts receivable credit management software system.
CMS is the core system of the VisionPLUS family of integrated software products that provide credit processing.
Flexible control of AR processing and tracking
User defined special credit offerings and promotion
Quick and efficient processing and access of AR account information
Management of multiple accounts under one customer
Real-time and batch updates
Comprehensive management reporting
Generation of customized credit letters
Transaction level credit terms
Frequent shopper programs
Variable rates finance charges
Co-branding to enhance partner programs
Insurance product capabilities
Service charges and fees
There are two categories of transactions in CMS: Monetary and Non-Monetary
Monetary transactions affect account balances.
payments, adjustments, etc.
Non-monetary transactions are those that do not affect account balances.
maintenance to bill cycles
customer information changes – name, phone, etc.
Monetary transactions are normally processed in nightly batch processes and are usually received electronically.
Non-Monetary transactions are normally on-line real time transactions. Selected transactions may be entered, but then held until the nightly jobs are run.
General Flow:
On a daily basis (based on parameters set) you may maintain the following items real time:
Account Information
pview and manage customers’ accounts
penter financial adjustments
pchange customer information
Control Processes such as:
pauthorization
pstatement production and reporting
ptransaction posting
On a daily basis (based on parameters set) the following batch jobs may be set to process information.
Monetary Batch Transactions
Frequent Shopper Points of Entry
On a billing cycles basis:
A billing cycle is the interval between days or dates of regularly produced billing statements.
Statements are processed and printed during a billing run.
Multiple billing cycles during a month allow for distribution of work.
The following billing cycle calculations may be performed based on parameters set:
Calculate payments
Consolidate payments
Distribute payments to credit plans
Apply underpayments and overpayments
Apply payments to accounts with multiple credit plans
Handle prepayments and skip payments
Apply payment reversals.
Setup begins in CMS by establishing the control records.
Each control record handles options and parameters pertinent to specific areas of processing.
The three primary system level control records are:
System record
Organization record
Logo record.
Establishing Control Records:
The are another 21 control records that help control the system. Based on the number of interfaces used, some or all of these will have to be set up.
The remaining control records represent processing levels within one or more of the higher level control records.
What are System Controls?
CMS system control records allow tailoring your processing environment to meet your specific needs.
The system record represents the highest level of controls in CMS.
It enables you to establish the overall processing characteristics for credit processing.
This record also indicates whether CMS interfaces with other systems such as:
ACS-Adaptive Control System
ITS-Interchange Transaction System
LTS-Letter System
What are Organizational Controls?
Within CMS you may set-up multiple organizations.
Organization-level controls define the characteristics and processing parameters for large groups of similar accounts.
By grouping accounts under different organizations, you can divide and control accounts that require different processing parameters.
Things to consider when adding an Organizational control record.
Number of organizations that will be defined.
Processing parameters.
Days of the week on which the organization will process.
Holidays that the organization will observe.
Next billing processing dates
Thing to consider when adding an Organizational control record (continued).
Days of the month billing processing is to take place
General ledger processing
Default general ledger debit and credit account numbers and reporting level for reject reentry
What are Logo Controls?
Logo control records define processing parameters for the various kinds of accounts you process within each organization.
A logo is a logical grouping of accounts categorized by the type of card, processing parameters, and reporting requirements.
Block code in the Logo record is a user-defined code that identifies an account requiring special processing or handling.
Now let us look at Account set up in Vision PLUS,
Each account has at least four records
Customer Name/Address
Relationship
Account Base Segment
Embosser
After the account has been entered the system generates at least one Plan Segment
Customer Name/Address record contains demographic information on the customer.
Relationship record contains information about associated accounts.
Account Base Segment record contains current and history information and flags that control –
Billing cycle
Processing
Block codes
Card scheme number
Embosser record contains:
Name to be embossed on the plastic card
Type of card requested
Number of cards outstanding
Number of cards returned by the cardholder
Plan Segment records
Are automatically created by the system when monetary activity posts to an account.
Are similar to a “mini-account” within a customer’s account.
to be continued…