Features and Benefits At-A-Glance

Cogent Bank offers a diversified platform of Treasury Management Solutions to select from – all designed to bolster your business finances. Our treasury solutions provide the tools your company needs to manage collections and payments, prevent fraud, access timely financial information and reporting, and maximize your liquidity position. All of this leads to reaching the goal every business owner has – improved financial performance. Let’s take a closer look at how we can help in each area.

Collections and Payments

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC)

With Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) you can deposit checks your company receives from a desktop scanner and submit them through a secure online service – all from the convenience of your office.

The benefits of RDC include:

• Improved Efficiency: Save time and travel costs, deposit balancing, and data entry.
• Convenience: Make deposits anytime, day or night. Manage your deposit activities across multiple locations.
• Faster Processing: Get checks processed, cleared, and deposited more quickly.
• Easy Archiving: Monthly statements make research easy, and you can retrieve deposit information and check images, when needed.
• Security: All transmissions are encrypted to protect your data and your accounts.

Automated Clearing House (ACH) Origination

Improve your cash management and security with electronic payments and collections.

The Automated Clearing House (ACH) is a nationwide system for businesses to securely issue and receive payments electronically. ACH allows you to set up recurring payments and transfers, ensuring the timely receipt of funds.

Benefits of ACH include:

• Employee benefit: A secure and affordable way to offer a direct payroll deposit to your employees.
• Fraud prevention: Paper checks are less secure than ACH because your account and routing numbers are at the bottom of every check you issue.
• Save money: ACH lessens the cost of paper check stock, postage, and time involved with issuing checks.
• Save time: Schedule and automate regular payments and transfers, such as issuing employee paychecks or recurring transactions with vendors.

Lockbox Services

A fast, secure, and convenient way of transferring paper payments into your accounts.

Cogent’s Lockbox Services can accelerate the conversion of your company’s receivables into available funds, while reducing mail and processing efforts. If your company receives a high volume of check payments, Cogent has a lockbox solution that will fit your company’s needs and help improve your cash flow. A designated PO Box is set up in your company’s name to receive payments which the bank retrieves and processes.

The benefits of our Lockbox Services include:

• Customized processing: Payment processing is based on your specifications, and a customized payment file allows for the automated updating of your accounts receivable system.
• Information Access: Image File Transfer allows you to populate your in-house archive with images for easy retrieval and viewing.
• Timely Information: Online Image Access provides immediate data for your accounting department.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

Reduce your paper, printing, and mailing costs while increasing your transaction speed and security.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) allows for the rapid and secure sending of documents and financial transactions. It replaces the need for paper documents to exchange things like invoices, payment orders, and remittances. This allows for faster processing and fewer errors, saving time and money.

On both ends of transmissions, data is received, translated, streamlined, communicated, and integrated according to various proprietary formats and standards.

All financial documents are formatted according to EDI standards, using EDI ANSI-x12 translation software, which can prepare documents for transmission and decode them at the other end. All EDI document transmissions are made through a secure network.

Key Benefits of EDI Include:

• Improved Efficiency: EDI allows you to process more transactions in less time by eliminating the need for paper documents and the manual entry of transaction information, such as invoices and payments.
• Flexibility: Send and receive all types of financial documents.
• Lower Costs: Reduce the need for the printing and snail-mailing of documents.
• Improved Accuracy: Digital transmissions reduce errors and the need for adjustments.
• Real-Time Monitoring: Monitoring financial transactions in real-time, allowing for quick identification of any potential errors or fraud.
• Data Encryption: Provides an extra layer of security.
• Easy Audits: Our systems maintain detailed information on all transactions, to comply with industry regulations and help spot signs of fraud.

Merchant Card Services

Efficient processing of all your card payment services.

Cogent Bank provides merchant card solutions through our service partner, Retriever Merchant Solutions. Like Cogent, Retriever provides superior customer service while ensuring that you can accept all major credit, debit, and gift cards.

Regardless of the size of your business, they can help you manage your payment-related services, and they offer a wide variety of equipment to ensure the efficient processing of your payments. This includes credit card readers, point-of-sale systems, and processing online payments.

The Benefits of Retriever Merchant Solutions Include:

• Improved Cash Flow: Quick receipt of payments.
• Customer Support: Training and 24-hour technical support.
• Equipment options: A wide variety of card processing equipment to choose from.
• Account Details: Competitive processing fees and transparent pricing. Monthly statements include transaction details.
• Local Offices: Retriever has offices throughout Florida and is not just a “1-800” number to call.

Fraud Prevention

ACH Positive Pay

Implement 24/7 monitoring of your accounts with a customizable approach to financial security.

Think of ACH Positive Pay as a digital accountant who never sleeps. It’s always on the job, monitoring your accounts for any signs of fraud. ACH Positive Pay instantly matches your approved payments with debit submissions to your accounts, to reduce the risk of unwanted transactions. It’s a low-cost way of managing your ACH credits/debits and blocking unauthorized transactions, with immediate notifications via text or email.

Customized Monitoring

• Establish your own monitoring and notification criteria for each account, so you can flag items for review based on the type of transaction, dollar amount, and originator ID.
• Create a list of your trusted trading partners and wave notifications for them.
• Set general limits for all transactions, or specific limits for each vendor.
• Prevent unauthorized transfers, while allowing legitimate transactions to post to your accounts.
• Add, modify, or delete authorization records in real time with Cogent Connection, our Online Banking service.

Key Benefits of ACH Positive Pay:

• Instant Alerts: Via email or SMS text.
• Custom Notifications: Receive actionable alerts based on your own criteria.
• Reduce Fraud: Full-time monitoring and instant notifications.

Check Positive Pay

Protect your funds with automated fraud detection.

Check Positive Pay is an automated fraud detection service that simplifies the check cashing process and protects your accounts. It compares the checks you issue with those clearing your account, blocking unauthorized payments.

The dollar amount, date, check number, and account number are all checked against the information listed on your check issue file. If the check doesn’t match, the bank sends notification to you for a “pay or no pay” decision via online banking.

This not only reduces fraud and helps reduce financial losses, but it can also save money on labor costs in the amount of time that your staff might otherwise spend monitoring transactions to protect your accounts.

Check Positive Pay’s key benefits include:

• Improved Security: Reduce the chance of fraud by blocking altered, stolen, or duplicated checks from clearing the account.
• 24/7 Monitoring: Because our system never sleeps.
• Full Control: You decide whether a check should post to your account.
• Save Time and Money: Automated monitoring of your accounts saves you time, and thus money.

Online Banking and Information Reporting

Cogent Connection

Save time and manage your funds with our convenient online banking platform.

Our online platform, Cogent Connection, makes it easy for you to monitor your account, offering a multitude of capabilities, including:

• Balance reporting services for daily and intraday account activities.
• Transfer funds between your accounts.
• Initiate wire transfers and ACH transactions
• Pay bills online.
• View bank statements, transaction images of checks, deposit tickets, and deposited items.
• Link accounts to internal accounting software, so you can export transaction data automatically.
• Manage administrative authorization to your accounts.
• Manage and approve all incoming ACH transactions, Positive Pay transactions, and place stop payments.

Enhanced Reconciliation Services

Escrow account management has never been so easy.

Cogent offers a convenient 3-way method of escrow account management and reconciliation between real estate closing attorneys, title insurance companies, and agents, while ensuring compliance with underwriters’ and other regulatory agency guidelines.

Escrow accounts are a vital part of buying and selling real estate. A third-party fiduciary agent oversees funds on behalf of both parties involved in the transaction.

Escrow Account Reconciliation and Sub-Accounting

Cogent understands the demands and responsibilities associated with managing funds on behalf of others. Account Consolidation and Sub-Accounting Reporting services help you eliminate the necessity of multiple bank accounts and the effort to manage them.

• Groups individual bank account transactions, totaling them by virtual sub-accounts you define.
• Interest earnings can be allocated to each Virtual or ZBA sub-account.
• Fees can be allocated to each Virtual or ZBA sub-account.
• 1099 INT reporting.
• Online inquiry, maintenance, and reporting.

Liquidity Management

Sweep Accounts

Reduce interest expenses and improve your fund management with automated sweeps.

A Line of Credit Sweep, also known as Automated Credit Sweep, is a cash management tool that can help you maximize the available dollars for your business needs by putting your idle cash balances to use.

If your business has an outstanding balance on a business line of credit loan, you can reduce your interest costs with our automated systems. The process is simple: Link your operating account to your line of credit and every night excess funds in that account will reduce the principal balance on the line.

If funds are needed in the operating account, the sweep can reverse the process and transfer money from your line of credit into your operating account.

For businesses that occasionally borrow from their line of credit, but usually have excess funds in their operating account, a Dual Sweep uses any excess funds in your operating account to pay down your line of credit loan first, then transfer balances to your investment account.

With either approach, you choose a target balance for your operating account that determines how much is swept and how much remains in the account.

The benefits of sweep accounts are:

• Reduced borrowing costs via automatic payments from your operating account each night.
• Increase interest income via automatic transfers to an investment account.
• Convenience and efficiency with customized and automated transfers.

Zero Balance Accounts (ZBAs)

Improve your cash management with automatic zero balance transfers.

A zero-balance account (ZBA) is a business checking account that maintains a zero balance at the end of each business day. Automated transfers are made from your main operating account to a predetermined account to make payments.

Funds can also be transferred into one or more subsidiary accounts and consolidated into a predetermined “master” account at the end of the day. With a ZBA you can segregate your transactions while eliminating the inconvenience of manually transferring funds back and forth between accounts.

Key points about Zero Balance Accounts (ZBAs):

• ZBAs maintains a zero balance by automatically transferring funds to and from the master account as needed at the end of each business day.
• Eliminates the need for manual transfers between accounts.
• Each master account can be associated with multiple accounts, which enables centralized control and monitoring.
• Maximize interest income by keeping funds in one master account, rather than splitting between multiple subaccounts.

Ready to Learn More?

Cogent’s team of experienced professionals can help your business streamline Collections and much more with Treasury Services. Cogent Bank is headquartered in Florida with locations throughout the state to serve you. Reach out today to discover how we can partner with you in moving your business forward.

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is for informational/educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed in this document may be those of the individuals and may not necessarily reflect those of Cogent Bancorp and its subsidiaries and affiliates, or the entities they may represent. Content contained herein may be used in connection with the advertising and/or marketing of products offered by Cogent Bank or Cogent Private Wealth. The material is not intended to provide or substitute for legal, tax, or financial advice or to indicate the availability or suitability of any Cogent Bank product or service. You should consult with a legal, financial, tax, or other appropriate professional(s) for your specific needs and/or objectives before making any decisions.