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In a sentence: HDI Global were looking for a partner that would seamlessly integrate with their SAP Concur system and make international payments a more efficient process.

About HDI Global

Who watches the watchmen?

Whenever a sector underpins how societies and economies work, there’s always a large industry supporting it. They ensure any economic shocks are minimally felt and reassure investors and the public that nothing will collapse no matter what pressures are put on the sector. For HDI Global, they are one of those key entities underwriting the insurance industry (literally).

Who insures the insurers? That would be HDI Global.

A truly global operation, HDI is represented in more than 175 countries, insuring companies worldwide through internationally coordinated insurance solutions. They are the type of insurers that the world economy at large relies on.

The Challenge

“All of our requests had to be typed in manually into our banking platform, which of course, opened up a lot of clicker errors”

Agnieszka Rudnik, HDI Global

The foremost challenge for the HDI Global team was a lot of administration when processing international payments within their SAP Concur platform. There was a disjointed invoice and payment approval process and a lot of manual double entry.

“All of our requests had to be typed in manually into our banking platform, which of course, opened up a lot of clicker errors, and we did have a lot of bounce-back payments because of information not matching’ said Agnieszka Rudnik, Treasurer and Vice President at HDI Global. ‘We also had to dedicate a resource to managing those types of payments. It was all very cumbersome and very inefficient; both error and fraud-prone.”

HDI wanted to eliminate that double entry and double review approval process. They wanted to tighten up and set control around their payments, creating clear reporting around what payments were made versus what payments were approved.

The old process meant lots of uploading and downloading of data across systems
The old process meant lots of uploading and downloading of data across systems

“Prior to TransferMate, our systems were unable to initiate payments upon approval, which meant that the documentation and the review process was kept separate from the actual triggering of the payment.”

This documentation separation from the process meant each request would go through a document management system. Once the review and approval had been finalized, the data had to be entered into another platform – the banking platform.

“And from there we would enter the banking instructions with the amount we wanted to pay, and then approvers, reviewers would then again have to go in, match up the information, and then release the payments. It was complicated…”

The Solution

“It made it easy because the reconciliation is done on the spot.”

Agnieszka Rudnik, HDI Global

The solution to their international payment headaches had already been built to work within the SAP Concur platform – PaymentsHub by TransferMate.

“We utilize SAP Concur, which manages both the document, the approval review, audit trail, as well as processing of payments on some level. They do not handle international payments, and this is where PaymentsHub comes in.”

With the TransferMate plug-in, that extra step of moving the data from one platform to another is eliminated.

“Once a payment is approved in Concur, it handles the upload of data into PaymentsHub. The information then appears in the platform within PaymentsHub. Once everything matches in a final review, we select the bank account we want the payments to leave, and that’s it.”

A view of the PaymentsHub platform
A view of the PaymentsHub platform

This tightening up of the payment process on one end, also resulted in time savings at the reconciliation stage.

“It made it easy because the reconciliation is done on the spot. It’s 99.9% error-free. And the reconciliations are very quick because we were able to download a report out of Concur for the day and then match it against what we are seeing in PaymentsHub.”

This reporting can be done daily, with the banking information stored and controlled within PaymentsHub. Once it’s entered once, you don’t have to reenter it.

“We are now able to dedicate a resource to reviewing, analyzing, and controlling of data rather than being consumed by data entry.”

Agnieszka Rudnik, HDI Global

Underpinning this easier-to-use process was more robust anti-fraud and error controls than ever before. The approval process meant there was always a clear line of sight on the payment, and nobody was able to manipulate data after it had been approved.

“Once the approval happens in Concur, nobody else touches the payment. The detail, the payment, or the bank instruction of the vendor. So, we know that once the payment is approved in Concur, there’s no other person touching or manipulating the data. We can trust that the amount that was approved and the vendor that was approved is the same in both systems.

Another control strengthened was the banking instructions.

“Once a change is done to any banking instructions, it has to be reviewed and approved by an admin. And once the bank instruction’s approved, it’s not changed unless a change happens. And if it does happen, then it’s noticed, and it has to be questioned.”

This tightening up of the overall process, and strengthening of the security systems behind it, allowed HDI to reallocate their resources more efficiently.

“We are now able to dedicate a resource to reviewing, analyzing, and controlling of data rather than being consumed by data entry. The system gives me a better control over what is being paid and I can review at a glance what payments are leaving our account. Our reporting capabilities have vastly improved, and I no longer have that worry that someone could change the bank instructions between the time the payment is approved and initiated. That makes a big difference.”

The Final Word

“I would recommend PaymentsHub by TransferMate to anyone using SAP Concur. It has a seamless connection with SAP Concur and, once the payment is approved, it flows flawlessly into this platform. It’s also given me greater visibility and control over our entire payment process.”

Agnieszka Rudnik, Treasurer and Vice President at HDI Global


If you’re a SAP Concur user looking to upgrade your international payments process, visit the SAP Concur App Center to begin the integration process.

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