5 questions with … Bank of America’s Allison Shonerd

Allison
Shonerd,
managing
director
and
head
of
Global
Digital
Disbursements
in
the
Global
Payments
organization
of
Global
Transactions
Services
at


Bank
of
America,
is
focused
on
meeting
the
growing
demand
for
payment
solutions
through
innovation. 

The
$3.2
trillion
bank’s
noninterest
expenses
in
the

fourth
quarter
of
2023,
which
include
technology
spend,
increased
14%
year
over
year
to
$17.7
billion,
according
to
the
bank’s
Q4
earnings
release. 

With
the
growth
in
tech
spend
and
focus
on
digital
strategies,
the
Global
Digital
Disbursements
payments
solution
continues
to
grow.
In
fact,
the
solution
was

launched
in
Canada
on
the
bank’s
CashPro
platform
in
August
2023.  

In
this
interview
with


Bank
Automation
News,
Shonerd
discusses
her
approach
to
innovation
and
the
roadmap
for
Global
Digital
Disbursements.
What
follows
is
an
edited
version
of
that
conversation. 

Bank
Automation
News:


Global
Digital
Disbursements
is
an
emerging
payment
solution.
How
has
the
demand
for
and
adoption
of
this
digital
capability
grown? 

Allison
Shonerd:

The
demand
for
digital
business-to-consumer
payment
solutions
has
surged
as
companies
face
growing
challenges
with
legacy
paper-based
processes
—
notably
the
proliferation
of
fraud
—
and
as
consumer
payments
are
increasingly
viewed
as
a
way
to
compete
and
retain
customer
relationships.
Global
Digital
Disbursements
addresses
these
challenges
and
opportunities,
leading
to
consistent
growth
year
after
year
in
client
adoption,
volume
of
payments
disbursed
and
in
use
cases.  

The
increased
adoption
in
peer-to-peer
payments
is
driving
the
pace
of
change
in
the
B2C
space,
with
the
greatest
adoption
in
the
insurance,
energy,
and
education
industries,
as
a
way
of
replacing
costly
checks
that
have
faced
increasing
fraud.   

BAN:


How
does
Bank
of
America
approach
innovation
on
Global
Digital
Disbursements
Technology? 

AS:

We
will
often
start
with
a
“proof
of
concept,”
where
we
partner
with
our
technology
team
to
experiment
and
ideally
prove
our
hypothesis
that
a
solution
is
feasible
and
will
address
the
customer
need
we’re
trying
to
solve.  

Soon
we’ll
begin
a
proof
of
concept
around
identity
as
a
means
to
enhance
platform
access
and
streamline
payee
payment
experiences
without
adding
unnecessary
friction.    

Making
things
easier
for
our
clients
is
a
perennial
objective
of
our
innovation
strategy,
and
this
led
to
us
embedding
Global
Digital
Disbursements
into
CashPro,
Bank
of
America’s
platform
that
clients
use
for
their
transaction
banking
needs.
Now
Global
Digital
Disbursements
clients
have
access
to
other
innovations
such
as
our
self-service
tool
CashPro
Chat
with
Erica,
and
the
cash
forecasting
solution,
CashPro
Forecasting.   

BAN:


What
is
Bank
of
America’s
product
development
roadmap? 

AS:

For
the
team
that
I
support,
the
product
roadmap
is
focused
on
three
outcomes:
to
enable
popular
payment
rails,
to
expand
our
global
reach,
and
to
offer
value-add
overlay
services
that
mask
the
underlying
complexity
of
digital
consumer
payments.
For
example,
we’re
planning
to
add
to
Global
Digital
Disbursements
more
real-time
and
alias-based
payment
schemes,
such
as
international
Pay
to
Card
so
that
companies
can
make
high-volume,
low-value
payments
to
customers’
enabled
debit
cards
globally.  

Our
clients
play
a
crucial
role
in
prioritizing
what
we
develop
since
everything
we
do
is
driven
by
a
desire
to
solve
their
needs.
In
recent
times,
those
needs
have
included
solutions
that
address
security,
transparency
and
ease
of
integration.    

BAN:


Where
does
Bank
of
America
stand
in
terms
of
Global
Disbursements
capabilities
today,
and
where
do
you
aim
to
be? 

AS:

Global
Digital
Disbursements
offers
a
robust
suite
of
digital
payment
solutions
to
clients
operating
in
the
U.S.
with
disbursements
through
Zelle
and


PayPal,
and
internationally
through
PayPal
wallets
in
more
than
90
countries.
In
Canada,
our
solution
is
connected
to
the
Canadian
payments
rail

Interac,
which
also
supports
request
for
payment.  

In
2024,
we’ll
continue
to
advise
our
clients
on
best
practices
for
transitioning
to
digital
payments,
and
in
the
first
quarter,
we’ll
introduce
another
disbursement
option
for
payments
in
the
U.S. 

BAN:


How
does
your
industry
experience
help
guide
your
overall
strategy
and
leadership
style? 

AS:

My
team
continuously
evaluates
industry
trends
and
brings
digital
payment
experiences
to
life
for
our
customers,
which
requires
foresight
and
discipline
to
deliver
on
both
short-
and
long-term
strategic
initiatives.
This
has
helped
me
to
develop
a
leadership
style
that
emphasizes
professional
curiosity
and
openness
to
new
ideas,
underscored
by
a
focus
on
execution.  

I
firmly
believe
that
regular
dialogue
with
customers
and
focusing
on
solving
their
challenges
is
key
to
staying
on
track
in
such
an
innovative
time,
and
I
couldn’t
feel
more
fortunate
to
be
part
of
the
exciting
evolution
of
payments
in
an
increasingly
digital
world.