How Tanger Reduced its Time to Cut Checks and Reconcile Payments From 12 Hours a Week to Under an Hour

Blog / AP Payments

April 13, 2022

Situation: Tanger – a top-performing retail REIT – needed an automated payments solution to reduce time and money spent on checks, get payments delivered on time, and provide easy reconciliation.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc., one of the nation’s top outlet center deve-lopers and operators, had to cut 1,500 checks each month to pay all the vendors associated with its 38 outlet centers across 20 states. This was an enormous undertaking, especially for a lean 2.5-person AP team in the North Carolina headquarters.

The company had tried automated payment solutions in the past but found they didn’t work as expected. One problem was that their previous automation payments provider issued checks from an escrow account funded by Tanger – not Tanger’s own accounts – so checks didn’t match up with information in Tanger’s GL. As a result, Tanger couldn’t easily answer vendor questions when they inquired about payment. Moreover, the automation proved to be more expensive than expected.

Solution: Tanger turned to Nexus, its AP automation provider, and added the NexusPayments solution.

NexusPayments debited funds directly from Tanger’s bank accounts to pay vendors and issued checks using the company’s own check numbers, allowing for easier reconciliation and more transparency. The NexusPayments solution also offered virtual cards and ACH payments, which many of Tanger’s vendors found useful and beneficial, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results of Implementing Nexus

Tanger now has a single, easy-to-use solution for managing invoice through payment – that saves the AP team time and headaches. NexusPayments works seamlessly with Tanger’s NexusPayables platform which manages and automates invoicing. NexusPayments, meanwhile, manages the issuance of checks, ACH, and virtual card payments. Everything works together. If there’s ever a hiccup, Nexus resolves it quickly. And, if problems arise, they receive personalized assistance from the Supplier Services team.

With NexusPayments, Tanger was able to:

• Reduce the amount of time spent cutting checks and reconciling payments - from roughly 12 hours a week (for manual cut checking) to under an hour.
• Cut costs associated with check issuance – because even if a vendor opted to receive checks, it was still less expensive for Nexus to cut and send the check than if Tanger did it themselves.
• Eliminate vendor calls about “When will I get my payment?” because all check, virtual card, and ACH payments are issued almost immediately after payments are approved. Plus, suppliers have visibility into payment statuses through an online portal, and even receive detailed payment updates via email.
• Simplify reconciliation because Nexus check numbers are the same ones that appear on Tanger’s bank statements. Tanger keeps the float until the check clears their bank account (Tanger can also view individual ACH and virtual card transactions in NexusConnect, as they are processed).
• Earn rebates on the payments that are made with virtual cards.

I love that everything is taken care of with the click of a button. NexusPayments saves my colleagues time. It saves my company money. And we earn rebates to boot. So, it’s a win-win-win.