Overview
The C.A. Muer Restaurant Corporation is a collection of twenty fine dining seafood restaurants located in FL, MI, NJ, OH, PA and SC which include Charley's Crab, Chuck Muer's Seafood Tavern, The Grand Concourse, Big Fish and the Gandy Dancer to name a few.
 
Like most restaurants, C.A. Muer serves alcoholic beverages. Before implementing Fintech's regulated payment services, C.A. Muer utilized a cumbersome process of paying for these regulated products. Since many of their restaurants are located in states (MI, OH, PA and SC) requiring all beer, wine and liquor payments be made at the time of delivery, each C.A. Muer location had to keep extra cash and a supply of partially completed manual checks on hand.
 
These regulations, resulted in managers needing to stop, pay and sign for every delivery, stripping them of valuable time with customers and staff. This process was a disruptive, insecure and sometimes inaccurate way of paying for regulated goods. Also, once a check was paid, there was no guarantee that the check was received within a state's guidelines for these regulated products, which increased the risk of serious legal issues for the restaurant chain.
 
A Better Way To Pay
Tom Stieber, Assistant Controller for C.A. Muer, felt that there had to be a better way. He thought that perhaps a third party organization could help to curb their regulated payment woes. He contacted his largest vendor, General Wine & Liquor of Michigan, who directed him to the Fintech solution.
 
Initially, implementing an electronic payment process involved many areas within C.A. Muer. From the restaurant level: porters and location managers; to the corporate level: accounts payable and cash management departments; and finally, their bank relationships. These were the decision-making parties for C.A. Muer.
 
For all those involved, there were concerns that had to be resolved before moving forward with any electronic payment solution. Some main objectives were that the electronic settlement service provider would have to 1) offer a higher degree of accuracy that would surpass their normal manual payment method; 2) offer a simple, but secure method of settling their regulated invoice payments while offering top-notch customer service and assistance.
 
Once Fintech presented a solution meeting all parties' initial objectives, C.A. Muer agreed to implement Fintech's EFT solution for their beer, wine and liquor payments. For Tom Steiber, this was an easy decision. As Fintech had already established relationships with 59, 80%, of their distributors, it was a logical choice to utilize Fintech services.
 
"I liked the idea of a third party processor that would insure the integrity, accuracy and maintenance of the system, " stated Tom Stieber, assistant controller for C.A. Muer.
 
Improved Backdoor Processes
Deliveries to a C.A. Muer restaurant location are made the same as always. Only now, with the Fintech EFT solution, the location manager no longer has to interrupt normal activities in a busy day to cut and sign a check for a vendor. Once the delivery is made, an authorized person can sign the vendor invoice and keep a copy for their records. Also, the delivery driver's truck is only parked in their lot for a few minutes versus 15-20 minutes with their manual payment process. This saves C.A. Muer time and money, dramatically improving their backdoor processes as well as improving their cash and check management at the corporate level.
 
Simple, Secure Payments in a Single Source Solution
Fintech offers C.A. Muer an easier, efficient, cost effective and more secure way to conduct business with their regulated vendors. Utilizing Fintech's flexible EFT solutions, allows C.A. Muer and their trading partners to exchange and settle their invoice data electronically from a single source.
 
With Fintech EFT solutions, the vendor enters the invoice information into their accounting software. From there, the vendor submits this information to Fintech. Based on the due date, Fintech processes the data and transfers it through the Federal Reserve System, simultaneously debiting C.A. Muer's account as their vendor accounts are credited.
 
C.A. Muer never worries if a payment has been sent and received within state guidelines, knowing that Fintech has worked with state regulatory agencies to gain approval of their EFT program in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia as a cash equivalent. C.A, Muer is also confident that their invoice and payment data, which Fintech provides to them on a weekly basis for reconciliation, is accurate and secure.
 
Saving Time & Money
With Fintech EFT, C. A. Muer Restaurant Corporation is realizing results they can really sink their teeth into. There is an immediate 50% transaction savings on what a bank assesses for an electronic draft versus a paper check. The tasks associated with preparing, mailing, distributing and reconciling of checks have been eliminated. The cost savings here are subjective since clerical labor is often a fixed cost, however, their efforts are now directed to functions more beneficial for the company. C.A. Muer also no longer needs to be concerned whether a check is sent and received within state guidelines. As a third party provider, Fintech manages this for each for them and relieves C.A. Muer of their often-tedious everyday tasks.
 
K.I.S.S. and Tell
Tom Stieber of C.A. Muer Restaurant Corp takes great pride in the fact that he helped to implement Fintech's EFT solution for his company. Once Fintech guided C.A. Muer through their initial apprehensions, it was smooth sailing from there. Tom feels that it's some companies' initial fear of the new and giving up "time-honored procedures" that keeps them from implementing an e-commerce payment process. Simplicity, he felt, is the major service that Fintech provides them.
 
"I have always believed in the K.I.S.S. concept of keeping things simple. The implementation of high technology should not interfere with peoples jobs, just their results."
 
Learn more about how Fintech can "keep it simple" for you - securely saving your business time and money by paying your invoices electronically.
 
Invoice payment solutions for alcohol distributors | Invoice payment solutions for alcohol retailers