Payment Operations Associate

Aston Carter•Norwalk, CT

10d•$22 - $24•Onsite

About The Position

The Payment Operations Associate supports day-to-day customer payment servicing and back-office operations, ensuring accurate processing of payments, schedules, and customer account activities within agreed service levels. This role focuses on managing recurring payment plans, resolving payment exceptions, and maintaining precise financial records while collaborating closely with internal teams to support customer and business needs.

Requirements

Proficiency in Microsoft Word, including the ability to perform letter mail merges, print and prepare documents, and manage customer correspondence.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including handling billing, reconciliation, and operational reporting tasks.
Experience with accounts payable processes, including invoice processing and payment handling.
Experience with accounts receivable and invoicing activities, including cash application and payment posting.
Knowledge of accounting and bookkeeping principles relevant to payment processing and reconciliation.
Strong reconciliation skills to resolve payment discrepancies, account variances, and balancing issues.
Experience in payment operations, finance, or a related back-office operations environment.
Ability to manage customer follow-ups, nonpayment letters, and other payment-related communications in a professional manner.
Strong attention to detail and accuracy when handling customer payment data and financial records.
Ability to monitor operational queues, manage multiple tasks, and meet agreed service levels and timelines.

Nice To Haves

Experience with lockbox processing and handling mailed payments.
Familiarity with customer mailings, including file processing, printing, and recording of outgoing communications.
Exposure to cash application processes within a finance or accounting environment.
Experience in operational reporting and management information preparation.
Interest in developing or enhancing administrative skills, including mail merge and document preparation.
Ability to support testing and implementation of process or system changes within an operational setting.

Responsibilities

Support day-to-day customer payment servicing and operational activities across mailed payments, recurring payment plans, and back-office payment processes.
Set up and maintain customer payment schedules, including onboarding activities, account updates, amendments, and cancellations, ensuring accuracy and adherence to service levels.
Manage recurring payment plan activity, including payment setup, maintenance, suspensions, retries, and recovery actions.
Support payment recovery and collections activities, including handling failed payments, conducting non-payment follow-ups, and performing customer payment investigations.
Process and investigate payment exceptions, rejected transactions, refunds, disputes, chargebacks, and customer servicing requests.
Reconcile payment discrepancies such as duplicate payments, overpayments, underpayments, and customer account variances.
Maintain accurate customer payment records and operational data across internal systems and operational workflows.
Monitor operational queues and servicing activities to ensure requests are completed within agreed timelines and service expectations.
Support operational reconciliation, balancing, and exception tracking activities across customer payment operations.
Work closely with internal operational teams, client servicing teams, and leadership to support customer and business requirements.
Support operational reporting, reconciliation tracking, and management information activities across customer payment operations.
Monitor operational metrics and identify opportunities for process improvement, efficiency gains, and risk reduction.
Maintain operational procedures, documentation, and process records, including updates related to operational or system changes.
Escalate operational issues, payment risks, and unresolved customer impacts in line with established procedures.
Ensure all payment activities are completed accurately and in accordance with operational controls, compliance requirements, and customer data handling standards.
Support testing, implementation activities, and operational readiness for process enhancements or system changes.
Provide support for additional operational activities, ad hoc requests, and departmental projects as required.
Handle customer mailings, including file processing, printing, writing, mailing, and recording of customer communications such as nonpayment letters and plan-related correspondence.
Process orders, plan contracts, refund checks, billing, and invoicing activities as part of the payment operations function.
Perform cash application, accounts receivable, and accounts payable activities, ensuring timely and accurate financial processing.