New supply chain solution leverages JPMorgan's trade expertise—offers payment options and its extensive global banking network.

 

JPMorgan's New Freight Payment and Audit Solution Brings Greater Control, Visibility and Cost Savings to Global Transport Operations

NEW YORK - March 4, 2008 - JPMorgan today announced its new Freight Payment and Audit Solution, an electronic payment and transportation management service that helps importers and exporters achieve lower freight costs, greater control of global transport operations, and more actionable insight into supply chain sourcing and shipping decisions. As a global leader in the management of cash, payments and supply chain operations, JPMorgan also has moved beyond the industry's traditional freight payment and auditing offerings by delivering a global, multi-currency solution where numerous credit and non-credit payment options are available and program oversight is managed via JPMorgan's freight payment hubs in North and South America, Asia and Europe.

"Global businesses are challenged by the procurement, payment and daily management of freight services. The shipment of goods grows more complicated when multiple providers, countries, currencies and differing tariff structures are involved," said Bernie Hart, global product executive, JPMorgan Global Trade Services. "By leveraging JPMorgan's extensive global banking relationships, trade expertise and payment options, businesses have a greater opportunity to cut costs from their freight operations and to streamline the management of multiple suppliers across different geographies. JPMorgan remains the first and only financial institution to offer such extensive capabilities on a global basis."

Best in class technology and automation help clients gain greater control over the entire freight validation, payment and information management process. JPMorgan's global trade experts manage the process and help identify opportunities for transportation cost reduction with an in-depth analysis of how clients utilize transportation services. The process works in six easy steps, including:

Freight Data Collection: Freight data, such as invoices, purchase orders and rate sheets, is collected in various hard and soft copy formats and deposited into a centralized database.

Audit: Data is electronically matched against policies and business rules customized for each organization. Data is reviewed for accuracy by comparing carrier rates, charges and discount opportunities to contract agreements.

 

Automated matching and auditing helps improve processing time and eliminates invoice errors and duplication.

Allocation: Charges are allocated to the General Ledger while matched documents are used to identify product line or cost center. This includes accrual entries for unpaid or un-invoiced charges incurred during a given fiscal period
Payment: A customized Web portal is used to review charges and authorize payment. Payment can be made via a JPMorgan account or financed through JPMorgan Supply Chain. Payments can be held as long as possible until the billing due date or payments can be made to take advantage of pre-payment discounts.

Reconciliation: Disputed invoices and charges are automatically shared with carriers within 24 hours of analysis. JPMorgan trade experts work with the vendor on validating the charges. Once resolved, invoices are resubmitted into the system for processing and final payment.

Analysis: The database stores all freight-related cost information for trending and efficiency analysis. Customized reports can be created to track freight spending, support Sarbanes-Oxley compliance initiatives, evaluate service level agreement and supplier reliability, and help pinpoint supply chain inefficiencies.

 

About JPMorgan Global Trade Services
JPMorgan Global Trade Services provides logistics and trade finance solutions designed to help clients enhance physical and financial supply chain operations, improve compliance with government trade regulations and optimize working capital. JPMorgan Global Trade Services is part of the Treasury Services business of JPMorgan, a top-ranked, full-service provider of innovative payment, collection, liquidity and investment management, trade finance, commercial card and information solutions to corporations, financial services institutions, middle market companies, small businesses, governments and municipalities worldwide. With more than 50,000 clients and a presence in 39 countries, JPMorgan Treasury Services (JPM TS) is the world's largest provider of treasury management services. JPM TS is a division of JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., member FDIC. More information can be found at www.jpmorgan.com/ts.

About JPMorgan
JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $1.5 trillion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset and wealth management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its JPMorgan and Chase brands. Information about the firm is available at www.jpmorgan.com.

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