Reduce manual virtual card posting with straight-through processing

Efficient payment delivery is critical, yet many provider organizations still operate in fragmented environments. While virtual cards can reduce paper checks, posting often requires staff to complete the following before payments are fully applied: 

• Retrieve card details
• Process transactions
• Match remittance 
• Resolve exceptions

To address this, Optum Financial is focused on driving digital adoption and standardizing payment workflows — reducing administrative burden while improving consistency across the payment lifecycle.

STP brings payment and remittance data together into a more consistent, automated workflow. By connecting these elements through participating merchant processors, STP reduces the manual work tied to virtual card payments and helps standardize how payments move from acceptance to posting. 

At a high level, STP automates key steps across the payment lifecycle — acceptance, settlement and posting — so provider teams spend less time on manual entry, matching and follow-up and more time keeping revenue cycles moving. 

STP helps streamline payment workflows by automating processes that are often handled manually today. This includes: 

• Automated acceptance, settlement and posting through participating merchant processors 
• Automated payment and remittance posting into provider revenue workflows 
• A common API framework that supports merchant processor and RCM integrations 
• Support for both Consumer to Business (C2B) and Business to Business (B2B) payment flows 
• Built-in exception handling to resolve issues when payments or remittance data cannot be automatically matched

STP is delivered through participating merchant processors that manage the provider-facing experience and automate payment workflows end to end. These partners receive payment data via API integration, process transactions and feed both payment and remittance data directly into provider systems. 

While availability may vary by payer and provider, this model creates a more consistent, connected workflow that reduces fragmentation and manual intervention. 

Participating merchant processors offer provider-facing tools that automate payment acceptance, settlement and posting — helping reduce manual work and streamline reconciliation.

As payment models evolve, reducing friction in the revenue cycle remains a priority for both payers and providers. STP builds on broader payment modernization efforts by addressing one of the most manual parts of virtual card workflows — acceptance, settlement and posting — through a more connected, automated approach. 

Optum Financial focuses on payment modernization through digital adoption and standardized processes that help reduce administrative burden for providers and payers. STP extends that work by targeting a high friction part of virtual card workflows — acceptance, settlement and posting — through participating merchant processors. 

• To learn more about STP, explore the Optum Marketplace listing. 
• For broader payment delivery context, see the Advisory Board Q&A featuring Brian Andrews: Q&A: How Optum Financial is modernizing healthcare payment delivery