8 min read
Key takeaways
- Unum’s multiple legacy administrative systems each sent payables and receivables files independently to various banking partners, creating operational complexity with new Nacha security requirements ahead
- Unum implemented J.P. Morgan Concourse™ — an integrated pay-in/pay-out solution from the J.P. Morgan Embedded Finance suite of solutions — to streamline payables and receivables via one platform while benefiting from advanced fraud protection capabilities, such as tokenization to remove sensitive data from the organization’s environment, and enhance Nacha regulation compliance while reducing risk
- Since onboarding the J.P. Morgan Concourse solution, Unum has processed 15.5 million payments to date, representing $10 billion in volume, reduced automatic account validation from days to seconds, enhanced visibility and transparency for their Treasury team and built a future-ready platform for new payment modalities
About
Unum is a supplemental health insurance provider, specializing in short-term and long-term disability, life insurance, voluntary benefits and paid leave.1 The company processes millions of payments annually — a scale that requires efficient, compliant operations to sustain service quality and brand trust — to support customers during some of life’s most challenging moments.2
With a Treasury operation spanning approximately 20 administrative systems, Unum had built a reliable payments infrastructure.3 But as regulatory requirements evolved, the company’s leadership saw an opportunity to simplify their current payments process with J.P. Morgan Payments.4
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Scalability and reliability
15.5 million payables and receivables payments processed since implementation5 -
Speed and accuracy
Automatic account validation completed in seconds5 -
Shortening cycles
File confirmation reduced from days to minutes5 -
Supporting retainment
Unum’s internal teams report its policyholders experience less friction and a more unified experience5
The opportunity
Unum’s Treasury team was managing a sprawling payments operation, sending files from roughly 20 administrative systems and relying on a patchwork of banking partners to get payments where they needed to go.6 The process worked, but it left the team with limited visibility into whether files arrived as expected and little ability to quickly identify or resolve issues.6
New Nacha data security requirements added urgency to the situation, but the need for change ran deeper.7 Customer expectations for speed and transparency were rising, and Unum saw a chance to rethink both its payments operations and how it served the people who depend on them.7
As Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum, explains, each legacy administrative system sent payment files independently to various banking partners, creating a web of processes that required significant coordination and left Treasury without a clear, centralized view of payment activity. Additionally, much of the payment file management sat within IT. This meant that Treasury lacked direct control over their payment processing system and had to rely on other teams to identify and resolve issues.8
Unum needed a single, integrated platform that could consolidate disparate systems, enhance traceability and visibility, handle both pay-ins and pay-outs, and safeguard sensitive customer information.9 The solution also needed to support next-generation digital payment options while meeting new Nacha compliance standards for protecting bank account information.9
The solution
Unum found what it was looking for in J.P. Morgan Concourse, a bi-directional payments platform from our Embedded Finance suite of solutions.9 Aligned with Nacha requirements to help prevent fraud, Concourse provides Unum with a tokenized solution for capturing and storing bank account information — reducing the footprint of sensitive data and helping lower fraud and exposure risk.9 But what made it the right fit was its versatility, as it helps Unum handle both premium collections and claim disbursements on a single system.10 Concourse also offers access to a wide range of payment methods, from ACH to emerging digital options, which enables clients to pay their preferred way.10
“J.P. Morgan Payments is there for clients when they need something and there’s no clear solution available. This project was an opportunity to be on the forefront of innovation while achieving Nacha compliance at the same time, and that was incredible.”
Ben Katz
Group Treasurer at Unum
To bring everything together, Unum created an internal payments hub to consolidate files from all of its legacy administrative systems into a standardized format.10 The files from this hub are then fed into Concourse, allowing each legacy system to plug into a centralized process rather than maintaining separate connections to banking partners.10 This automated and streamlined process saves time, reduces manual effort and accelerates cash flow while providing an integrated customer experience that safely collects and stores account information.10 The move also shifted control of payment files from IT into Treasury — giving the team direct ownership over processing, real-time visibility into every file and immediate knowledge of any failures.10
The J.P. Morgan team worked closely with Unum throughout, helping navigate the transition from standard Nacha files to the ISO format that Concourse uses and rethinking how internal processes could become more efficient.10 The shift to ISO files and the use of Account Validation Services (AVS) within the Concourse environment helped create a more secure experience while facilitating faster, more reliable service for its 2.2 million tokenized account holders.10 This new file structure not only met compliance requirements, but the solution overall positioned Unum to add new payment types in the future without rebuilding its infrastructure.10
“J.P. Morgan Concourse allowed us to centralize and streamline the ACH payment process, which has helped reduce complexity and risk. Tokenization and AVS remove sensitive bank data from our environment and help us maintain Nacha compliance.”
Abbey Steinberg
Manager of Payment Strategy and Implementation at Unum
The results
Since going live in 2022, Unum has facilitated 15.5 million payments through J.P. Morgan Concourse, representing approximately $10 billion in volume.10 Real-time dashboards and payment status tracking have replaced manual processes, with file confirmations arriving within 30–45 minutes of submission.10 Account validation that once took three to five days now is now triggered automatically and returns a response in seconds with AVS, facilitating faster validations and quicker issue resolution for customers.10 With self-service dashboards, Unum’s business teams can look up payment statuses on their own — empowering them to resolve questions independently without needing to call the Treasury team.10
15.5 million payments payments processed through J.P. Morgan Concourse, representing approximately $10 billion in volume.
AVS and tokenization have also helped reduce the risk of fraud and payment errors, supporting Unum’s commitment to security and customer satisfaction.11 Customers continue to receive and make payments as expected, with no disruption to their experience.11 Behind the scenes, Unum is now better equipped to resolve issues quickly and support its customers, whether they are receiving claim disbursements or making premium payments.12
Long-standing relationships and mutual trust between the Unum and J.P. Morgan Payments teams have facilitated smooth collaboration and problem solving throughout their implementation and product expansion.13 Unum plans to bring additional legacy systems onto Concourse and reach 12 million annual ACH payments at full implementation.14 The result: less friction and a more unified experience internally and for policyholders — delivering peace of mind at critical moments and reinforcing Unum's commitment to customer-centric service.15
“We now have a platform capable of many other payment modalities because it’s built to accommodate an unlimited number. We’re future-proofed. If the business wants a payment modality, we’ve got the plumbing, the pipes, the accounting and the workflow.”
Ben Katz
Group Treasurer at Unum
Connect with us to learn more
References
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum.
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Fourat Dawood, Executive Director, Insurance Sales at J.P. Morgan
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Ben Katz, Group Treasurer at Unum
J.P. Morgan. (2026, January 16). Interview with Abbey Steinberg, Treasury Manager at Unum
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