5 min read
Key takeaways
- Salt River Project needed to make it quicker and easier for customers to submit payments for their electric bills, while modernizing and streamlining its own payment processing and accounts payable systems, particularly with physical checks
- The company adopted a solution built around J.P. Morgan lockbox services, which helps ensure checks are processed and funds are deposited quickly
- This collaboration helps Salt River Project move faster and safer, with fewer paper-based tasks and more robust safeguards across the payment process
About
With roughly 1.2 million water and electric customers across central Arizona, Salt River Project (SRP) processes billions of dollars in annual payments.1 Many of its customers pay their utility bills with physical checks, which can be challenging to process in such large volumes.2 To lighten the load for SRP’s internal teams, the company turned to J.P. Morgan for solutions that would modernize and streamline its payment processing systems.2
The opportunity
SRP, founded in 1903 and based in Tempe, provides electric and water services to much of central Arizona.3 The company serves three counties, whose varied income levels require a broad range of payment options. Despite these options, accepting checks still make up 10% of SRP’s revenue, and the company issues printed checks for accounts payable and refunds.4
When SRP’s previous lockbox redirected mail processing out of state, it introduced logistical complexities and extended payment processing times.
To address these challenges, the SRP team used the situation as a catalyst to transform its lockbox processing, leveraging its relationship with J.P. Morgan to implement solutions that made it quicker for customers to pay their bills, while helping ensure the company received funds faster.4
“Even a day in that process amounts to a significant amount of earnings for our company—millions and millions of dollars. The sooner we have the money, the more interest we earn and the sooner we can make decisions on it.”
Bill Patchett
Senior Credit Manager at SRP
The solution
SRP now uses a suite of solutions, including J.P. Morgan lockbox services, to process check payments. Checks are securely scanned and stored according to retention requirements, while payment information is available on J.P. Morgan’s Receivables Online.5 This reduced SRP’s mail float time by three days compared to the previous provider, allowing the team to dedicate more time to critical tasks and offering greater work location flexibility.5
J.P. Morgan also provided SRP with two additional receivables solutions to further enhance its processes: Remote Capture, which allows SRP to process checks, documents, remittance items or other materials; and Decision Manager, which Patchett describes as a huge plus. “It gives us the ability to intercept payments that have gone awry and make changes to them so they’re still posted instead of having to come back to us,” he says.
For added efficiency, J.P. Morgan easily integrates with SRP’s legacy customer platform to implement check-printing services.6 Up and running within six months, this solution keeps SRP from having to maintain on-premises printers, print checks and mail them out, resulting in 75% time savings.6
Additionally, according to SRP’s technical support on the project, Rhonda Nickle, the company achieved a 100% reduction in in-house issuing of checks, saving approximately five hours per day. The new process also eliminates around $5,000 in yearly scheduled maintenance costs for equipment and eliminates the need to maintain off-site backup equipment or plan for unforeseen machine breakdowns.7
SRP and J.P. Morgan also implemented an Automated Clearing House (ACH) process, so customers’ digital payments are often processed the same day they are submitted.8 Further, SRP boosted financial security for itself and its customers by implementing an early warning system (EWS) that identifies entry errors and fraud.8
These solutions resulted from smooth, continual collaboration between SRP and J.P. Morgan, founded on clear communication.
Benefits
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Eliminated manual bank deposits
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3 days less mail float time with lockbox services compared to its previous provider
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75% less time spent on check printing and mailing
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Enhanced fraud protection
“J.P. Morgan has a great team—they’re flexible, have great know-how and really helped us direct this transition. I tell my relationship team what my pain points are, and they help us find the right solution.”
Bill Patchett
Senior Credit Manager at SRP
Next steps
SRP plans to further its work with J.P. Morgan by adopting enhanced data management and fraud mitigation solutions.9 These initiatives will help verify account information and transaction details, strengthening fraud prevention measures and improving operational efficiency.9 The new capabilities will build on and complement SRP’s existing systems, helping to provide greater security and reliability for its financial processes.9
Whatever future changes may come, SRP trusts J.P. Morgan to help it accomplish its core mission: serving the people of central Arizona with quality and efficiency.
“We take our work seriously—not just because it’s a reflection on us, but because it’s our friends, neighbors and family whom we’re serving. So, we always try to put our best foot forward. With J.P. Morgan, quality has always been top-notch. It couldn’t have gone any better.”
Brad Umbrianna
Revenue Accounting Manager at SRP
To learn more, visit J.P. Morgan Receivables Solutions.
References
Umbrianna, Brad. Revenue Accounting Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Patchett, Bill. Senior Credit Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Umbrianna, Brad. Revenue Accounting Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Patchett, Bill. Senior Credit Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Nickle, Rhonda. Technical Support at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Patchett, Bill. Senior Credit Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
Umbrianna, Brad. Revenue Accounting Manager at Salt River Project. Interview by J.P. Morgan, 13 Oct. 2025
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