Dear Members:

More than a year ago, Corporate One announced our formal commitment to become a funding agent for credit unions on The Clearing House’s (TCH) RTP^® network. As the first credit union-specific provider to make this commitment, it was an important milestone for our industry and a critical step in Corporate One’s effort to build a 24/7/365 liquidity management solution that credit unions could use to support their participation in RTP. Over the past year, we’ve been finalizing the components of this service, and I’m excited to share that we are ready to go live with our solution and support credit unions that are seeking to take advantage of the opportunities offered by real-time payments. Be on the lookout for our official announcement, coming soon.

Our funding agent offering sets up credit unions for success in the rapidly expanding payments landscape by supporting entry into the RTP network. As a credit union’s funding agent partner, we are an easy and efficient way to outsource the settlement and funding requirements for real-time payment transactions on the network, a needed capability that could be overly burdensome for credit unions to administer individually. While many credit unions have been considering real-time payments as part of their strategic goals, some may feel they still have a while to go before implementing a solution. For example, one of the questions we’ve heard from credit unions is “why do I need a real-time payments solution when I already have a faster payment solution, like Zelle?” And that’s a good question. The answer is in the many additional use cases offered by an RTP solution, such as immediate consumer-to-consumer money movement (P2P and A2A), consumer bill payment, business disbursements, enhanced payroll support for select employee groups (SEGs) and accelerated loan disbursement.

While many credit unions have been considering real-time payments as part of their strategic goals, some may feel they still have a while to go before implementing a solution. For example, one of the questions we’ve heard from credit unions is “why do I need a real-time payments solution when I already have a faster payment solution, like Zelle?” And that’s a good question. The answer is in the many additional use cases offered by an RTP solution, such as immediate consumer-to-consumer money movement (P2P and A2A), consumer bill payment, business disbursements, enhanced payroll support for select employee groups (SEGs) and accelerated loan disbursement.

Of course, while not all use cases may be applicable to every credit union, it’s important to know the basics of those business cases that are relevant to your members so you can identify the solutions you should invest in. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to visit our new Real-Time Payments Info Center, which features articles, webinars and infographics created by Corporate One, the U.S. Faster Payments Council, and The Clearing House to help credit unions discover more about the specific benefits of real-time payments and get connected to real-time payments opportunities.

And finally, speaking of educational resources, I’d like to invite you to attend a brand-new webinar on December 9 that’s part of our complimentary, RTP webinar series. Titled “FedNow^SM Service and Instant Payments in the U.S.: What’s Ahead from the Federal Reserve,” this webinar will be hosted by Dan Baum, Senior Vice President and Head of Payments Product Management for the FedNow Service in the Federal Reserve System and our very own Charles Harkness, SVP, Strategic Operations Officer. Dan and Charles will discuss the latest developments in building the FedNow Service, how industry stakeholders are informing the process, and steps your organization can take to prepare for and embrace this exciting new payment innovation. Registration for this webinar is now open.

As the payments world continues to evolve and all signs point to real-time payments as the future of the industry, Corporate One is committed to educating and preparing our member credit unions to make important decisions about the adoption of real-time payments solutions and strategies, as well as providing the solutions themselves. If real-time payments are part of your credit union’s strategy for the near future, I hope you’ll reach out to us for a consultation to learn more. And as always, please feel free to contact me directly with questions at mashley@corporateone.coop or 614/825-9351.

Best,