Author: Amanda Reed

May 2, 2023 – The credit union industry often emphasizes the importance of sharing stories with members about the cooperative ecosystem. AKUVO CEO, Jay Mossman, has a unique story to tell. After building a successful tech company and selling it, he’s returned to the industry with a CUSO that has created a credit union model focused on retaining members during difficult times. Mossman’s leadership stems from his deep understanding that financial health is essential to building a good life for individuals and families.

Mossman was inspired to take action recently after hearing Rafal Matusiak, president of the Polish Credit Union System and CEO of Via Stella Foundation, speak at an UNDERGROUND event. Matusiak described how leaders worked together to build a path to safety for millions of Ukrainian refugees in Poland, primarily women and children. Mossman personally donated approximately $40,000 over the last six months to purchase an ambulance and medical equipment for these refugees.  Mossman’s contribution provided an ambulance to evacuate ill and injured women from the Zaporizhzhia conflict zone where the embattled nuclear power plant is located.

Mossman asked Mitchell, Stankovic and the Underground to issue a challenge to his colleagues running CUSOs for 10 of them to make donations of $10,000 each to Via Stella Foundation, supporting the Polish credit union movement’ front lines work to respond to the war’s humanitarian crisis. “The CUSO business model is dependent upon access to members and when credit unions work together to solve issues, it is a market differentiator,” Mossman said, “There are no CUSOs without credit union members. Fintechs and other competitors want access to our members, but we have their trust when we embody the motto, “people helping people.” I challenge my CUSO colleagues to be humanitarians and support credit union response in Poland.”

“CUSOs and credit unions have been moved by Rafal Matusiak’s appeal,” noted Via Stella Board Advisor Susan Mitchell, who is also CEO of Mitchell, Stankovic and Associates and the Underground. “I am proud to share that since we first featured the Russian war on Ukraine and how Polish credit unions are responding in March of 2022, more than $200,000 has been raised from our Underground community. These donations go directly to Via Stella Foundation to fight back and give a path of safety for refugees.”

Underground thought leaders are responding. Tony Boutelle, CEO of Origence, just stepped in with a $25,000 donation. Brett Martinez, CEO of Redwood donated $50,000. Keith Sultemeier, CEO, and Kinecta’s Board donated over $100,000 since the invasion by Russia, and other Underground participants like Eagle Community, Santa Cruz Community, and Unitus have contributed.  Individual donations have also come from Underground attendees who purchased pictures from Ukrainian and American children, which were auctioned at the Underground Collision with Money 20/20.

Stand up with Jay and make a difference. “CUSO leaders, let’s raise $100,000!  Be a CUSO trailblazer and ally.” 100% of your donation will go directly to Via Stella Foundation. The fight is real in Ukraine and Poland and credit union people need help!

Dr. Branch, Chair of Via Stella Foundation says it best, “When others rush out from conflict, credit unions rush in. I urge you to respond to Jay Mossman’s challenge.”

Funding contributions can be made via wire instructions on the Via Stella Foundation:  https://www.viastella.pl/   and credit card contributions can be made via the PayPal portal on the same Via Stella website: https://www.viastella.pl/ .

Contact: Zach Christensen
Zach@mitchellstankovic.com

April 27, 2023 – PSCU, the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO) and an integrated financial technology solutions provider, has announced the general availability of its new Installment Payments solution. This launch follows a successful pilot program with a select group of the CUSO’s credit union partners.

A buy now, pay later (BNPL) offering, PSCU’s Installment Payments solution enables cardholders to divide purchase amounts into smaller payments over a fixed period, giving members more flexibility to budget as needed and take greater control over their finances. The solution allows specific post-purchase credit card transactions to be converted into installment payments, providing a flexible payment method for cardholders while creating new revenue streams for credit unions. Additionally, PSCU’s solution lets credit unions customize the criteria for installment plans based on member data, which informs realistic repayment terms that minimize delinquency risks.

“PSCU is proud to expand the availability of this new tool, which offers benefits to all of our Owner credit unions and their members,” said Cody Banks, managing vice president, Payments, Fraud and Loyalty at PSCU. “When developing this technology, we prioritized enhancing members’ financial wellness and offering cardholders flexible digital payment options to help with budgeting and planning larger purchases, empowering users with the opportunity to decide how and when they pay. It is also a chance for credit unions to promote their credit card as the card of choice for members interested in a BNPL offering, ultimately driving increased interchange revenue, deposit balances and overall credit union brand visibility.”

Key capabilities of PSCU’s Installment Payments solution:

• Enables credit unions to select offers and eligibility for increased control and flexibility
• Utilizes cardholders’ existing credit lines
• Provides credit unions with the ability to set monthly payments with a fixed APR
• Empowers cardholders to take an active role in their individual financial wellbeing
• Provides convenient access through PSCU’s suite of market-leading digital solutions via APIs

“This technology positions PSCU and its credit unions to effectively compete in the BNPL space, which should be a consideration for all credit unions and partners when it comes to growing portfolios, attracting new accountholders and offering elevated solutions to members,” said Denise Stevens, chief product and digital officer at PSCU. “What sets PSCU’s new solution apart from other financial services providers is its ability to use existing lines of credit, enabling credit unions to deliver the right installment plans to the right members. This not only presents less risk, but it truly allows members to rely on their credit union as their trusted financial partner now and in the future.”

PSCU’s Installment Payments solution comes at a time of increasing consumer demand for innovative digital payment solutions, including installment payment options. According to the PSCU 2022 Eye on Payments study, 60% of respondents who know their financial institution offers a BNPL solution report they have used it. Among those who do not know if their financial institution offers BNPL or know it does not, 32% say they would likely use it.

For more information on PSCU’s Installment Payments solution, visit pscu.com/bnpl-installment-payments.

About PSCU

PSCU, the nation’s premier payments CUSO and an integrated financial technology solutions provider, supports the success of more than 2,400 financial institutions and processes nearly 7.7 billion transactions annually. Committed to service excellence and focused on continuous innovation, PSCU’s payment processing, fraud and risk management, data and analytics, digital banking, strategic consulting and real-time payments platforms, along with 24/7/365-member support via its contact centers, help deliver personalized, connected experiences. The origin of PSCU’s model is collaboration and scale, and the company has leveraged its influence on behalf of credit unions and their members for more than 45 years. Today, PSCU provides an end-to-end, competitive advantage that enables credit unions to securely grow and meet evolving consumer demands. For more information, visit pscu.com.

April 20, 2023 – Dustin Rohde, vice president of lending at $83.6 million SnoCope Credit Union in Everett, Wash., is the latest winner of a scholarship from Prodigy, the leading core processing and private cloud Credit Union Service Organization, to attend the 2023 CU Development Educators program in Madison, Wis.

“Getting this scholarship is a fantastic chance that will allow me to pursue the education and skills I desire,” Rohde said. “I love learning and everyone who has participated in this program has raved about it. Through this training, I intend to learn how to positively impact my members’ financial situation. Financial literacy has always been important, and our members look to us to be the experts. I am certain that this program will provide me with the skills that I need to better educate and serve my members.”

“We understand how important enhancing credit union leaders’ education is,” Prodigy CEO Amber Harsin said, and that shouldn’t be stunted because their credit union lacks the resources – in fact, that makes it more important! We’re very excited for Dustin, because we know he’ll take full advantage of this opportunity and bring it back with him to SnoCope.”

Prodigy’s third and final scholarship planned for the year to attend Western CUNA Management School will be open for applications later in 2023. The company sent Tina Wickes, vice president of lending of the $68.5 million Columbine Federal Credit Union, to CUNA’s Governmental Affairs Conference, Feb. 26 – March 2, in Washington, D.C.

“We all need education to mature and develop,” Rohde reflected, “but not everyone has access to it. The educational opportunities Prodigy provides are a huge asset to both their partner credit unions and the credit union movement as a whole. This genuinely supports the CU philosophy of ‘people helping people!’”

Harsin explained, “We operate according to the eight cooperative principles, the fifth of which is education, training and information. We expanded our scholarship program this year to ensure credit union executives have the opportunities they need to succeed – regardless of the size of their credit union or its budget – and benefit the entire credit union movement.”

More than 2,500 people from dozens of countries have graduated from the U.S. CUDE program since its launch in 1982. The DE experience includes learning on The Credit Union Difference: Understand how to communicate and leverage credit unions’ unique business model and cooperative principles; Empathy & emotional intelligence in banking: Create a competitive advantage in a disrupted market; and Development issues: Identify and solve challenges preventing the financial health of your employees, members and communities.

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Prodigy is a core processing and private cloud Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO), featuring a modern browser-based core and an API architecture for simple integrations, so credit unions can choose what business partners they want to use. Prodigy is 100% owned by 24 credit unions from California to New York with asset sizes ranging from $7 million to more than $500 million. We empower credit unions to participate in the direction, evolution and design of innovative products and solutions. Visit www.CUProdigy.com to learn more.

April 18, 2023 –

Today, PSCU – the nation’s premier payments CUSO and an integrated financial technology solutions provider – published the April edition of the PSCU Payments Index, the goal of which is to provide information and insights to help financial institutions navigate the evolving financial landscape to make informed, strategic decisions for their organizations and members.

Throughout the month of March, slowing economic growth was prevalent in multiple key indicators, including consumer purchasing behavior. March 2023 data revealed softening consumer spending and lower average purchases for both credit and debit cards. The year-over-year growth rate in transactions was greater than the growth rate in purchases for both credit and debit cards, resulting in a drop in both average purchase amounts. In this month’s Deep Dive, we explore the ongoing growth in Digital Payments versus the more traditional Physical Card payments.

In the Labor Department’s Apr. 12 update, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.1% in March. Despite the increase, the annual rate of inflation experienced a full percentage point drop from February, to 5.0%. This is the ninth consecutive monthly drop from the peak of 9.1% in June 2022. The largest contributor to inflation was again shelter, which offset the decline in the energy index. For the first time since September 2020, grocery prices fell on a monthly basis during March. The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index (PCE), increased in February to 5.0%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in its March 2023 jobs report that 236,000 jobs were added for the month, with the continued trend of increased jobs in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services and health care. After recent revisions, weekly initial jobless claims reached 246,000 in March, an increased level that is signaling reduced demand for workers. The overall unemployment rate for March finished at 3.5% or 5.8 million people. The slowing job growth and increased initial jobless claims provide evidence that the rate hikes by the Federal Reserve are having an effect. The Federal Reserve’s next meeting is scheduled for May 2-3.

The Consumer Confidence Index increased slightly in March to 104.2 (1985=100). The 0.3 increase in March comes from an improved outlook from participants under the age of 55 and households earning over $55,000. In a special question posed last month, the Consumer Confidence Survey surveyed consumers about spending plans over the next six months. The survey found that, despite the slight increase in confidence, consumers expect to spend less on discretionary categories like travel and entertainment.

“March revealed further signs of softening in consumer purchasing, with spending growth remaining in the low single digits. For the first time since 2020, transaction growth for credit and debit surpassed purchases,” said Jeremiah Lotz, Managing Vice President, Digital and Data at PSCU. “In this month’s Deep Dive, we provide a new perspective on the primary ways credit and debit cards are used by defining Digital Payments compared to Physical Card payments or true ‘card in hand’ uses. As we reach the two-year anniversary of the PSCU Payments Index, we continue to evolve the report’s data view and analysis to provide relevant insights in the changing financial landscape.”

A sampling of key takeaways from the April report includes:

• Transactions grew at a higher rate than purchases for both credit and debit cards in March compared to a year ago, showing further evidence of temperance in consumer spending in the market. This phenomenon last occurred on credit cards in May 2020, when both transaction growth and purchase growth were negative. This result has not occurred on debit cards in PSCU Payments Index reporting or weekly transaction trends reporting since PSCU began this reporting in early 2020.
• For March, both credit and debit transactions were up 5% year over year. Credit purchases were up 3% and debit purchases were up 4% for March. This was the lowest year-over-year growth for credit card purchases since August 2020, when it was -1%.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) decreased on an annual basis from 6.0% to 5.0% in March. Shelter again accounted for the majority of the all-items inflationary increase. The Fed increased rates by 25 basis points on Mar. 22 and will meet again on May 2-3.
• Growth in discretionary spending on credit cards (transactions up 4% and purchases up 6%) is slowing at a greater rate than non-discretionary spending. For debit cards, March growth improved for discretionary and non-discretionary transactions, up 8% and 4% respectively. For debit purchases, discretionary spending was up 8% and non-discretionary spending was up 3% for March.
• Digital Payments (defined as all Card Not Present, Mobile Wallets and tokenized activity) were significant and represented 44% of all credit transactions and 58% of all credit purchases in March 2023. For debit, Digital Payments made up 37% of all debit transactions and half of all debit purchases.
• Credit card balance transfers generally peak in both the number of transactions and the transferred amount in March of each year. Total balance transferred dollars were up 13% compared to March 2022 and the average balance transfer was $4,414, up 14% year over year.
• The credit card delinquency rate for March finished at 1.82%, above the March 2019 pre-pandemic level by 0.09%. Total credit card balances were up 13.2% for March compared to a year ago, while the average credit card balance for active accounts was $2,917, up 8.3% (or $223) year over year.

The full report is available for download here or can be shared as a PDF upon request. Let us know of any questions or additional needs, or if you’d like to coordinate an interview.

April 13, 2023 – Alacriti, a fintech company specializing in payments, announced today that it has partnered with Socure, the leading provider of digital identity verification and fraud solutions, to deliver third-party and synthetic identity fraud prevention for instant payments.

“Faster payments deliver greater convenience and instant access to funds. Yet its growing adoption brings different fraud risks as organized criminal networks look to exploit its vulnerabilities,” emphasizes Chuck Subrt, Director Fraud & AML Practice at Aite-Novarica Group. “To mitigate these risks, financial services organizations need to optimize their financial crime frameworks by integrating more real-time capabilities and richer risk intelligence. The Alacriti-Socure partnership delivers an option for the financial services community to address the needs of instant payments.”

This partnership allows financial institutions to utilize end-to-end, turnkey, instant payment solutions with integrated fraud prevention. Alacriti’s Cosmos Payments Hub, which is on the Orbipay platform, enables financial institutions to deliver modern money movement experiences to their customers, reduce operating costs, and accelerate time to market.

“Instant payments require real-time fraud prevention, which is not something many existing enterprise fraud systems are well-equipped to handle. This partnership represents a huge opportunity for financial institutions, as they can now affordably access Socure’s market-leading fraud prevention solution, which is fully integrated with Alacriti’s Cosmos Payments Hub,” said Mark Majeske, SVP Faster Payments at Alacriti.

Keith Gray, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships at The Clearing House added, “As more banks and credit unions leverage the RTP^® network to send instant payments, having access to appropriate fraud tools becomes an important part of a real-time payments strategy. We are happy to see Alacriti and Socure working together to provide fraud monitoring tools to financial institutions in the real-time payments ecosystem.”

Alacriti’s Orbipay AIQ is a cloud-based, machine learning-based fraud prevention solution designed to manage fraud and risk associated with instant payments processed through payment rails such as The Clearing House’s (TCH) RTP network, the FedNow^SM Service, and Visa Direct—or conventional payments such as ACH or Wires. Orbipay AIQ can be deployed to augment a financial institution’s existing fraud detection system or act as a stand-alone system. The solution is proactive, enabling it to analyze and score individual senders and receivers of transactions prior to the transaction being processed through a specific payment rail. Financial institutions can also set up customized tolerance levels to better control individual organizational preferences.

Orbipay AIQ is powered by Socure’s Sigma Fraud suite, combining the industry’s most accurate third-party and synthetic identity fraud solutions with the highest auto-approval rates while minimizing fraud risk and false positives. Socure’s fraud prevention solutions analyze every dimension of consumer identity leveraging an advanced machine learning framework, and block stolen or synthetic identities from entering the payment network.

“Our partnership with Alacriti protects financial institutions and their account holders from predatory fraudsters, improving their trust and confidence when making faster payments transactions. The joining of a comprehensive identity verification and fraud prevention platform with the Cosmos Payments Hub helps financial institutions safely deliver payments innovation quickly and with less risk to market,” said Evan Rabinowitz, VP of Business Development at Socure.

Alacriti (booth 512) and Socure (booth 533) will be present at the Nacha Smarter Faster Payments 2023 conference and will be available to discuss the details of the partnership. Additional information can be found in the recorded webinar, Navigating Fraud in the World of Instant Payments: Strategies for Success.

About Alacriti

Alacriti is a leading financial technology company with a comprehensive money movement and payments services platform dedicated to helping clients accelerate their digital transformation. Built on a flexible, cloud-native framework, Alacriti’s array of solutions allows clients to deliver the money movement experiences and payments innovation that today’s users demand while seamlessly integrating with their internal infrastructures.

About Socure

Socure is the leading platform for digital identity verification and trust. Its predictive analytics platform applies artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques with trusted online/offline data intelligence from physical government-issued documents as well as email, phone, address, IP, device, velocity, date of birth, SSN, and the broader internet to verify identities in real time. The company has more than 1,500 customers across the financial services, government, gaming, healthcare, telecom, and e-commerce industries, including four of the top five banks, 13 of the top 15 card issuers, the top three MSBs, the top payroll provider, the top credit bureau, the top online gaming operator, the top buy now, pay later (BNPL) providers, and over 250 of the largest fintechs. Marquee customers include Chime, SoFi, Robinhood, Gusto, Public, Stash, DraftKings, Poshmark, State of California, and Florida’s Homeowner Assistance Fund. Socure customers have become investors in the company including Citi Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Capital One Ventures, MVB Bank, and Synchrony. Additional investors include Accel, T. Rowe Price, Bain Capital Ventures, Tiger Global, Commerce Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Sorenson, Flint Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, and others.

Related Links
https://www.alacriti.com/
https://www.socure.com/

Media Contacts
Kristen Jasonkristen.jason@alacriti.com

Angela Griffo
angela.griffo@socure.com