by
Catalyst Corporate | Sep 26, 2023
With faster payments and the FedNow® Service currently capturing vast industry attention, it was no surprise the focus was on both at Catalyst Corporate’s 2023 Economic & Payments Forum last week.
Among a wide range of other relevant credit union topics, instant payments took center stage as the conference delivered three opportunities to expand attendee knowledge and share the latest developments.
Understanding the essentials
This year, Forum kicked off with a deep dive into the world of faster payments and the emerging role of the FedNow Service during an immersive pre-conference bonus session. Approximately 120 attendees tuned in online and in-person to learn more about how their credit union can participate in the Federal Reserve’s revolutionary new payment channel and the faster payments movement in general.
Throughout the 4-hour workshop, Catalyst’s team of faster payments experts covered everything from use cases and credit union strategy to fraud mitigation.
Addressing market need was first on the docket, with Aptys Solutions’ Executive Vice President of Sales Eric Dotson delivering a thorough overview of technology demand, consumer behavior and the solutions needed to best accommodate the two.
“Tech and data drive everything we do today,” said Dotson, “creating a new challenge for financial institutions: adequately balancing need, maintaining compliance and managing reputation.”
Celyna Cervantes, Chief Retail Officer at Tucson, Arizona-based Pima Federal Credit Union, then joined Catalyst Corporate Senior Manager of Payments Strategy Mark Keeling for Q&A, sharing her credit union’s first-hand account of FedNow partnership with Catalyst Corporate. Pima Federal was the first credit union to go live on the service – through Catalyst – upon launch in July.
Why FedNow, now? Pima Federal believed early adoption of the new payment rail would be key to their long-term success.
“It was important that we take part in this initiative to demonstrate to our members that we’re forward-thinking and we’re listening to them,” Cervantes shared when asked about their choice to pursue a faster payments strategy.
Unveiling the future
The second day of the conference, Catalyst Corporate Chief Operations Officer Brad Ganey took the stage with an exciting video announcement on the launch of Catalyst’s Digital Payments Experience – an interactive new site where credit unions can access a host of faster payments resources, training opportunities and more.
From there, Dan Gonzalez, Vice President and National Account Director of Federal Reserve Financial Services, walked attendees through the new payments revolution, during his general session titled, “The Future of Instant Payments with the FedNow Service.”
Gonzalez updated attendees on the status of the national implementation, adoption trends and the roadmap for the future.
“The FedNow Service officially launched on July 20 with 35 financial institutions – Catalyst was there with us, along with Pima Federal,” said Gonzalez. “Adoption and demand are on the rise as that number is now up to 76 financial institutions in under two months.”
He discussed other important considerations to help credit unions capitalize on instant payments now that the FedNow Service is live, focusing on the channel’s ability to carry data through ISO 20022 messaging.
“Data-rich messaging is another critical component of instant payments, especially for things like business-to-business transactions and mortgage or auto loan closings,” Gonzalez noted.
Pushing the “easy button”
Wednesday, Catalyst experts closed out the conference instant payments lineup with a breakfast breakout session: Pushing the “Easy Button” on Faster Payments, which provided credit unions a more intimate forum to ask remaining questions and address misconceptions.
Questions touched on topics such as preparing staff, educating members and integrating instant payments. Fortunately, the panel of payments professionals was able to provide a single solution – Catalyst Corporate for end-to-end faster payments connection.
“Catalyst’s core-agnostic capabilities allow us to connect to any core system, mobile or online banking provider,” said Len Naidoo, Catalyst Corporate’s Director of Electronic Payments. “Furthermore, our all-in-one solution, and digital payments site, now provides everything you need to streamline employee and member readiness.”
Miss one of these sessions? Catalyst Corporate’s Economic & Payments Forum is now available to registrants on-demand. For additional updates on all things faster payments, be sure to visit the Digital Payments Experience today!