Glastonbury digital-payments vendor Payrailz is the latest Connecticut financial-technology services entity, or “fintech,” to provide expanded online- and smartphone-payment options to credit-union customers.
CU Payz, the credit-union services organization (CUSO) Payrailz formed in tandem with six credit unions, all based outside Connecticut, has begun offering bill-pay, person-to-person and business-to-business fund transfers, among other digital services, Payrailz marketing Vice President Marvin S. “Mickey’’ Goldwasser said Thursday.
Payrailz’s announcement is on the heels of Monday’s disclosure from rival Wethersfield fintech Payveris of its launch of PayverisCU, a digital-payments CUSO formed in partnership with one of America’s largest member-credit cooperatives, VyStar Credit Union, of Jacksonville, Fla.
Investing in a CUSO allows credit unions, which are banned from direct ownership of certain non-credit union related businesses and technologies, to have such stakes.
CU Payz and Payveris are but the latest CUSOs to emerge amid mounting competitiveness in the fintech sector, Goldwasser said. Having a stake in a fintech-focused CUSO, he said, gives member CUs a “seat at the table’’ in the development and use of new technologies and services as digital-pay networks continue to evolve.
“Credit unions have been handcuffed by some of the current providers, and we strongly believe we will offer a solution that enables them to compete against all the other tech competitors jumping into the market,’’ Payrailz CEO Fran Duggan said in a statement.
CU Payz’s founding partners are the MEMBERS Development Co. and Constellation Digital Partners, a Raleigh, N.C., cooperative consisting of more than 70 U.S. fintechs, including Payrailz and its Wethersfield digital-pay rival Payveris.
The formation of CU Payz, Goldwasser said, stemmed from a working relationship with established CUSOs and six founding member credit unions: Coastal Credit Union (Raleigh, N.C.); Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union (Los Angeles); Georgia’s Own Credit Union (Atlanta); Meritrust Credit Union (Wichita, Kan.); Teachers Credit Union (South Bend, Ind.); and TwinStar Credit Union (Lacey, Wash).