First United Bank Launches a Reliable P2P Payment Service

Demand for person-to-person (P2P) payments is growing, especially among younger generations as people search for a simple and convenient way of transferring money digitally. So far, most solutions of this nature are run by third-party companies like PayPal (News - Alert) and not associated with traditional banking entities, and tend to be slow and unreliable. First United Bank, a small financial institution operating throughout western Texas, aims to change that with the upcoming launch of its own next-day P2P payment system.

“More consumers are turning to alternative payment providers to meet their needs, cutting the bank out of the transaction,” said Kevin Carson, Chief Technology Officer of First United Bank. “By working with Malauzai and Payveris, our bank will be the trusted destination for customers seeking quick P2P payments.”

Malauzai Software, a developer of mobile and Web banking apps, partnered with the digital payments service provider Payveris to integrate the two companies’ technology and provide First United Bank with an adequate solution. Malauzai’s SmartApp technology provides the underpinnings for many community financial institutions’ banking apps, and Payveris’ PayItNow network supports bill pay and account-to-account (A2A) transfers in addition to P2P payments. The new solution integrates Payveris’ P2P technology directly into the mobile banking SmartApp so customers can easily carry out a variety of transactions. Payments are conducted via email or text message simply by completing a security challenge question, and post within 24 hours.

“The evolution of online banking, mobile banking and payment technologies provides community banks and credit unions a real opportunity to meet emerging consumer demands as well as better compete against larger financial institution offerings,” said Jeff Weikert, President of Payveris.

“Payveris has created a single highly secure platform for digital payments that makes the process faster while keeping banks and credit unions at the center of the transactions,” said Robb Gaynor, Chief Product Officer of Malauzai. “We are excited to have this functionality available in our SmartApps to help our community FIs such as First United stay ahead of the payments game.”

Perhaps the biggest challenge to widespread adoption of this service is its unreliability, which was one of the main priorities addressed during development of the solution for First United Bank. In addition to some harboring a general mistrust of the technology, it has not quite reached the mainstream and thus many people are simply unaware of its existence.

As a result, First United Bank is in the process of launching an advertising campaign, spanning online and in-branch promotions as well as billboards, in order to inform both existing and potential customers of the service’s availability and the recent improvements to security and convenience. By adopting such cutting-edge technology, First United Bank may find an expanded base of loyal customers while going down in history as a pioneer of P2P payment systems.