As EMV heads toward full migration, Des Moines, Iowa-based payments processor TMG launched the availability of instant-issue EMV chip cards for its clients including a credit union that serves Disney employees.
Following the conclusion of a successful pilot program with several financial-institution card issuers, TMG created a launch kit, detailing the specific needs, policies and procedures of each partner's program.
The service allows TMG's credit union and community bank partners to place EMV-enabled plastic cards into the hands of consumers immediately upon approval of their debit and credit accounts. TMG said client demand increased more than 175% since the launch of EMV instant issue.
Among the instant-issuance pilot program participants was $1.4 billion Burbank, Calif.-based Partners Federal Credit Union, which serves Walt Disney Company cast members, employees and their families. The credit union enrolled credit and debit cards in the pilot and is planning to instant-issue special affinity based cards with exclusive art designs.
"Instant issuance is an important part of the experience we create," Mike Terzian, chief marketing officer for Partners FCU, said. "By putting our card in the member's hand as soon as they join the credit union, we're setting them up for success right from the start and giving them immediate access to their account."
"Cardholder enthusiasm for a new card is highest immediately following approval," Chole Casber, TMG product manager, said. "Instant issuance lets consumers begin using their debit and credit cards as soon as they leave the branch. From an activation and engagement standpoint, that sure beats asking eager cardholders to wait seven to 10 days. It is an even better experience for cardholders whose plastic is lost or stolen. Replacing that missing card quickly is leaps and bounds easier with an instant-issuance program."
"Products like this, ones that help a financial institution provide surprise and delight moments for consumers, are fun to work on," Casber noted. "Instant issuance can be one of those defining products that helps a consumer choose one financial institution over a competitor."
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Roy Urrico
Roy W. Urrico specializes in articles about financial technology and services for Credit Union Times, as well as ghostwriting, copywriting, and case studies. Also: writer/editor of a semi-annual newsletter for Association for Financial Technology since 1997 and history projects funded by the U.S Interior Department, National Park Service and Warren County (N.Y.).
