CUSO Rebrands Solution as Fintechs Partner for Better Member Digital Experience

Two financial technology announcements directly geared toward helping credit unions included a rebranding of a member identity solution and a new partnership created for a better digital banking experience.

The Denver-based CUSO CULedger, which delivers a peer-to-peer services network of verifiable digital exchange for credit unions, unveiled a new name for its flagship digital identity solution.

MemberPass, formerly known as MyCUID, is described as a “know your customer”-backed digital credential that members own and control, and a secure way for credit unions to connect with and verify members’ identity.

MemberPass gives credit union members a lifetime, portable digital identity, that enables credit unions to verify a member’s identity within seconds. CULedger’s long-term goal is to enable members to use their MemberPass identification to verify who they are with other highly regulated institutions, including in government and health care. Additionally, MemberPass can help deepen the level of trust between credit unions and their members by giving members full control over their data, reducing the risk of identity theft and eliminating the need for a centralized username and password.

CULedger said credit unions currently leveraging MemberPass accelerate authentication across all channels, remove friction from the member experience and decrease fraud. The Colorado company anticipates credit unions will experience lower compliance costs, reduced risk of data breaches and be able to seamlessly incorporate MemberPass into new channels.

“MemberPass represents the next generation of privacy-based business solutions that we are developing,” Julie Esser, chief experience officer of CULedger, said. “Our technology enables credit unions to accommodate their members’ needs in an innovative, modern way while ensuring their information remains safe. The new branding demonstrates members’ ability to utilize their MemberPass outside of the branch and transition a historically physical, risky interaction – identity verification – to a secure, private, digital method.”

The MemberPass brand also represents an expanded capability beyond decentralized verification. These capabilities include shared Know Your Customer across all credit unions on the network, allowing peer-to-peer credential exchange between credit unions and the ability for members to transact across participating credit unions. Other future use-cases include streamlined cross-border transactions and auto lending.

“By offering MemberPass, we will be giving our members access to the most secure way of accessing personal records that has ever been offered,” Ron Amstutz, EVP of the Phoenix-based Desert Financial Credit Union ($5 billion in assets), said. “Members will have the ability to use their own personal information and biometrics to ensure their identity is legitimate and safe from hackers and fraud. This information is then broken down and encrypted over a series of different computers, allowing the member complete control of their ID and who can access it.”

The Glastonbury, Conn.-based digital payments company Payrailz and Raleigh, N.C.-based Constellation Digital Partners, which provides an open platform enabling credit unions and fintech developers to work together, announced a new partnership to create a better digital banking experience.

The Constellation Digital Platform offers the mechanism for securing and providing services with access to the core, and delivering those services in a cohesive, uniform way. The platform allows anyone to create services, freeing credit unions from having to rely on a single provider for all digital services and enables credit unions to develop its own services or buy services created by anyone in the Constellation ecosystem.

Payrailz leverages advancements in technology and artificial intelligence to meet the growing demand to automate tasks for users. Payrailz said it believes the industry is ready for a “do it for me” solution to better manage payment needs built around a powerful engine driven by predictive smart technology.

“Credit unions collaborate all the time and they expect vendors to collaborate as well. This partnership is a great example of that,” Payrailz CEO/Founder Fran Duggan said. “Similar to Constellation, our mission at Payrailz is to help credit unions leapfrog current offerings and add value to the overall experience for their members. Payrailz is engineering solutions to address the needs of an emerging ‘do it for me’ culture by reimaging the payments experience. Partnering with Constellation further delivers on this promise.”

Working together, Payrailz and Constellation aim to make it simpler for credit unions to access the resources needed to provide the digital services members expect and desire through a patented secure marketplace, powered by multiple providers, like Payrailz, through a single consolidated member application.

“Credit unions come to Constellation and Payrailz because they want to keep members happy. Happy members lead to higher retention rates,” Constellation CEO and founder Kris Kovacs said. “Constellation provides a new way for credit unions to deliver on its long-standing mission of making members’ lives easier. Our partnership with Payrailz is a good use case for that.”