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The $1.1 billion Pima Federal Credit Union in Tucson, Ariz., became the first credit union to enable instant payment send functionality through Catalyst Corporate Credit Union on the Federal Reserve's FedNow Service on Jan. 28, the credit union and corporate announced last week.
Pima was also the first credit union to go live with receiving FedNow transactions through Catalyst this past summer.
"As a day one adopter when FedNow launched in July 2023, we were proud to provide our members with the ability to receive FedNow payments. We quickly recognized the importance of adding the send option," Pima Chief Experience Officer Celyna Cervantes stated. "It was part of our roadmap with Catalyst from the beginning. We're excited to offer full FedNow functionality as a way to expand our digital payment services."
"From the beginning, Pima has been a strong partner in onboarding the FedNow Service, so working with them to become Catalyst's first credit union on send was a straightforward, collaborative process," Catalyst COO Brad Ganey added. "The pioneer mindset both organizations share made reaching this strategic landmark significant for everyone involved."
The $4.9 billion, Plano, Texas-based Catalyst Corporate is one of nine corporate credit unions listed as FedNow settlement agents and liquidity providers. Pima was an early adopter of the FedNow Service when it launched in July 2023 and is one of approximately 80 credit unions currently live on FedNow; however, it's rarer for financial institutions to offer both send and receive functionality as opposed to receive-only at this point in FedNow's rollout. In an August 2023 interview, Melissa Ashley, president/CEO for the $5.1 billion, Columbus, Ohio-based Corporate One Credit Union (another FedNow settlement agent and liquidity provider), said only about 30 financial institutions had send functionality in place either through The Clearing House's RTP – the only other instant payments rail in the U.S. – or FedNow. Receive is a lighter lift for credit unions from a technology standpoint and lower risk than send, she said.
Catalyst Corporate's instant payment services include settlement benefits such as 24/7 liquidity management from a line of credit, extended settlement hours for greater interest earnings, and a special FedNow sub-account to simplify reporting and reconciliation, it said. It also gives credit unions the option of using their own Fed account for settlement.
Catalyst Corporate said it currently has many credit unions in the queue for its send and receive solutions and is actively onboarding additional credit unions to the service.
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Natasha Chilingerian
Natasha Chilingerian has been immersed in the credit union industry for over a decade. She first joined CU Times in 2011 as a freelance writer, and following a two-year hiatus from 2013-2015, during which time she served as a communications specialist for Xceed Financial Credit Union (now Kinecta Federal Credit Union), she re-joined the CU Times team full-time as managing editor. She was promoted to executive editor in 2019. In the earlier days of her career, Chilingerian focused on news and lifestyle journalism, serving as a writer and editor for numerous regional publications in Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition, she holds experience in marketing copywriting for companies in the finance and technology space. At CU Times, she covers People and Community news, cybersecurity, fintech partnerships, marketing, workplace culture, leadership, DEI, branch strategies, digital banking and more. She currently works remotely and splits her time between Southern California and Portland, Ore.
