Alloy Labs Alliance, a group of innovative community banks that includes Chesapeake Bank, announced the launch of CHUCK, an open network for instant payments.
Chesapeake Bank, based in Kilmarnock, Va., which is primarily a small business lender, is one of the founding banks of the new payments platform, which offers customers “choice and security” when making payments.
“Customers can send money from their already reliable desktop or mobile banking app and let the recipient choose where they want the money to go, including some of the most popular payment networks,” Alloy said. Labs Alliance in a press release.
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The new network, which will be integrated into community banks’ mobile banking apps, will reduce the need for consumers to transfer money between apps or log into their bank account to check their balance just to transfer funds from another app.
“Other payment systems operate in a closed loop, requiring both sender and participant to use the same service. While there is wide adoption of services like Venmo, CashApp, and Zelle, there is no ubiquitous payment service,” Chesapeake Bank CIO DJ Seeterlin told Forbes.
“Our vision is to support sending remittances anywhere. Our focus includes supporting faster payment rails like RTP from The Clearing House and eventually FedNow.
Alloy Labs Alliance has chosen Payrailz, a digital payments company, as a partner to launch this new payment network. The network offers personalized payments to consumers and businesses in a cost-effective manner. “With the introduction of CHUCK, financial institutions now have a choice when it comes to providing instant payment capabilities and no longer have to settle for a more expensive, restrictive and closed network,” the banks said. .
Julie Thurlow, CEO of Reading Cooperative Bank, said: “This is a network for community banks, by community banks. The first product we are launching is an innovative approach to peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. We have an extensive roadmap of applications that will provide community banks with the fast and flexible infrastructure they need to stay competitive over the long term.”
“Community banks play an important role in the lives of our customers,” said Joel Westra, Senior Vice President of American State Bank, “and that includes providing the best digital experiences.”
Members of the Alloy Labs Alliance Bank participating in the launch of CHUCK are Chesapeake Bank, American Bank, Citizens & Northern Bank, American State Bank, Citizens & Northern Bank, First Northern Bank, Five Star Bank, Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Reading Co- Operative Bank, Servers Co-Operative Bank and Union Bank.
Founded in 1900, Chesapeake Bank is primarily a small business lender and operates 15 community banks in the Northern Neck, Middle Peninsula, Williamsburg and Richmond area.
Contact author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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