SANTA CLARA, Calif.-In a move designed to brighten its appeal to workers in the Silicon Valley region here, KeyPoint CU soon will offer a remittance program that will allow members to send money abroad to recipients in six countries.
KeyPoint, which serves one of the most tech-savvy fields of membership in the country, signed with Bank of New York Mellol to implement the bank's Remit Worldwide private label service. Juli Anne Callis, executive vice president and chief operating officer for the credit union, as well as president of its CUSO, KeyPoint Financial Services, said the move into remittances is necessary in today's banking environment.
"Credit unions are looking for new ways to be relevant as financial institutions are changing their offerings," she said. "We've been known for being first into Facebook banking. Now, there are people from other countries working in America who want to send money home. We therefore can position ourselves to be the first financial institution to serve these people's needs easier and less expensive than a wire transfer."
A remit is an alternative to Western Union and to wires in that the money can be received in the other country where there may not be a bank, Callis explained. She said in many cases the money is delivered by courier.
As for pricing, Callis said being less expensive than other remittance providers is part of the design.
"We monitor every day to see what the current market leader, Wells Fargo, is charging," she said. "We will continue to price under what the market leader charges to demonstrate the importance of doing business with a credit union."
KeyPoint CU's service will be called KeyPay Global and will launch Feb. 1, if not sooner, Callis said.
"Within two months of launch we will market it through KeyPoint Financial Services," she reported. "It will be set up as a retail service through our CUSO to other credit unions and banks, interestingly."
Although other remittance systems are in place that can be used by CU members, Callis said she believes KeyPay Global will be the first offered by a credit union. KeyPoint will build upon Open Solutions' host system and will integrate with a new online banking platform through Digital Insight and Intuit. The latter means users will have mobile access to remittances.
"About one-third of our constituency is from overseas and they want to send money home-this is an easier, less expensive way for people to do it," Callis said. "Recruiting at high tech companies aligns nicely with the credit union, because there are many people from overseas they are recruiting and if we sign them up for direct deposit we also can sign them up for the remittance program."
KeyPay Global will launch with relationships in six countries: Mexico, China, India, Vietnam, Jamaica and the Philippines.
"We wanted to do it in a safe and sound manner, and the VP that will be running this for me has many years of international banking experience," said Callis. "Credit unions are a great fit for people who are new to this country. We can teach them how to save, borrow safely and send money home."
