PULSE’s Paur Posits PaperlessPayments

NEW ORLEANS - (02/16/05) – One of the leaders in theelectronic payments revolution called on credit unions and banksTuesday to shed their paper-based transactions and join theelectronic payments revolution—or else be left behind.“What we’re going to see is an industrial erosion ofpaper, just like we’re getting rid of people. It’s arevolution in our society,” said Stan Paur, president and oneof the founders of PULSE EFT Association, the regional electronicfunds network recently acquired by Morgan Stanley’s DiscoverFinancial. Paur spoke of the continued decline on paper-basedtransaction—electronic transactions outnumbered check-basedtransactions for the first time in the U.S. in 2003—andcounted the variety of new payment methods the electronictransactions era has spawned. Methods like radio frequencyidentification (contactless) devices; mini-debit cards; cellphone-based transactions; and pay by biometric touch will one dayovercome the electronic methods of today like credit and debit,Paur told about 300 credit union and bank executives during theTexas CU League’s and Independent Bankers of Texas’sTechMecca conference. “Trust me, all of these things are inyour future,” he asserted. He urged credit union and bankmanagers to bow to the convenience of the consumer and harness thenew payment technologies. “You’re going to have to makeit easier, faster and more secure for your customers,” hesaid.