The Electronic Payments Network is making its first major foray out West with a partnership with Western Payments Alliance and plans to extend its automated clearing house services across the nation.
The groups are expected to announce today that WesPay, one of the nation's largest regional payments associations, with over 1,200 members, will offer EPN's services to its members in addition to the Federal Reserve and Visa ACH services that it already offers.
"This is an important partnership," said George Thomas, the president and chief executive officer of EPN, a unit of the New York Clearing House Association LLC. "We are hoping to strike other deals with ACH associations around the country. We want to leverage the professional services of local ACH association to sell our services to their members."
EPN has proposed partnerships with the southeastern e-payments organization EastPay, the Upper Midwest ACH Association, Mid-America Payments Exchange, the Payments Authority in Michigan, and the Wisconsin ACH Association, Mr. Thomas said.
The bulk of EPN's business now comes from the Northeast, but it has been expanding recently. Its transaction volume last year doubled from the previous year, while its market share quadrupled, to 22%. Mr. Thomas has said that his goal to process more than half of all ACH transactions by yearend.
WesPay, a cooperative, nonprofit organization established in 1876, serves banks, thrifts, and credit unions. Last year its members processed 786 million commercial ACH transactions.
"Competition is the best way to promote the best way a very high standard of ACH," said Gerard F. Milano, WesPay's CEO. "It will also enable EPN to call on institutions of more modest means."
The offering would be most important to WesPay's largest members, who would require a backup ACH processor, Mr. Milano said.
EPN's system is "progressive" and can be easily adapted to work with different systems, and the company comes up with enhancements more quickly than its competitors, he said.
"It wouldn't surprise me if EPN will be become the lead processor by this time next year, at least for commercial transactions," Mr. Milano said.
