More than 100 banks and credit unions have agreed to offer the person-to-person funds-transfer service Fiserv Inc is developing.
The Brookfield, Wis.-based banking-technology company said Wednesday that it expects to roll out the service, ZashPay, in early summer, and it anticipates additional users will sign on throughout the summer.
ZashPay is based on Fiserv’s CheckFree RXP bill-pay service, and it will be available initially to all of the 3,100 financial companies that use it. Customers of banks that agree to offer ZashPay will be able to use it to send funds to anyone through the recipients’ e-mail addresses or mobile-phone number. Recipients need not use banks that offer ZashPay to claim their money.
“The primary reason financial institutions are signing up so quickly is that there is a pretty clear demand and interest by consumers in having this kind of payment service,” Erich Litch, Fiserv senior vice president and general manager for consumer services, tells PaymentsSource.
“We’ve done a lot of research and shared with our clients that two out of three consumers say it’s really important to have a service like this provided by their financial institution,” he says. “There is a strong preference for the online channel to manage money and make payments. And there is demand for mobile services, so there are clear trends directly from consumer feedback.”
In today’s banking environment, having a P2P payment service is a new way financial institutions can generate revenue, he adds.
Fiserv also is helping those financial institutions market ZashPay, including by providing creative materials for in-branch promotions, direct mail, e-mail, statement stuffers, and supporting sweepstakes contests.
Fiserv launched both Twitter and Facebook efforts to support ZashPay in May, Litch says.
