Jack Henry adds Zelle P-to-P payments to its services

Jack Henry & Associates is adding the Zelle person-to-person and faster payment services to its current P-to-P features for credit union and bank clients.

The Monett, Mo.-based vendor to financial institutions says it has established a strategic alliance with Early Warning, owner of Zelle (formerly clearXchange) to resell the network to its financial institutions.

Early Warning has established Zelle as its faster P-to-P product for individuals and companies with bank or credit union accounts to make payments to each other. Participating financial institutions will be able to implement Zelle in 2017 as Early Warning plans to launch Zelle early in the year.

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Jack Henry has offered P-to-P services since 2005 through iPay Solutions, and the Early Warning alliance adds Zelle as an option for customers using iPay Consumer Bill Pay software.

"Partnerships that lead to the growth of the Zelle network are vital to our business, and a great benefit to all users," Lou Anne Alexander, group president of payments at Early Warning, said in a Nov. 28 press release.

Zelle is an inclusive network open to all banks and credit unions in the U.S. Nineteen financial institutions have already joined the network, including founders JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo.

The alliance with Jack Henry will allow approximately 3,000 additional financial institutions access to the network. Zelle represents one of the largest faster payments networks in the U.S., accessible to over 76 million mobile banking users nationwide.

Even before Early Warning acquired clearXchange late last year, the participating banks were pitching the P-to-P technology as one for the Federal Reserve to consider as it develops faster payments options on a national and global scale.

The alliance with Zelle puts Jack Henry clients in a better position to keep pace with new technology, Greg Adelson, general manager of Jack Henry's payment solutions group, said in the release.

"Adding Zelle to our existing P-to-P capabilities will allow our clients to give consumers more of what they desire in this type of payment experience," Adelson said. "And maintain ownership of these transactions as they compete more effectively against alternative payment providers."