Credit Unions now may offer their entire customer base, including those who do not bank online, the option to bank and make payments using their mobile phones through Tyfone Inc.’s enhanced mobile-banking service.
Most financial institutions only offer mobile banking to customers participating in online banking, Mark Miyamoto, director of product development at Portland, Ore.-based Tyfone, tells PaymentsSource. For credit unions, about 20% to 40% of their members bank online, which means more than half would be unable to participate in mobile banking, he says.
Tyfone’s service enables credit unions to offer all customers the option to bank from their mobile phones, Miyamoto says.
Many banks set up mobile banking by having consumers use the same username and password they use to access their online bank account, but Tyfone’s service enables consumers to set up an account using a separate, specific mobile PIN, he adds.
Moreover, credit unions benefit from offering their customers who do not bank online a mobile-banking option because they will save on the cost to service them physically by phone or in person, Miyamoto says. “Offering these customers mobile service cuts back on costs, which is a huge benefit to many credit unions,” he notes.
Tyfone’s “next generation” mobile-banking service, which most participating financial institutions likely will offer for free, enables users to manage and view separate accounts on one screen, receive balance and deposit text alerts, find branches and ATMs, transfer funds, and make deposits using their mobile phone’s camera to capture check images.
The enhanced service also includes a mobile-payment component. Through Tyfone’s SideTap microSD memory card, consumers may create and customize a digital wallet and use their phone as a payment device where contactless cards are accepted, Miyamoto says.
The memory cards can contain financial information and secure identification from multiple sources such as merchants and banks in both open and closed-loop scenarios (
Consumers interested in the contactless payment function may purchase a microSD memory card through their financial institution or from Tyfone. The microSD card comes in various memory capacities, so the cost can range from $15 to $40, Miyamoto says.
Consumers may personalize the digital wallet to “mimic any card brand consumers’ have in their physical wallets, such as credit cards, debit cards and prepaid and gift cards,” Miyamoto notes.
“Tyfone is offering credit unions a nice bundle through its mobile-banking service with banking and payments all in one package,” Todd Ablowitz, president of Centennial, Colo.-based Double Diamond Group LLC, tells PaymentsSource.
Moreover, the company is expanding what it does and is entering a market ready for mobile banking, he adds. “Many credit-union members do not have access to a computer but have a smartphone, and Tyfone believes its service can meet an unmet need with a product that has a clear and concise value,” Ablowitz says.
Portland, Ore.-based OnPoint Community Credit Union, Orange County (Calif.) Community Credit Union and Oceanside (N.Y.) Christopher Federal Credit Union are among the users of Tyfone’s mobile-banking service.
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