Real-Time Payments Go Live At ESL Federal Credit Union

ESL Federal Credit Union, through a team effort with other organizations, has gone live with real-time payments on the RTP network. ESL has more than 374,000 members and 11,400 businesses as customers.

The financial institution (FI) said that RTP, developed by The Clearing House (TCH), will deliver to its customers “the most modern payments infrastructure in the world, enabling consumers and businesses to receive payments immediately while also providing for advanced messaging capabilities.”

ESL joined the RTP network by connecting through BNY Mellon, which helps companies convert to digital payments. Also aiding the team effort is Levvel, a payments technology consulting firm. Levvel helped ESL prepare for offering real-time payments to its customers, according to the release.

“We look forward to working with BNY Mellon and TCH to complete the second phase” of the project, said Tina Knapp, ESL’s vice president/director of payments and service support. “Our customers depend on us to provide banking capabilities in a cost-effective way, and this first phase that allows our personal and business banking customers to receive and settle payments immediately will be a significant, positive enhancement.”

Mike Bellacosa, BNY Mellon’s global head of payments and transaction services, said: “This is yet another exciting example of how we are facilitating innovative solutions that help clients optimize payment processes, reduce processing costs and speed payment delivery and transparency.”

“The entire banking ecosystem is going through a considerable technological evolution,” added Scott Harkey, Levvel’s chief strategy officer and global head of financial services and payments.

In fact, The Clearing House said the RTP network “is the first new payments infrastructure built in the U.S. in more than 40 years.” Now, change is in the air.

Steve Ledford, senior vice president of products and strategy at The Clearing House, told PYMNTS that the coronavirus crisis created an environment in which businesses migrated from checks to electronic payment methods out of necessity. Nonetheless, Ledford said, it’s not surprising that business adoption of the RTP network has not been immediate.

“This is a new payment system,” he noted. “It’s something that’s being offered more and more by companies’ financial institutions, but they don’t necessarily realize that.”