Corporate credit unions team up for payments initiative

A trio of corporate credit unions have banded together to form a payments group.

In late May, Catalyst Corporate Federal Credit Union acquired Aptys Solutions, a real-time electronic payments provider. The corporate subsequently sold portions of the company to Alloya Corporate Federal Credit Union and Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union, though Catalyst retains majority ownership. All three were already Aptys customers.

Catalyst, Alloya and Vizo serve a total of 3,884 credit unions nationwide, more than 70% of the entire industry. The deal expands the number of institutions that will have access to services through Aptys, and some existing corporate members are currently being transitioned to various Aptys services.

“We’re excited to be part of this first-of-its-kind payments consortium. As a provider of end-to-end, multi-channel payment solutions, the new entity creates a strong national presence in the payments arena,” Catalyst Corporate CEO Bruce Fox said in a press release. “Aptys’ enterprise-level platform and future-looking technology will serve as the springboard for innovative solutions aligned with faster, real-time and instant payments, including mobile, P2P and P2B. This accelerates Catalyst Corporate’s faster payments strategy and will enable credit unions to provide these solutions more expeditiously to their members.”

Aptys Solutions will continue to operate as a stand-alone subsidiary, retaining its current management and employees and serving a mix of credit unions and banks. A board of representatives from each of the three corporates and other future investors will govern the consortium.