A fintech snark tank Exclusive

Forbes and the fintech Snark Tank have learned that a consortium of community banks will announce the launch of CHUCK ™, an open network for instant payments. According to the Alloy Labs Alliance, the network will enable consumers to:

“Send money from your banking app (desktop or mobile) and let recipients choose where they want the money to go, including some of the popular payment networks. Financial institutions now have a choice when it comes to providing instant payment functionality and don’t have to settle for an expensive, restrictive and closed network. “

The new network, to be integrated with the community banks’ mobile banking apps, will make it easier for consumers to move money between apps or log into their bank account to check their balance just to transfer money from another application .

Julie Thurlow, Chief Executive Officer of Reading Cooperative Bank, a bank that has been instrumental in building the network, said:

“This is a community bank network for community banks. The first product we bring to market is peer-to-peer payments (P2P). must remain competitive in the long term. “

Where do the recipients want the money if not in their bank accounts? And which “popular payment networks” will consumers want to send money to? According to DJ Seeterlin, Chief Information Officer of Chesapeake Bank, a consortium member:

“Other payment systems are closed and force both the sender and the subscriber to use the same service. Although services like Venmo, CashApp, and Cell are widely used, there is not a single ubiquitous payment service. Our vision is to help send funds everywhere. Our focus includes support for faster payment channels such as RTP from The Clearing House and finally FedNow. “

There are advantages for the community banks as well as for their customers. Reading Coop’s Thurlow says participating banks will achieve significant cost savings – both on initial setup and transaction fees – and a reduction in fraudulent activity.