I hope you have already marked your calendar for April 23-26 and booked a flight to Austin, Texas. (Unless, that is, you live within driving distance.) You surely do not want to miss NACHA’s PAYMENTS 2017 convention.

This year, it will be my honor to take the stage at the event on Tuesday, April 25, at 8:31 a.m. I’ll be talking about Early Warning’s Zelle℠ network and provide an inside look at how Fiserv is delivering the first turnkey version.

In an October 2016 press release, Fiserv reported that the Zelle network …

… will be offered by many of the country’s leading financial institutions, and will provide consumers with a faster way to send and receive payments within the security of their financial institution.

Fiserv will offer the first turnkey version of Zelle to simplify integration for financial institutions of all sizes. It will offer all the elements of the Zelle solution in a single platform to reduce costs and speed time to market for financial institutions.

The media have been heralding Zelle as the banking industry’s answer to P2P payments threats from nonbanks such as Paypal’s Venmo. Personally, I think that trivializes just a little. I suspect that, more than just answer alternative P2P payments threats, Zelle will absolutely set the standard. Consider a few of Zelle’s competitive advantages:

• Zelle lets just about anyone with a valid deposit or demand account send funds to just about anyone else. Even if their bank isn’t a participant. Which their bank should be, especially with Fiserv making it easy for them.
• The Zelle app is intuitive and easy to use.
• Financial institutions can brand the Zelle app.
• Even so, the Zelle app presents all users a consistent look and interface, regardless of whether they access it via their financial institution or download it directly from Zelle.
• Funds availability is lightning fast, thanks to Zelle’s unique, rapid-fire funds verification technology.
• Zelle is incredibly versatile. For instance, it lets users easily split the check at a restaurant.
• Zelle is secure.

Aite Group’s Retail Banking & Payments analyst Talie Baker summed it up nicely: “The launch of Zelle gives banks a chance to establish a foothold as the provider of choice for person-to-person payments and even take back their share of the market from non-FI providers.”

Fiserv is a global leader in financial services technology solutions and happens to be my employer. Early Warning is a leader in financial technology that protects and advances the financial system. NACHA, which is much easier to say than “National Automated Clearing House Association,” is a not-for-profit, self-regulatory association of “ … nearly 10,000 financial institutions via 11 Regional Payments Associations and Direct Membership.”

If you attend PAYMENTS 2017, please grab me and say hello.

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