Industry Leaders Form Center For Payments

A group of payment associations in the U.S. are collaborating to launch the Center for Payments, a program focused on propelling the development of the nation’s payments industry.

An announcement issued on Tuesday (April 16) said ePayResources, EPCOR, MACHA, NEACH, PaymentsFirst, SHAZAM, Southern Financial Exchange, The Clearing House Payments Authority, UMACHA, WACHA and WesPay are all participating in the initiative, which aims to combine their collective payments expertise and collaborate on ways to improve the ecosystem. The Center for Payments will generate actionable data and analysis that participating associations can use to further innovate and grow their solutions.

The associations noted that smaller financial institutions can be particularly significant benefactors of the Center for Payments’ initiatives, as they often lack the resources to generate this level of industry analysis and insight on their own. The group also plans to engage with other industry players and rule-making bodies — including The Clearing House, the Federal Reserve and NACHA — to further collaborate on industry analysis, and guide the direction of any changes in regulations and industry practices.

“Participants in U.S. payment systems frequently turn to trusted partners when investing in a new payment network or technology platform,” said WesPay President and CEO, and inaugural Chair of the Center for Payments, Bill Schoch in a statement. “This is a significant role each of the 11 payments associations collaborating on the Center for Payments have provided for more than 40 years. By working cooperatively in gathering market intelligence and advancing our teams, the Center for Payments will generate new expertise that will facilitate payment systems modernization.”

The Center for Payments is readying the release of findings for its first market study that explores the emergence and path of faster payment initiatives in the U.S., which will come out next month.