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Payments North American Banking Company's ExcheQ app aims to make p2p payments faster and easier-and CEO Michael Bilski hopes other community banks will jump on its bandwagon. By Colleen Morrison
Have you ever played the game "Spot the Difference," where you scan a series of images in an attempt to discern the subtle differences in one of them?
For community banks, evaluating today's person-to-person (p2p) payments market can feel a lot like that game.
Almost daily, reports reveal another p2p provider jumping into the mix. From relative newbies gaining traction, like Venmo and Zelle, to mobile-player options like Apple Pay and processor offerings like Fiserv's Popmoney, p2p apps saturate the American market. The proliferation of options challenges community banks to distinguish the service that will benefit customers and the bank itself.
A desire to help community banks navigate these waters drove Michael Bilski, CEO of $500 million-asset North American Banking Company in Roseville, Minn., to dream up what today is called ExcheQ. This payments app leverages the ACH Network to send secure p2p transactions directly between consumer bank accounts, regardless of institution.
"ACH is such a cheap way to move money," reasons Bilski. "The whole concept of trying to do something with a credit push just made...