9 must-read payments articles from 2014

by Off the Cuff

The Apple launch and — some say — subsequent holiday fizzle helps make mobile a dominating subject in payments talk this year.

by: Marc Rapport

Mobile’s surge into payments drew lots of attention in 2014, headlined late in the year by Apple Pay. The rumors, announcement, and launch of the mobile payments play gave us all something to write about.

At CreditUnions.com, our longtime forte, of course, is examining how a credit union does something well and then sharing with other credit unions actionable advice on how to do the same. We also bring to you what we learned at industry trade shows and other gatherings.

Here’s my choice for the top nine pieces on payments we wrote this past year.

9. Wescom Powers P2P With PayPal

Our researcher/writer Erik Payne examined the PayPal-powered person-to-person offering at Wescom Credit Union ($2.5B, Pasadena, Calif.) and found that the familiar service was an effective option for adoption by members as a mobile offering. Now in place for three years, the app has been used to send money approximately 6,000 times so far this year. Not huge numbers for a credit union that size, but Wescom says it’s a good way to position its services for the future as more members expect to transact through that channel.

8. The Mighty Mobile Opportunity

Erik Payne also examined how three big credit unions — Kinecta ($3.5B, Manhattan Beach, CA), Workers’ ($1.1B Fitchburg, MA), and America First ($6.3B, Ogden, UT) — are using mobile wallets, loan applications, and location-based offers to expand the user experience in one small device. These devices have changed the way the public banks and have introduced a wider set of uses that are growing by the day. Here are three evolving capabilities that credit unions should consider right now — mobile payments, mobile loan applications, and location-based offers — as well as an exploration of their benefits for members and the cooperative.

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