Payfinia Launches CUSO with Star One Credit Union

Keith Riddle

Payfinia, Inc. today launched the Payfinia Credit Union Service Organization (CUSO) to support payments modernization solutions and embedded fraud controls through an open payments platform for credit unions and industry partners.

Payfinia originated in 2023 when digital banking provider Tyfone and its longtime customer Star One Credit Union (Star One, Sunnyvale, Calif., $9.9 billion, 126,000 members) collaborated to build Instant Payment Xchange™ (IPX). IPX is an open, payments-as-a-service (PaaS) framework certified to send and receive instant payments on the FedNow Service.

To support its mission, Star One invested $4.5 million to help form the CUSO and drive the product roadmap. The credit union sent a series of $500,000 FedNow instant payment transactions to Payfinia’s business account at U.S. Bank via IPX’s direct integration with Tyfone’s nFinia™ Digital Banking Platform, settling each transaction in less than five seconds. During the instant payment message exchange between the nFinia platform and IPX, Payfinia instituted unique user controls to permit higher transaction limits, validating a critical capability of the IPX platform to manage dynamic user settings within the embedded fraud control services.

“Star One is proud to support Payfinia and its vision of making instant payments accessible to all account holders in the U.S.,” said Gary Rodrigues, CEO of Star One. “The IPX solution empowers our members to take control of their cash flow. So far, the IPX solution has displaced 25% of same-day ACH transactions, with 53% fewer fraud losses compared to same-day ACH and an 83% reduction in operational overhead for P2P payment networks.”

According to Payfinia’s data, demand for low-friction, account-to-account transfers continues to grow, representing the bulk of instant payments processed through the networks. “Early adopters of Payfinia’s IPX platform are experiencing similar results, processing transactions faster, lowering fraud exposure, and generating operational efficiencies across their organizations,” said Nizar Jamal, COO and CTO of Payfinia.

Keith Riddle, General Manager for the Payfinia CUSO, said, “Limited resources, legacy systems, fraud mitigation and costs to implement new payment services are primary challenges that hinder community-based institutions from adopting instant payment capabilities. Payfinia is building an ecosystem that overcomes these limitations, enabling an open-provider approach that meets the diverse needs of community financial institutions. The IPX platform provides institutions with scalable, effective and affordable payment solutions.”

Payfinia believes a central bank-run instant payments system is essential for broad accessibility. Payfinia is also partnering with a range of firms to embed instant payment capabilities within their digital experiences and accelerate use cases for consumers and businesses, including core processors, third-party digital platform providers, and fintechs. For enhanced resilience and to broaden options for our partners, Payfinia will integrate IPX platform capabilities with The Clearing House RTP® network in early 2025.

To join the instant payments revolution, email [email protected] or visit payfinia.com.

---