Credit Union 24 Moves to a New Switch As It Looks to New Services

Credit Union 24, an electronic funds transfer network based in Tallahassee, Fla. and the country's largest controlled by credit unions, is planning to move its switching service to a new processor in a conversion it says will start next March and will take about nine months. The move will bring some 180 million transactions annually to Fifth Third Processing Solutions, bringing to an end the network's current relationship with Fiserv Inc. for switch processing. It will also give Credit Union 24, which links ATMs and point-of-sale terminals for more than 400 members, new scope for service enhancements, including new services it says it will begin rolling out next summer. “We looked at seven [switch] providers over the past two years, and it came down to [the fact that] this particular provider provided us with the best pricing and service options for our members,” says Jim Park, president and chief executive of the network. “And it gives us some options down the road that we'll announce the middle of next year.” Park refuses to discuss particulars of the deal, including the difference it might make in switch fees, nor will he give any indications of what the upcoming services may be. Kevin Gregoire, executive vice president at Fiserv EFT, the unit of the Milwaukee-based processor that handles debit card processing, says the notice his company received from Credit Union 24 did not indicate the reasoning behind the network's move. Although it is losing the credit union network's switching business, Fiserv will continue to drive ATMs and handle signature-debit programs for 60% of the network's members, Gregoire says. Credit Union 24's switch volume represents about 4% of the 4.8 billion annual transactions Fiserv EFT processes, he says. “To us, Credit Union 24 on its own was an important customer but not a material one,” he says.