Fiserv Teams Up With Central Payments to Deliver Banking-as-a-Service to Fintechs

Fiserv Inc. is partnering with Central Payments LLC, a provider of banking-as-a-service for fintechs and embedded-finance businesses, to enable fintechs to bring financial products and services to market faster.

Central Payments will leverage Fiserv’s real-time card-processing and -issuance capabilities to enhance its Open CP Fintech API Marketplace, a banking-as-a-service platform that includes embedded card-issuing capabilities, to deliver such financial services as debit cards, secure credit, stored value cards, and unsecured credit lines.

The partnership will also provide fintechs access to a network of sponsor banks to support a wide range of use cases for retailers and other businesses, the parties say. Fiserv financial institution clients pursuing a fintech partnership can also engage with Fiserv and Central Payments for program-management support, they add.

“This combination of technology, services, program management, and bank partners will help any business become a fintech without the need to add the staff or expertise to manage the program in-house,” Eric Cotton, executive vice president, general manager for Central Payments, says in a prepared statement. “Those that may want to manage their program in-house eventually can also use our services as a lower-risk model to get to market quickly with a proof-of-concept.”

As consumer demand grows to access money by digital means outside of traditional banking channels, fintech offerings have become more robust, according to the two companies. As a result, consumers are looking to fintechs and other non-bank providers to deliver financial services, such as debit and stored-value cards. Central Payments says its aim is to make financial services more accessible, especially to underbanked consumers, according to the company’s Website.

“As fintechs and financial institutions work together to create compelling financial offerings, speed to market, a robust and flexible tech stack, and streamlined operations are essential,” Sunil Sachdev, head of fintech and growth for Fiserv, says in a statement. “Together, Fiserv and Central Payments can deliver these requirements without compromising compliance and risk controls needed to safeguard all parties.”