Operator Creates Marketing Council To Build Awareness of Secure Vault Payments

The operator of the Secure Vault Payments network for online automated clearing house payments said it is creating a marketing council to promote awareness and usage of the new payment system. The council has the endorsement of ACH governing body NACHA, said Denver-based SVP operator eWise Systems USA Inc.

Dean Seifert, senior vice president of sales at Denver-based eWise, tells Digital Transactions News that he expects the Secure Vault Payments Marketing Advisory Council’s executive steering committee of about 20 members to be in place by mid-April. That panel will consist of representatives from eWise, NACHA, and other key stakeholders in SVP, including gateways, merchants, and financial institutions. The largest bank committed to SVP so far, Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp will be represented, according to Seifert. A second tier of so-called community representatives will consist of members from sectors that accept SVP, including higher education, online retailers, non-profits, billers, and others.

The council has been under discussion for more than a year, according to Seifert, and is part of the long-term effort to develop and promote SVP. That effort also includes a rules committee on the NACHA side. “Ideally our objective here is to make Secure Vault Payments a household brand,” he says.

As the operator of SVP’s switch, eWise itself does not have full control over the payment system’s marketing and branding. NACHA also will play a part, but much of the marketing behind SVP will originate with U.S. Bank, Synovus Financial Corp., and other present and future financial institutions that offer the system to their customers. Merchants, too, will be important players because they’ll decide whether or not to accept SVP. A key function of the Marketing Advisory Council will be to coordinate marketing efforts among members and share information, according to Seifert.

EWise recently signed a $7 billion regional bank and two processors that will support the system. Last month, U.S. Bank announced that FamilySearch International, a non-profit genealogy service of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, would accept SVP for donations in a pilot program involving the FamilySearch.org site. Another new acceptor is Columbus Water Works in Columbus, Ga. “I think we’re actually pretty much on target as to where we expected,” says Seifert of SVP’s commercial roll-out. He adds that U.S. Bank’s adoption of SVP has spurred inquires from regional banks and credit unions.

With SVP, consumers at checkout are directed to their online-banking program. When they log in, they find a page summarizing their transaction. Once they authorize payment, they return to the merchant’s page, the ACH transmits payment from the consumer’s account to the merchant’s account, and the merchant is notified that it can ship merchandise.

EWise is soliciting nominations to the volunteer SVP Marketing Advisory Council, which will have two co-chairpersons. Members will serve one-year terms, with the first year’s directors vetted by eWise. Click here for a nomination form from eWise's Web site.