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U.S Eagle launches FedNow, Real-Time Payments for members
A U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union branch in Albuquerque. The local credit union recently won an award for family friendly policies.
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Maybe you’re a service worker in Albuquerque who wants to get paid immediately after completing a job.
Well, you’re in luck if you bank with U.S. Eagle Federal Credit Union.
The Albuquerque-based financial institution launched FedNow and Real-Time Payments, or RTP, services this month, allowing members to receive or send funds instantly, “24/7, 365 days a year,” said Vice President of Payments Darrell Russell.
Instant-payment services are “really big in the gig economy,” like Uber and Grubhub, where workers might do a shift and want their money immediately, Russell said.
“If you are doing these gig economy jobs and you need money that evening, you don’t want to wait two or three days for your deposit to hit; you may want it right now,” Russell said. "And because we’re now on this network, our members at U.S Eagle can benefit from that.”
RTP is a product from The Clearing House, a private sector banking association and payments company, and the FedNow service was created by the Federal Reserve. Both services launched in the past few years. The FedNow platform went live in July 2023.
RTP and FedNow services for U.S. Eagle members started on Nov. 13, and even though the credit union didn't announce the programs, there were about 30 to 50 transactions in the first week, Russell said.
“We’re already seeing activity, and I could tell you it’s much higher than what we were prepped for,” Russell said.
RTP and FedNow can also be used for insurance claims, he said. It allows members to receive money from, for example, a company like Progressive if they file a claim that reimburses them.
“They wouldn’t know that we do instant payments until they put their routing number (in), and that routing number identifies us and says, ‘Hey, they’re a member of our network. We could actually make this payment immediately if you’d like,’” Russell said.
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Russell said not all businesses and financial institutions use those services. In New Mexico, U.S. Eagle is the first of any New Mexico-based credit union to offer RTP and FedNow, he said.
“I know others that are wanting to join, but it was important to us to be kind of a trailblazer on this and get there first,” Russell said.
