Full commercialization of the new Secure Vault Payments network from NACHA has gotten under way, the organization said.
The network will use an online banking payments platform from eWise to connect participating credit unions, banks, payment gateway providers, billers and merchants through the ACH Network. End users access it through their financial institution's online banking service, which handles the authentication and confirmation of payment.
The SVP solution is being positioned as a competitor to operations that have taken away share of the traditional payments channel, such as PayPal, eBillMe and BillMeLater. NACHA said it will govern SVP by creating, maintaining and enforcing both NACHA Operating Rules and business rules specific to SVP. As the payment switch operator, eWise will handle sales, marketing and implementation, the company said.
"NACHA encourages ACH network innovation with solutions like SVP that bring value to all participants," said Janet O. Estep, president/CEO of NACHA in Herndon, Va. "We are pleased to have a strong pipeline of financial institutions and merchant participants who have decided to offer SVP and who will be enabled in the coming months," said Alex Grinberg, CEO of eWise in Denver.
The SVP network was piloted at a Georgia bank-holding company and at the University of Georgia. Several online merchants and a number of banks already have signed up as users and the credit union market is being targeted as well.
"SVP is a smarter electronic payment option that lowers our risk, allows us to receive money faster, and helps us keep costly and wasteful paper out of our system," said the Athens, Ga. school's bursar, Lisa McCleary.
NACHA said it now represents nearly 11,000 financial institutions through 18 regional payments associations and direct membership. eWise said it has operations in the United States, England, China and Australia.
