A Kansas software firm, specializing in serving the 20 "bankers' banks" across the U.S. on settlement and payments, is enjoying a spurt in activity from the corporate credit unions "about ready to make a change."
That was a message from Eric Goering, CEO of Lending Tools.Com, a Wichita firm which says it is now branching out beyond providing correspondent services to wholesale banks to include corporate CUs.
"I think we've heard from maybe half of the corporates and I think by the first quarter I hope we can make some announcements," he said, maintaining the fallout and difficulties of U.S. Central have led the corporates to new servicers.
The corporates, both conserved and unconserved, are trying to come to terms with "life after U.S. Central" by moving toward "more independence and increased reliance on payments and settlement as the primary focus."
Goering explained that for the bankers' banks, Lending Tools currently serves as the U.S. Central counterpart or tier in the banking structure by upstreaming settlement, transactions and payments process directly to the Federal Reserve.
Since NCUA's Sept. 24 seizure of three corporates and new bridge rulemaking, "our phones have been ringing" from corporate prospects, Goering said.
Lending Tools has said its systems provide the communications, "technology backbone and interfaces for processing and settlement between community institutions and their correspondents for various private and public payment channels." And that has included "everything from ACH to wires to checks and even vault cash."
Goering acknowledged that the bankers' banks, whose clients include small community banks, have had their share of financial problems. One major collapse occurred last January when a Springfield, Ill., bankers' bank failed and was taken over in an FDIC-engineered purchase/assumption agreement by the Texas independent bankers' entity of Dallas. It ended up buying assets of the Independent Bankers Bridge Bank of Illinois.
"This is a new payments world for corporates and we hope to be part of it," Goering said.
