Ready for a credit union-centric digital wallet? Fifteencredit unions now have banded together to support a startup CUWallet that aims to create a digital wallet where credit unioninterests are paramount.

Also involved are CU Wallet's CEO Paul Fiore and Kirk Drake, CEO of Hagerstown, Md., CUSO Ongoing Operations.

At a press conference Monday at the annual CUNA TechnologyCouncil conference, Paul Parrish,chief financial officer for the $697 million One Nevada CreditUnion in Las Vegas, indicated that credit unions are facing steadyerosion in interchange income and they also confront a growingarray of non-bank players who are nibbling away at theirtraditional businesses.

A way to confront both issues, while also reaching out to ayounger potential member base, suggested Parrish, is for creditunions to offer their own digital wallet.

Fiore also indicated that his plan is to create a CU WalletCUSO, where the offering will be owned by credit unions.

As for when CU Wallet might go live with digital wallettransaction tools, Fiore pointed to Q1 2014 as the target date.

He explained that CU Wallet does not intend to create its ownwallet tools, but rather will seek to use proven tools that alreadyare on the market and are available for use by third parties in a“white label,” non-branded fashion.

That strategy, he suggested, will let CU Wallet get to marketcomparatively fast.

Among the credit unions that have involved themselves in CUWallet are Quorum CU in Purchase, N.Y.; Affinity FCU in BaskingRidge, N.J.; One Nevada CU in Las Vegas; Workers' CU inFitchburg, Mass.; Arizona State CU in Phoenix; University FCUin Austin, Texas; Kinecta FCU in Manhattan Beach, Calif.;Washington State ECU in Olympia, Wash.; Northwest FCU in Herndon,Va.; CommunityAmerica CU in Lenexa, Kan.; DFCU Financial inDearborn, Mich.; City & County CU in St. Paul, Minn. ;TwinStarFCU in Olympia, Wash.; and Digital FCU in Marlborough, Mass.