The $2.9 billion Mountain America Credit Union in West Jordan,Utah, is the first credit union to offer its members a new onlinepayment alternative involving NACHA, eWise and Jwaala.

The Secure Vault Payments solution allows users to make paymentsto online merchants and billers through secure, real-time ACHtransactions. It's being provided by online banking softwareprovider Jwaala of Austin, Texas, and eWise, a Denver-based paymentswitch operator.

The SVP network was launched last year by NACHA, the electronic paymentsassociation, and eWise as an alternative to PayPal and similarservices.

The service allows the user to select the payment option on amerchant's site, which then directs them to their online bankingsite to log in and make the payment.

The companies claim the integrated service is the only paymentoption of its kind that does not require consumers to provideconfidential information, which typically is stored at merchantsites.

The 359,000-member Mountain America is one of about 20 credit unions using the Jwaala online banking platform andhas been live since May, the company said. The payment option isbeing offered to the rest of the customers and a mobile version isbeing developed, Jwaala said.

NACHA said it now represents nearly 11,000 financialinstitutions through 18 regional payments associations and directmembership. eWise said it has operations in the United States,England, China and Australia and counts top 50 financialinstitutions as customers of its electronic payments solutions.