London Mutual Credit Union and Ecospend offer ‘pay-by-bank’ services

By Joy Dumasia

London Mutual Credit Union announced that it is partnering with Ecospend, the leading UK provider of Open Banking technology, to offer customers the ability to ‘pay-by-bank’ across its range of products. The new partnership is part of London Mutual’s ongoing digital transformation strategy, which is focussed on using new technology to enhance customer experience while retaining the ‘human touch’ that it says sets the credit union sector apart.

London Mutual’s members will be able to make direct bank transfers between the payer and the payee. This approach bypasses all card network fees, acquirer fees and issuer fees. As such, the credit union will be able to significantly reduce the cost of processing payments. It hopes to reinvest the money saved into services that directly benefit consumers.

The credit union has also expressed hopes that Ecospend will significantly reduce fraud risk and eliminate chargebacks, both of which are high costs to the credit union and its members. Ecospend includes a more secure payment process, with every transaction authorised by bank-level security.

As a result of the partnership, payment processing times will become instant, having previously taken three working days. By making the process more efficient, both the credit union and its members will better manage their cash flow, resulting in a frictionless customer experience.

James Hickman, COO, Ecospend, said: “Everyone at Ecospend is delighted to be partnering with London Mutual to help modernise its services and offer its members the chance to pay-by-bank. By using our account-to-account services, not only will London Mutual be able to offer customers a smoother and more efficient payments experience, but it will also see the credit union significantly reduce the cost of processing payments. This is particularly important, as every penny of profit generated by London Mutual is invested back into its customer base. As such, this partnership is an explicit example of how Ecospend’s technology can be used to democratise the payments landscape and bring real benefits to its users.”