Alliant Credit Union is investing in digital capabilities, including an effort to launch real-time payments next year. 

The Chicago-based credit union will join 351 banks and credit unions that are already RTP-enabled, up 32% year over year from 265 in July 2022, according to The Clearing House website.  

Of the 351 RTP-enabled financial institutions, 82 are credit unions, including $13 billion Bethpage Federal Credit Union, $119 million Medina County Federal Credit Union and $7.6 billion Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. 

“It’s on our 2024 roadmap to get RTP-enabled,” Anil Chaudary, chief technology officer at Alliant Credit Union said last week at Jack Henry Connect in Indianapolis.

The $19 billion credit union’s members are requesting real-time payments capability and right now “we’re not there in terms of delivering the best-in-class experience,” Chaudary said.  

In fact, at the credit union, payments can take up to 48 hours, which is why the focus on money movement is “front and center,” he said.  

Alliant plans to move to the wire on the Jack Henry platform, Chaudary said. The credit union’s current core processor is Jack Henry’s Symitar, according to data an analytics platform FI Navigator. 

Digital investment 

As the credit union prioritizes digital money movement, it is also focused on other areas of digitization based on member needs, Chaudary said. 

The credit union works to “fix the basics so that we don’t disappoint our members,” he said. 

That’s where the credit union needs to recognize client non-negotiables, including digital card issuance and mobile app functionality, and deliver them — with payments capabilities now at the forefront of that effort, he added.