Lloyds Bank launched PayMe, a payment transfer service developed in partnership with fintech Bottomline Technologies.

PayMe, which launched Tuesday, allows businesses to send payments when the beneficiary’s bank details are unknown, according to a Lloyds Bank release. Companies can send a secure link to the other party through SMS or QR code, and the other party then inputs their account information.

“The time and administration involved in sending ad hoc or one-time payments is a common issue for businesses across many sectors,” a Lloyds Bank spokesperson told Bank Automation News. “Current processes tend to be admin intensive, costly and can result in delayed settlement, which can create a disappointing experience for payees. That’s why we developed PayMe.”

The bank has worked with Bottomline Technologies in the past, and PayMe is “the latest outcome in our longstanding relationship,” the spokesperson said.

SouthState Bank taps Volante for RTP

SouthState Bank is working with payments fintech Volante Technologies to facilitate customers’ real-time payment needs.

The $43 billion SouthState Bank has been working on a central payments hub that allows for real-time payments, with integration underway and expected to run through 2024, SouthState Director of Capital Markets Chris Nichols told BAN.

The Winter Haven, Fla.-based bank is integrating with Volante via APIs, and the fintech will handle processes, including transaction flows, Nichols added.

“We’ve heard from our customer base that they did want instant payments,” he said. “We’re working on that, but [at] the same time our vision was to provide a banking service level across the board, starting with faster payments with RTP and [instant payment service network] FedNow in particular.”

Volante will also provide the bank with structured messaging, allowing customers to be notified when a payment is received by the recipient, a release from Volante said.

The bank is expecting to pilot the payments capabilities via the RTP and FedNow payment rails through the rest of 2023 before doing a full release starting next year, Nichols said.

“The bulk of our customers probably don’t know the clear advantage that RTP and FedNow allow,” he said. “Those are the ones that we’ll be launching more of a concerted educational and marketing effort on probably come mid-2023.”

Regions Bank selects Temenos Banking Cloud

Regions Bank selected Temenos Banking Cloud to update its legacy core system and improve the bank’s customer experience.

“Modernizing our core system supports our ongoing focus on innovation and delivering value to our customers through personalized offerings and intuitive, streamlined experiences,” John Turner, chief executive of Regions, said in a release.

The $155 billion bank will move to the cloud-native platform through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering, Philip Barnett, president of the Americas at Temenos, told BAN. “Unlike legacy core banking systems, the Temenos platform is cloud-native and can be delivered on-premise, in the cloud or as SaaS.”

To integrate the platform, Temenos will perform tests, listen to client feedback and implement workflows, Barnett said, noting that Temenos builds U.S. requirements into the framework of the core for faster integration.

Commonwealth CU looks to Shastic for IPA

Commonwealth Credit Union teamed up with intelligent process automation (IPA) platform provider Shastic to add efficiencies to its existing processes within consumer and indirect lending.

The tech provider and $2 billion, Kentucky-based credit union officially started working together in December, Joseariel Gomez, chief executive of Shastic, told BAN. The credit union was looking “to do a lot more with the resources they have.”

Shastic sits on top of a financial institution’s existing products and does not require an API connection, Gomez said. The IPA platform maps touch points in a bank’s loan process, and then that map is overlaid on the bank’s platform to be augmented with intelligent automation.

The credit union would like to improve its engagement in the loan process, Gomez said. Through Shastic, the credit union can deploy loan application recapturing. Institutions can lose 60% to 70% of people who do not complete a loan application after starting it.

Shastic, which has partnerships with Finastra, MeridianLink and Access Softek, configures workflows to track when someone has disengaged from a loan application. Then it uses automated text messages and other customer touch points to coax them to re-engage, Gomez said.

“We are able to bring back a little over 80% of the people that abandon,” Gomez said. “We help guide institutions through mapping their existing workflow and process.”