United Bankers’ Bank, Bloomington, Minn., and North American Banking Company, a Twin Cities-area community bank, have received approval from the Federal Reserve to partner with Design Center Inc., a St. Paul, Minn.-based software development company, to form ExcheQ LLC, a joint venture to offer a white-label version of North American Banking Company’s ExcheQ person‐to‐person payment app. The deal provides the P2P app inroads to more than 2,000 community banks in UBB’s service territory, which extends from the Great Lakes to the Pacific Northwest.
“ExcheQ will use same‐day ACH payment‐processing, enabling community bank customers to quickly and securely send money to family, friends and coworkers,” said Michael Bilski, CEO of the $500 million North American Banking Company, based in Roseville, Minn. Bilski is a former member of the Federal Reserve’s Faster Payments Task Force charged with identifying and assessing alternative approaches for implementing safe, faster payment capabilities by 2020.
“UBB has been working with North American Banking Company and Design Center Inc. for the past several years to develop this product at a reasonable price to provide community banks a secure and affordable alternative to the larger P2P service providers,” said William Rosacker, UBB president and CEO. “UBB’s mission is to provide community banks with the resources and solutions they need to remain competitive in the markets they serve, and the addition of ExcheQ will be a great complement to our mix of products and services, one that will ultimately assist community banks in leveling the playing field with larger institutions.”
Banks that offer the ExcheQ app will receive access to professionally designed and customizable marketing materials along with technical support, according to a news release, which also indicated that representatives of ExcheQ would be exhibiting at the Independent Community Bankers of America’s national convention, ICBA Live, scheduled for March 18-22 in Nashville, Tenn.