Independent Banker - January 2024 - 54

THE FUTURE: It appears BNPL's
popularity will continue to grow. In
fact, according to Straits Research,
the BNPL market size is projected
to reach $3.68 trillion by 2030, with
a CAGR of 45%. As retailers see a
potential increase in consumer sales
with BNPL, it's likely that we will see
the market flooded with additional
BNPL options in the years ahead.
sizes to connect to multiple payment
overlay services at a lower rate than
signing individual contracts with
separate payment service providers,
which is cost-prohibitive to some
smaller community banks.
CHUCK
WHAT IS IT? CHUCK is as an
open payments network created by
financial institutions for financial
institutions. The initial vision for
CHUCK was to develop an affordable,
viable solution for financial
institutions, especially smaller
community banks. It integrates
directly with a financial institution's
digital banking platform, providing
a seamless and enhanced customer
experience. Using a universal
connector for payments, CHUCK's
new enhancements will expand
community bank customers' choices,
making it easier for community banks
to offer overlay services.
" The universal connector is like a
train station, " explains John Schulte,
senior vice president and chief digital
banking officer for Mercantile Bank,
a $5.2 billion-asset community bank
" Customers can get [payments]
from so many places. It's
better that they get what they
need from the community bank
they know, love and trust. "
-BRAD M. BOLTON, COMMUNITY SPIRIT BANK
THE FUTURE:
Peter Davey,
venture partner,
Alloy Labs
Alliance, the
incubator for
CHUCK and
its member
banks, speaks
to the future:
" We are looking
at developing
new features
and capabilities
over the next
six months that
enable community banks to branch out
on new capabilities on the P2P journey. "
Business-to-business (B2B),
business-to-consumer (B2C)
transactions, and applications for
small- and medium-sized businesses
(SMB) will continue to be areas of
focus, and real-time opportunities in
the next year are possible, Davey says.
ABOVE ALL, LISTEN TO
CUSTOMER DEMAND
Read our 2022
article on
Chuck here:
bit.ly/IBchuck
in Grand Rapids, Mich. " Like a train
station, CHUCK connects different
rails and payment overlay services.
That could be PayPal, Venmo, Cash
App, Zelle or others. "
USE CASES: CHUCK's infrastructure
enables all community banks of all
54 // ICBA Independent Banker // January 2024
What does all this mean for community
banks? Simply, change and innovation
will continue to accelerate in the
payments space, shaping payment rails
and overlays for many years to come.
" It comes back to providing the tools
and technologies that customers not
only demand but expect at this point of
time, " says Brad M. Bolton, president
and CEO of $195 million-asset
Community Spirit Bank in Red Bay,
Ala., and immediate past chairman of
ICBA. " Customers can get it from so
many places. It's better that they get
what they need from the community
bank they know, love and trust. "
Mary J. Yerkes is a writer in
North Carolina.
http://bit.ly/IBchuck
Independent Banker - January 2024

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