St. Petersburg, FL, March 15 – PSCU Financial Services announced today that its PayLynx™ bill pay platform has reached the milestone of serving 1 million subscribers. This fully featured online bill payment platform provides convenience and mobility for credit union members, along with the cooperative’s renowned 24/7 Contact Center support. The popular program achieved 22% annual growth in subscribers and 20% jump in transactions for 2009. Twenty credit unions converted to the PayLynx platform in the last 12 months.

“This program is part of our consolidated eCommerce suite that is setting a new standard of growth for our cooperative and our member credit unions. It’s important to note that we work closely with credit union staffs to target members who are likely to be active users, which boosts our activation rate and drives continued revenue gains,” said David J. Serlo, President, PSCU Financial Services.

“As one of the early adopters of the cooperative’s online bill payment platform, we have seen continued growth in its adoption among our members. They appreciate the time savings it offers as well as the flexibility to schedule bill payments on or before the due date,” said Mike Schrader, Vice President-Marketing, SPIRE Federal Credit Union.

24/7 Contact Center, Marketing Expertise Deliver Advantages

In addition to its advanced functionality, the online bill payment platform owes some of its growth to the cooperative’s renowned 24/7 Contact Center support and one-on-one marketing support provided by PSCU Financial Services’ dedicated team of eCommerce account executives.

“Members like the platform’s functionality but access to professionals at PSCU Financial Services’ 24/7 Contact Center is equally important. Our members do their banking at nights and on weekends, so being able to get an immediate response to questions is essential,” said Susan Adams, CEO, Entrust Federal Credit Union.

“A big contributor to the growth of bill pay subscribers at our credit union is the marketing advice provided to our staff and ongoing turnkey campaigns that boost acceptance and utilization rates,” said Kevin Kavanaugh, Vice President of Marketing, Sioux Falls Federal Credit Union.

Fully Featured Platform Meets Member Needs

The PayLynx platform provides one central payment center to manage all bill payments and email notification with statement availability, summary information and a secure link to the bill payment site. Reminders notify subscribers when a bill needs to be scheduled or has been paid. The program also protects subscribers against unauthorized transactions or processing delays. Subscribers are reimbursed for any late payment-related charges, up to $50, if a payment arrives after its scheduled due date.

“This platform is both fully featured and user friendly and that’s a very attractive combination. It allows for next day payment processing, reminders and other helpful features that are important to our members,” said Susan Verbeck, Vice President of Lending, Community First Credit Union of Florida.

PayLynx also benefits credit unions since online bill payment subscribers maintain higher checking account balances and greater usage of loan products. The cooperative provides comprehensive marketing materials and helps credit union staff members coordinate a seamless migration from other bill payment platforms.

About PSCU Financial Services

Based in St. Petersburg, Florida, PSCU Financial Services is the nation's largest credit union service organization (CUSO) and serves more than 1,500 financial institutions nationwide. As a non-profit cooperative, the company is owned by more than 640 member credit unions representing over 14 million accounts and 1 million online bill payment subscribers. Its Contact Centers handle more than 17.4 million inquiries a year.

PSCU Financial Services offers 24/7 member support through four Contact Centers: its Eastern operations center in St. Petersburg, Fla.; a Western operations center based in Phoenix, Ariz.; and two call centers in Detroit, Mich. These Contact Centers perform member servicing and new member acquisition, cross-selling and automated lending solutions as well as support for debit/credit/prepaid cardholders and online bill payment subscribers.

Established in 1977, the company provides a broad array of cost-effective, high quality financial services that include credit, debit, ATM, prepaid, bill payment and contact center solutions. PSCU Financial Services uniquely offers its members a full range of processing options, any combination from full service to in-house pass through processing for credit, debit and ATM transactions. As a leader in the credit union movement, the company offers gateway access to national and regional networks. It also provides full function ATM terminal driving services. For more information, visit PSCU Financial Services’ website at www.pscufs.com.