Fiserv launches P2P service

 

Fiserv Inc. today launched ZashPay, which enables users to send or receive person-to-person (P2P) payments from their online bank accounts.

"Sending money to other people just got a whole lot easier," said Eric Litch, senior vice president and general manager of consumer services for Fiserv, which is based in Brookfield, Wis. "Anyone with a bank account can use ZashPay to send money across the room or across the country."

Consumers can access ZashPay through the websites of participating financial institutions, Litch said. So far, more than 200 financial institutions have committed to ZashPay, he added.

  Two of the companies are San Diego County Credit Union and The Golden 1 Credit Union, which is based in Sacramento, Calif. "ZashPay is a convenient and easy-to-use person to person electronic-payment service," said Tum Vongsawad, interim president and CEO of the San Diego Credit Union.

Paul Sidhu, vice president of IT Development & Support at Golden 1, said ZashPay reduces members' needs to carry cash or mail checks. Fiserv suggests  financial institutions charge customers  50 cents to send money, but  banks and credit unions are free determine how much they want to charge members or accountholders, said Paul C. DiPerna, a ZashPay spokesperson.

If a consumer's financial institution does not offer ZashPay, he can logon onto ZashPay.com, a public website. He can use his existing bank account to send money. ZashPay.com charges clients 75 cents to send funds.

Fiserv, which processed 1.35 billion online bill payments for more than 3,100 financial institutions in 2009, will process ZashPay transactions.