Dwolla offers FiSync platform to US Fed’s faster payments plan
Dwolla goes for it
US payments start-up Dwolla has submitted its FiSync platform as part of its faster payments proposal to the Federal Reserve-chartered Faster Payment Task Force.
The Fed-chartered initiative, comprised of over 500 Faster and Secure Payments Task Force members, has been tasked with representing, addressing, and assessing “improved” payments systems.
Dwolla is offering FiSync, a communication and interoperability protocol for banks and credit unions.
The company says FiSync “offers an alternative to the 40-year-old $40 trillion bank transfer system that can take up to four days to transfer funds”.
Since 2012, financial institutions (FIs) have enabled real-time transfers using FiSync. Dwolla says the system ensures availability of funds via a credit push model, executes real-time transfers in “seconds – not days”, and can be used on “nearly any device, platform, or use case”.
Dwolla says its FiSync platform also provides accounts for API access via FIs to enable payment system access; strong standards-based cryptography for message integrity; pre-authorisations; onboarding on first use; and fraud sharing.
Once more unto the breach
Recently, Dwolla was fined $100,000 by the US’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for its data security.
Issues included identifying “reasonably foreseeable” security risks; and ensuring employees who have access to or handle consumer information receive adequate training and guidance about security risks.
Banking Technology contacted Dwolla for their comments on this news story and the company responded quickly.
A Dwolla spokesperson said at the time: “The specific language of the consent order makes one claim of deceptiveness regarding past statements made by the company. The company has already apologized for any confusion that it may have caused.”
