Bridge Community Bank to Utilize Full Message Certification from OPN on the RTP® Network

Open Payment Network (OPN) announced today that Bridge Community Bank will leverage its full message certification on the RTP® network. The joint solution will enable Bridge Community Bank and its customers to take advantage of request for payment and real-time payment capabilities.

“Bridge Community Bank has been a strong advocate of faster payments since the beginning,” said Bob Steen, CEO of Bridge. “We can now use the messaging system OPN provides to initiate instant payments with the RTP network as the payment rail.”

As part of the OPN rollout for RTP messages, Bridge Community Bank’s core system will be integrated with full RTP message support, including Request for Payment (RFP), Response to Request for Payment (RFPR), Request for Information (RFI), and Response to Request for Information (RFIR).

“The solution that OPN and Bridge Community Bank have implemented is prime example of how financial institutions and leading service providers can offer instant payments to customers over the RTP network,” said Keith Gray, VP of Sales and Product Development at The Clearing House. “We anticipate more banks and their customers will continue to take advantage of request for payment and real-time payment capabilities of technology providers like OPN.”

Request for Payment messages are operated 24/7 and are designed to replace debit messages for next-generation, real-time payment networks. These messages can include details about the purpose of the request, including documents such as an invoice or a customer utility bill. After a request is sent, the customer receiving the request can review it and decide whether to authorize or decline the payment. When authorized, it provides the payee with an immediate, irrevocable payment, while the payer receives a confirmation that the payment has been completed.

“This Bridge Community Bank solution is another illustration of the power of a financial institution adopting instant payments,” said OPN CEO Bradley Wilkes. “We are eager to make the process for requesting payments easy and accessible to all Bridge customer who wish to use the new service.”

About Bridge Community Bank

Established in 1903, Bridge Community Bank is an employee-owned community bank serving customers and communities in East Central Iowa. In addition to offering standard banking services from deposit account, IRA, CDs, business products, commercial & personal loans, and mortgage loans, Bridge Community Bank is committed to providing the best that banking technology can offer. The bank’s mobile banking app and P2P payments offerings are now enhanced by real-time payments capability through the RTP network offered by The Clearing House. For more, visit https://bridge.bank.

About The Clearing House

The Clearing House operates U.S-based payments networks that clear and settle more than $2 trillion each day through wire, ACH, check image, and real-time payments. It is the nation’s most experienced payments company, with a long track record of providing secure and reliable systems, payments innovation, and strategic thought leadership to financial institutions. In 2017, The Clearing House revolutionized U.S. payments by introducing the RTP® network, which supports the immediate clearing and settlement of payments, along with the ability to exchange related payment information across the same secure channel. These RTP capabilities enable all financial institutions to offer safer, faster, and smarter digital transaction services for their corporate and retail customers. Learn more at www.theclearinghouse.org.

About Open Payment Network

Open Payment Network™ (OPN) helps financial institutions attract and retain more customers and stay ahead of the competition by enabling them to deliver instant payments anytime, anywhere. By connecting to OPN’s secure technology platform, financial institutions become the gateway for instant payments via Internet and mobile device. The OPN platform integrates with existing core systems and moves payment value and associated data in real time for immediate settlement. Financial institutions can provide access to the OPN API so business customers, fintech developers and internal teams can create applications such as instant mortgage payments, payroll processing, and peer-to-peer payments. Visit www.openpaymentnetwork.us.

About Open Payment Network

About the FedNow Service
The Federal Reserve Banks developed the FedNow Service to facilitate nationwide reach of instant payment services by financial institutions — regardless of size or geographic location — around the clock, every day of the year. Through financial institutions participating in the FedNow Service, businesses and individuals can send and receive instant payments at any time of day, and recipients have full access to funds immediately, giving them greater flexibility to manage their money and make time-sensitive payments. Access is provided through the Federal Reserve’s FedLine® network, which serves more than 10,000 financial institutions directly or through their agents. For more information, visit FedNowExplorer.org (Off-site).