Cross River Bank is launching an encompassing payment platform called X-Pay alongside online payment company Pay.com to streamline several business payment functions. 

The $9.2 billion Ft. Lee, N.J.-based bank saw an opportunity to streamline processes through the X-Pay platform via Cross River’s core and suite of APIs, Keith Vander Leest, head of payments at Cross River Bank, told Bank Automation News.

The partnership has been in the works for “a year and a half,” according to Vander Leest, and the X-Pay platform has been available since March 22. 

Pay.com “was a good fit for us because they had a level of expertise in the acquiring space, and they had a level of technology through themselves,” Vander Leest said. “Then through their partnership with [payment processing fintech] Tabapay, that they were able to take our technology and marry that with their own tech stack.” 

Through the partnership, Cross River will help facilitate quicker card-not-present transactions using the bank’s rails for faster settlement, while also providing Pay.com access to the bank’s proprietary bank core and card processing capabilities, Vander Leest added. 

“Our customer types, given they’re all fintechs, aren’t needing card-present transactions,” he said. “That is not part of our strategy to support card-present processing, and that was where Pay.com was focused in the e-commerce space.” 

TD launches accessibility tool for retail colleagues

TD Bank is launching an accessibility tool for retail colleagues working with the financial institution. 

The tool was developed by TD Lab, an innovation group at the $1.4 trillion, Toronto-based bank and is being piloted by its retail employees before rolling out to clients, Samantha Estoesta, project manager of social innovation specialization, at TD Bank, told Bank Automation News.  

“Last summer, we really started to deep dive into what we can do to remove barriers of access for persons with disabilities,” she said. “This is a browser-based extension that we built to give the autonomy back to our colleagues so that they can have these accommodations and create experiences that are tailored to their own accessibility and preference needs.” 

Examples of the accessibility tool range from bionic reading that allows employees to parse large blocks of data at a quicker rate to adjustments of saturation levels meant for those with visual disabilities, Estoesta added. 

Using this suite of capabilities, TD Bank employees can customize their online viewing experience and set preferences within the browser plugin, a bank release said. 

“If I show up on day one and I see that there is this extension, and I can actually make those preferences to myself on day one, I’m more likely to feel comfortable to ask for additional accommodations,” Estoesta said. “It also then allows for productivity increases because instead of going through the accommodation process to get some of these tools, they’re going to be available on day one.” 

U.S. Bank, Kyriba enhance real-time payments

U.S. Bank is working with cloud-based finance platform Kyriba to simplify real-time payments for customers through new API-powered payment connectors. 

Account holders with the $591 billion, Minneapolis-based bank can now send payments to customers, vendors and employees from their accounts within their existing Kyriba dashboard, a bank release said. 

“This is one of many ways we are bringing embedded payments to the market,” Anu Somani, head of global payables and embedded payments at U.S. Bank, said in the release. “With real-time APIs, we’re meeting our customers where they are, easily embedding our payment solutions directly into their existing systems.” 

The new capability also allows for increased visibility into account balances and transaction reporting, with bank customers also able to send payments via Zelle with additional payment types coming, the release stated. 

AU10TIX, Microsoft team on biometric identification solution

Identity verification company AU10TIX announced it is collaborating with tech giant Microsoft on verifiable credentials architecture for identity management. 

The identity verification product, called Reusable ID, will allow for a multiple-use, biometric solution for third-party activities such as opening accounts and paying taxes. The solution is powered by Microsoft’s Entra Verified ID, a decentralized identity software, a release from AU10TIX stated. 

“Compliance costs, privacy concerns, data liability and rising synthetic fraud show that traditional identity management has been a struggle for individuals and organizations,” Dan Yerushalmi, chief executive at AU10TIX, said in the release. “Now, verifiable credentials are providing businesses and individuals with peace of mind regarding who holds and controls the keys of their personal data.” 

Additionally, the Reusable ID system will help mitigate synthetic fraud by using biometric technology to strengthen security controls around sensitive data, the release said. 

AU10TIX joins JPMorgan in the biometrics space as the $3.3 trillion bank announced a pilot program for biometric-based payments last week.  

Marqeta, WorkWhile launch new card solution

Card-issuing platform Marqeta teamed up with labor technology platform WorkWhile to provide accelerated wage access through a debit card for WorkWhile’s employees this year. 

Marqeta’s platform will also allow for tokenization of workers’ cards and will handle Know Your Customer onboarding and card disputes, according to a release from the companies. 

The agreement allows hourly employees in 17 states to have near real-time wage access when the employees’ shift hours are approved, the release said. 

Perception Point, Cloudinary collaborate on file-sharing security

Threat detection platform Perception Point is working with media experience solution Cloudinary to allow for more secure file-sharing capabilities. 

File-sharing platforms are increasingly popular targets for malicious groups, with Perception Point’s Malware Detection add-on serving as an additional layer of security for the transfer of sensitive documents, a release from the companies said. 

“The solution prevents, detects and remediates increasingly prevalent threats and evasion techniques, at the accuracy and speed that our customers require, without tampering with the files that are ingested by our platform,” Gary Ballabio, vice president of technology partnerships at Cloudinary, said in the release. 

A layer of detection can unpack zipped files, URLs or embedded files0 and scan them for malicious data in an average of 10 seconds, the release said. 

Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected to clarify that Cross River Bank is using Tabapay for its X-Pay platform. An earlier version stated the incorrect fintech and platform names. It is the policy of Bank Automation News to correct erroneous information.