A coalition of more than 75 Canadian credit unions wants to “future proof” its organizations through IBM. The coalition, Prairie Payments Joint Venture (PPJV), recently announced an agreement with IBM to modernize its payment structure. 

“It’s not necessarily what the platform does or the payment type. It’s helping us get ready for a future that is taking place elsewhere, but not quite in Canada yet,” said Michael Devlin, CEO of PPJV. The joint venture between the Credit Union Centrals of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, which represents more than CA$84 billion ($60 billion) in assets between all of its member organizations, was formed in January. “It helps us stay relevant. Predicting technology is beyond my pay grade.” 

Devlin said the agreement with IBM isn’t so much about gaining any specific payment functions, but rather ensuring the coalition has access to IBM’s cloud technology as new functions come to market. With real-time payment rails and upgrades to Interac, Canada’s interbank debit provider, IBM can keep PPJV ahead of the curve, he said. 

Although Devlin couldn’t disclose the terms of the partnership, he said the agreement is worth more than CA$100 million ($72 million), more than most institutions spend to set up their own payments infrastructures, so the partnership will save PPJV members money. According to IBM, the PPJV members will be onboarded in the fall. Devlin said the PPJV is looking to expand the coalition and bring in credit unions from other Canadian provinces in the future. 

IBM owns a real-time rail demo platform that will benefit members, Devlin said. IBM also offers real-time fraud detection and allows for the integration of third-party fintechs. By testing real-time payments through IBM, PPJV can develop processes for real-time settlements, treasury and customer notifications. Devlin said the partnership with IBM also helps PPJV’s members gain access to global market knowledge as well as the insight provided by IBM’s work with a variety of institutions.  

See also: Luge Capital’s Gillani: Canada is becoming a test market for fintech founders

PPJV is the latest in a string of partnerships IBM has made with financial institutions recently. Just last month, the company helped TSB Bank in the U.K. launch a virtual assistant in five days. In September, IBM launched an innovation lab with Bank of China to help the bank fight competition from super-apps. In February 2019, IBM inked a partnership with Banco Santander worth $700 million. 

According to Devlin, the partnership will help automate credit union processes. “It lets me auto-pilot my back-end plumbing strategy,” he said. “You never outsource risk and opportunity, but you can certainly outsource the system. They’re giving us the system as a service that’s quite innovative.”