Personalized advice, more automation, and “unmatched connectivity” are among the attractions of the new billpay service unveiled by Fiserv today. The new solution, CheckFree Next, enters a competitive billpay space with the backing of Fiserv’s extensive biller network, which includes direct connections with more than 600 billers. With nearly 4,0000 FIs currently using Fiserv’s electronic billpay technology – representing 29 million active billpay users – Fiserv expects its latest offering will provide customers with innovations in billpay not experienced with other solutions.

“Electronic bill payment has become an intrinsic part of many people’s daily lives, however, features that were once cutting edge are now status quo,” Fiserv Enterprise Payment Solutions division president Tom Allanson said. “Knowing that people have higher expectations that never before, we stepped back and challenged ourselves to make paying bills at a financial institution as easy and smart as the best digital experiences people have every day.”

CheckFree Next, which has already been piloted by a pair of “top 10 U.S. financial institutions,” automates a range of basic tasks, and leverages a new Bill Discovery feature that automatically identifies and connects customer billers to their accounts and then establishes the biller as a payee once a match is made. Both payment and data entry are automated to help save bill payers time and reduce the potential for manual errors, and customers can set up billpay reminders and alerts to help them keep better track of upcoming expenses and recent payments. CheckFree Next also features a Withdraw Now capability that gives bill payers control over exactly when a bill payment will be debited from their account.

Fiserv also announced upcoming features to the technology, including real-time money movement, to be added in 2020. This functionality will eventually enable bill payers to make real-time payments – via enhanced notifications – that are reflected instantly in their accounts. These and other features, such as Bill Discovery, will be made available as premium add-ons to Fiserv’s other CheckFree solutions such as CheckFree RXP and CheckFree Builder.

Fiserv demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2018, partnering with Samsung SDS to present its Commercial Center: Security digital banking experience. The company made a huge splash at the beginning of the year with news that it was merging with fellow Finovate alum First Data in a deal valued at $22 billion. Fiserv has been on a busy partner-making pace ever since. In October alone, the company has forged deals with North Carolina-based Uwharrie Bank, Portuguese bank NOVO BANCO, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada’s DUCA Financial Services Credit Union.

Founded in 1984, Fiserv is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The NASDAQ listed company (FISV) has a market capitalization of $70 billion. Jeff Yabuki is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

Toronto-based DUCA Financial Services Credit Union has selected Fiserv and its DNA core account processing platform with the aim to modernise its operations and improve overall agility and efficiency, reports Alex Hamiton of Fintech Futures (Finovate’s sister publication).

Doug Conick, president and CEO of DUCA, says the credit union’s approach has always been about “high touch” and “high tech.” “We needed an intelligent, agile core platform provider that will strengthen our ability serve members both now and in the future,” he added.

Founded in 1954 as Dutch Canadian Toronto Credit Union, DUCA operates 16 branches and employs more than 260 people. The credit union’s transition to the new core platform will be led by Canadian financial technology provider Celero.

“Our focus is on helping credit unions like DUCA gain the operational and relationship management advantages they need to accelerate their growth strategies,” said Simon Vincent, executive vice president for banking and omnichannel at Celero.

“Through our technology integration experience and relationships with organizations like Fiserv, we are helping drive credit unions’ digital transformation goals forward.”

Rob Palin, general manager for Canada at Fiserv, said that DNA is a system that can provide a “complete view” of member relationships: “Along with our partner, Celero, we are committed to helping DUCA meet its aggressive implementation timeline and growth initiatives.”

Fiserv demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2018. Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, the company merged with First Data earlier this year in a deal valued at $22 billion.