Digital Payments Guardian from Prairie Cloudware is now live at a multibillion-dollar regional bank. The digital vault technology facilitates tap-and-pay transactions, tokenizing credit and debit card numbers that are secured in a branded mobile wallet.

“The future of payments is now, and consumers shouldn’t have to wait any longer to gain access to a convenient, secure and preferred mobile-payments experience provided by their bank or credit union,” says Doug Parr, Prairie Cloudware’s chief revenue officer. “While other organizations have recently announced their plans to build and launch bank-branded mobile wallets, Guardian is already live and successfully functioning.” The company emphasized the point by having its CTO Brent Adkisson conduct the first tap-and-pay transaction using his smartphone and tokenized Visa credit card to buy a candy bar at a convenience store.

CRO Doug Parr demonstrated Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose

The technology gives banking customers the ability to digitally store and manage credit and debit card accounts. The digital vault uses tokenization and NFC tap and pay Android HCE to provide customers with a payment solution that is safe and convenient. “The largest financial institutions in the U.S. are taking control of the mobile relationships they have with customers by issuing their own mobile wallets,” Parr said. Digital Payments Guardian supports this by playing a role in a customer’s everyday transactions, growing the number of “touch points” between financial institutions and their customers.

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Prairie Cloudware demonstrated Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015. In January, the company announced that $3.2 billion Union Bank & Trust would use Digital Payments Guardian to power its digital wallet. And last December, Silicon Prairie News interviewed company CSO Daniel Carnes on the future of cybersecurity. Prairie Cloudware has raised more than $5 million in funding—its most recent investment in the summer of 2015—and includes Croghan Investments and Treetop Ventures among its investors.

Union Bank & Trust (UBT), a $3.2 billion dollar bank, has chosen Digital Payments Guardian from fellow Nebraskan Prairie Cloudware to power UBT’s branded mobile wallet.

Alan Fosler, SVP at UBT, explained that using Digital Payments Guardian from Prairie Cloudware “will facilitate tokenization of payment and personal data” for customers using their debit cards via Android devices.

“As digital devices increasingly become the tool of choice for simplifying the complexities of life, we want to give our customers an easier, safer way to pay,” Fosler said.

From left: Chief Revenue Officer Doug Parr and Chief Marketing Officer Mike Carter demonstrated Prairie Cloudware’s Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015.

Prairie Cloudware’s Chief Revenue Officer Doug Parr pointed to two factors that make his company’s technology a strong choice for FIs. First, Parr noted that “consumers have repeatedly indicated that they prefer to consume mobile payments via the existing relationships they have with their banks.” And second, the technology that delivers mobile payments cannot be a burden to either the user or the bank offering it. “Our Digital Payments Guardian allows regional organizations to deploy mobile payment services without needing a staff of thousands and an eight-figure technology budget,” Parr said.

UBT is not the only company that has adopted the technology in recent months. INTECH announced in October that it was licensing Digital Payments Guardian to provide to its credit union clients. In June, Prairie Cloudware announced a new round of funding.

Union Bank & Trust was founded in 1917 as the Farmer’s State Bank, changed its name to Union Bank in 1935, and added trust powers in 1959, becoming Union Bank & Trust Company. UBT is the third-largest, privately owned bank in Nebraska with assets of $3.2 billion.

Founded in December 2012 and headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. Prairie Cloudware demonstrated its Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015.

Omaha, Nebraska’s Prairie Cloudware has raised an undisclosed sum in its latest round of funding. Participants in the round included the company’s founders, as well as “existing local angel investors.”

Prairie Cloudware said the new capital, which takes the company’s total to $5 million, will help it launch an “early version” of its Digital Payments Guardian technology later this year. Digital Payments Guardian was demonstrated at Prairie Cloudware’s Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose.

“Apple and Google have created significant momentum around mobile payments,” said William Fisher, Prairie Cloudware chairman and CEO. “But ultimately, payments are the domain of banks and credit unions.”

Prairie Cloudware Chief Revenue Officer Doug Parr and Chief Marketing Officer Michael Carter demonstrated Digital Payments Guardian at FinovateSpring 2015.

And as these banks and credit unions begin launching their own mobile wallets and payment services, Prairie Cloudware will be there. “Our plan is to enable financial institutions to provide secure digital payments no matter what device or mobile wallet the consumer selects,” Fisher said.

Digital Payments Guardian is a cloud-based gateway that enables banks and credit unions to provide digital payment services to their customers over a variety of channels using the FI’s current digital payments infrastructure. The solution helps reduce fraud by validating identity during transactions and using tokenization to protect payment data.

This last point was underscored by attendees at Prairie Cloudware’s debut at FinovateSpring 2015 in San Jose last month, with one person tweeting “open tokenized payments for banks to be a part of the wallet wars.” Others highlighted the platform’s ability to create customized offers, give customers potentially greater control over their digital payments, and enable banks to offer digital wallets that provide real value and convenience.

Prairie Cloudware was founded in December 2012.