Mobile Money enables users to transfer funds between accounts, check balances, pay bills and receive alerts, such as payment notifications and account balance transfer alerts, on any mobile device.

MSEFCU members can access Mobile Money by using SMS (text messaging) or through a mobile browser, and a downloaded application for the Apple(r) iPhone(TM) is also planned. Members can sign up for Mobile Money through the CU@home Internet banking service at www.mercedschoolcu.org, or by visiting a credit union branch.

MSEFCU serves a diverse member base, which includes school employees and high school students in Merced and Mariposa counties, as well as employees and students at the University of California, Merced and Merced College. The credit union launched mobile banking to appeal to students, yet initial feedback indicates that the service is being adopted by a broad range of members.

"Increasingly, people want to bank on the run, and that means being able to access their accounts from a mobile device," said Nancy Deavours, chief executive officer, Merced School Employees Federal Credit Union. "We decided to offer Mobile Money to better serve the needs of our Gen Y members, and have been pleasantly surprised with other member segments expressing interest in the service as well."

"In many cases, credit unions have pockets of high demand for mobile financial services within their member base, and that is certainly true for MSEFCU," said Dave Selina, segment executive for Credit Union Solutions at Fiserv. "Their member base includes students and employees of a research university, as well as local high school students, groups that tend to have a keen interest in using new technologies. That makes mobile financial services a good fit for the credit union."

A longtime Fiserv client, using the Portico(TM) account processing platform, MSEFCU went live with Mobile Money in November 2009. In addition to Mobile Money and Portico, MSEFCU utilizes Virtual Branch(r) Internet banking and bill pay services, ATM processing and ATM and debit card production services, as well as a host of other Fiserv solutions.

MSEFCU is among the first credit unions to offer the Mobile Money service, and is using the cost-effective, hosted ASP version. Also available in a licensed version, Mobile Money from Fiserv is a secure application that utilizes security best practices such as data encryption, along with additional risk management safeguards.