TMG and CO-OP Updates On Mercator Blockchain

Testing underway on strategic decision framework for helping community financial institutions evaluate blockchain opportunities

DES MOINES, Iowa and RANCHO CUCAMONGA, California (June 21, 2016) – Three influential payments industry players – TMG, CO-OP Financial Services and Mercator Advisory Group – are making progress on their collective plan to create much-needed clarity around the potential for blockchain technology in the community financial institution industry.

Together, the companies have developed and begun testing a strategic decision framework for blockchain – something the companies have found does not exist today. The tool eventually will serve as an evaluation template for financial institutions exploring use cases for the emerging digital ledger technology.

“The goal is to create a simple matrix capable of helping financial institution leaders evaluate a wide range of business problems and blockchain platforms,” said TMG CEO Shazia Manus. “We are currently testing the decision framework, using it to evaluate three specific business problems against two specific blockchain platforms.”

Stan Hollen, President/CEO of CO-OP, added “As the first of our joint initiatives around blockchain clarity, this decision framework addresses what must come first – providing guidance on how to identify business problems that the technology can indeed address. We look forward to continuing to make important blockchain resources available to credit unions through this partnership.”

Mercator Vice President of Payments Innovation Tim Sloane explained:

“Identifying business problems that may benefit from blockchain technology requires three steps. First, the problem must be defined in terms specific to how it might operate on the blockchain. Second, the current value chain must be examined to see if blockchain deployment is likely to be accepted by existing business partners. Third, the scope must be expanded to include relevant risk and regulatory considerations.”

According to Sloane, the strategic decision framework will encourage the development of a process that resembles the acquisition of a database or software development service. “Our expectation is that this model will help both technology suppliers and technology buyers by speeding up the acquisition process,” he said.

A blockchain is a distributed database that maintains a continuously growing list of transaction records hardened against tampering and revision. It includes two types of records, transactions and blocks. Transactions include the actual data stored in the blockchain, and blocks confirm exactly when and in what sequence transactions have occurred.

About CO-OP Financial Services

CO-OP Financial Services is a financial technology company that supports 3,500 credit unions and 60 million members by providing a cutting-edge suite of customizable tools and services. The company was the first in its industry to merge purpose, innovation and technology to help credit unions advance the industry mission of people helping people. To learn more visit www.co-opfs.org.

About TMG

TMG is dedicated to creating customized, technology-driven card processing and payment solutions for credit unions and community-based financial institutions across North America. Innovations in fraud management, loyalty programs, alternative payment systems and analytic reporting, and the competitive advantages they create, have helped TMG forge a new standard in offering cutting-edge credit, debit, ATM, prepaid card products and a P2P payment solution. For more information, visit www.tmg.global.

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