BNY Mellon and MoCaFi Partner on Payments to Unbanked People

BNY Mellon and MoCaFi have partnered to ease payments to unbanked and underbanked people.

With this collaboration, banking giant BNY Mellon’s Treasury Services business will provide a digital disbursement payment service through the offering of MoCaFi, which is a FinTech platform for underserved communities, the companies said in a Thursday (June 8) press release.

This new service is designed to be used by federal, state and local governments and corporations looking to reach those who are unbanked or underbanked, according to the release.

“The inability to provide digital payments to a significant portion of the U.S. economy has been a major hurdle for both public and private sectors,” BNY Mellon CEO of Treasury Services Jennifer Barker said in the release. “Through our commitment to innovation, we met this challenge head on and are thrilled to join forces with a FinTech doing outstanding, tangible work in our communities.”

About 4.5% of U.S. households — or 5.9 million — are unbanked, lacking an account with a bank or credit union, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) reported in October 2022.

The new disbursement service will be offered through BNY Mellon’s Vaia platform and can be used for disaster relief financial aid, employee payroll and other payments and disbursements to individuals who don’t have access to financial services, according to the press release.

The individuals will also have access to basic banking services through MoCaFi’s platform, the release said.

“Access to modern banking services is one of the best approaches to making our economy more inclusive, and by working with BNY Mellon we are helping to provide opportunities to as many people as possible,” MoCaFi CEO and Founder Wole Coaxum said in the release. “Further, by joining the Vaia platform, we are creating a more seamless experience for corporations and municipalities from New York City to New Orleans and beyond to receive and distribute cash to a new pool of consumers.”

BNY Mellon debuted Vaia in October 2022, saying it is an aggregated payment platform that lets institutions in the U.S. meet a growing demand for faster digital disbursement payment options.

Vaia can reduce the time and resources required for businesses to link up with all available payment rails.