First Northern Joins Alloy Labs to Launch Open Payments Network CHUCK

California’s First Northern Bank is joining the community and midsize banking consortium Alloy Labs Alliance to help the association advance its mission to drive technical creativity and vision for local banking, according to a Monday (Dec. 27) press release.

Alloy Labs Alliance has already partnered with Payrailz to create the open payments network, CHUCK, which will open a host of options community banks can offer their customers. With the ability to handle numerous technology partners and various types of transactions, customers will be able to do things like send money to other people at different banks.

See also: CHUCK Takes on Zelle With Alloy Labs, Payrailz Partnership

“Being a part of Alloy Labs Alliance has been a game-changer for First Northern Bank. CHUCK is an innovative approach to peer-to-peer (P2P) payments and allows community banks to strongly compete within the digital payments space,” Louise Walker, president and CEO of First Northern Bank, said.

“First Northern Bank looks forward to its launch of CHUCK in the first quarter of 2022. The members of Alloy Labs Alliance are committed to dispelling the myth that community banks can’t be cutting edge,” Walker said.

Read more: Federal Agencies Issue FinTech Guidance For Community Banks

Walker added that the open-payments network is just the beginning and that Alloy Labs Alliance will be introducing more innovations that will “give community banks a solid leg up in the digital environment.”

An independent community bank, First Northern Bank specializes in relationship banking and has been headquartered in Solano County since 1910. The bank serves Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, Placer and Contra Costa counties, as well as the west slope of El Dorado county.

Alloy member banks include American State Bank, Sioux Center, Iowa; First Northern Bank, Dixon, California; First Financial Bank, Cincinnati; Citizens & Northern Bank, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania; Chesapeake Bank, Kilmarnock, Virginia; Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan; South State Bank, Winter Haven, Florida; Capital City Bank, Tallahassee, Florida; Reading Co-Operative Bank, Reading, Massachusetts; and Savers Co-Operative Bank, Southbridge, Massachusetts.