CUNA Strategic Services has partnered with Seattle-based fintech Switch to bring instant card updating to credit unions across the country. The two firms have announced a market feasibility pilot involving Switch’s CardUpdatr app which updates merchant websites with credit union cards in real time to get new cards into circulation faster, boost transaction volumes, and increase customer loyalty.

An issuer-branded solution, CardUpdatr supports activation, reissuance, and card use promotion marketing programs. The app can be deployed and used without requiring the involvement of in-house development teams to make the card updating process easier and smoother for issuers and cardholders alike. The technology is powered by Switch’s CardSavr platform, a scalable, cloud-based solution that uses advanced autonomous broswer technology fueled by machine learning and AI-powered algorithms to place new or reissued cards on any online account.

“CSS recognizes that tech-sophisticated financial organizations who apply easily integrated solutions to directly address member experience problems are in a better position to win on member loyalty and long-term growth,” Switch co-founder and CEO Chris Hopen explained. He warned that because many cardholders do not update their online accounts when they receive newly-issued cards, issuers often do not see the ROI that they should. “Switch looks forward to witnessing the positive impact CardUpdatr will have on credit unions and their members.”

Switch issued its CardUpdatr app this spring. The app leverages the power of the company’s payment provisioning platform to keep cards-on-file updated where cardholders shop and make online payments. Cardholders simply enter their card and billing information, choose the websites of the online merchants where cards-on-file need to be updated, and provide login details for those selected sites. The updating process takes seconds and does not involve reading, pulling, or scraping personally identifiable information (PII).

“The CardUpdatr solution is uniquely positioned to propel credit unions to the frontline of innovation to increase cardholder satisfaction and differentiate themselves from other financial institutions,” CUNA Strategic Services (CSS) President Eric Gelly said. “(Switch) offers a powerful solution that is in complete alignment with our organization’s mission of helping credit unions improve their bottom line and enhance their relationships. CSS is thrilled to bring the breakthrough capabilities of the Switch technology to our credit unions.”

Founded in 2014, Switch demonstrated its technology at FinovateSpring 2016. The company picked up $2 million in funding late last year, bringing its total capital to more than $2.3 million.

Switch CEO Chris Hopen announced today that the company’s CardSavr API will leverage natural language processing to accelerate the process of managing cards on file and getting new and renewed cards provisioned with merchants. The technology will enable cardholders to use their voice to make commands to update autopay information, add a new card to an online account, and more.

“Switch has been preparing for the convergence of voice and fintech and brings an exclusive approach with our CardSavr API that can advance the evolution of voice technology and fintech,” Switch Co-Founder and CEO Chris Hopen explained. He pointed to the growing use of natural language technology to manage online payments and conduct other financial activities, and highlighted how easy it was for financial institutions to add these technologies to their solutions. “The CardSavr API can be implemented immediately into banking apps, website, and other financial technology platforms, without changing the inherent environment,” Hopen said.

Switch’s announcement came as part of a panel discussion on fintech and voice technologies at the VOICE Summit in New Jersey.

Tailor-made for a world in which the average consumer carries more than three credit cards and an ever-growing volume of commerce is taking place online via credit card, Switch’s CardSavr API empowers card issuers to get new and re-issued cards into circulation with online merchants immediately after activation. The API builds on the company’s previous success in providing solutions for consumers to make it easier for them to manage their credit card accounts.

“Switch offers the only automation platform that can power the entire virtual ecosystem with strategic, voice-first experiences that benefit consumers,” said Weber Marketing Group CEO Mark Weber. He added that the growth of voice payments is likely to “accelerate exponentially faster than mobile payments” and would contribute to both faster profit growth for companies and less friction for consumers.

Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Switch demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2016. Last month, the company, which has raised more than $1.9 million in funding, announced that its CardSavr API could be deployed to help card issuers transition to virtual cards.

Looking to make the leap from plastic cards to virtual cards? Switch and its CardSavr API are here to help.

“Until now, activating merchant-specific virtual cards required cardholders to laboriously create and update every merchant one-by-one,” Switch CEO Chris Hopen said. “Our CardSavr API automates and simplifies the entire user process and secures the card on file at the merchant with one step.”

Launched earlier this year, Switch’s CardSavr API is a first-of-its-kind technology that supports and enables an often-overlooked aspect of commerce: healthy credit card circulation. The CardSavr API helps card issuers get new and re-issued credit cards into circulation with thousands of ecommerce retailers soon after the cards are activated.

The application of the CardSavr API to the virtual card market is the latest evolution in use cases for the technology. From its origins as an innovative credit card updater, the company’s solution provides further assistance to card issuers looking to leverage the efficiency of virtual cards.

In the company’s press release, Switch said that its technology would help speed virtual card adoption and suggested that CardSavr “conquer(s) the elusive issue” of ensuring a seamless card creation and updating process for virtual cards in the same way it has for physical cards. The core technology behind CardSavr can also be used with reward, private label, and P2P payment schemes, creating what Hopen called “a healthy virtual payment ecosystem for everyone.”

Speaking for CULedger, a leading credit union project that is developing applications based on distributed ledger technology, CEO John Ainsworth praised Switch’s latest offering. “Switch has brought a very innovative technology solution that uniquely allows financial institutions and issuers to capitalize on virtual cards, while increasing security and convenience for our customers.” He added, “Switch continues to impress me with their disruptive and successful approach to vanquishing major foundational industry challenges that have never been solved.”

Switch demonstrated its credit card updating technology at FinovateSpring 2016. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Seattle, Washington, the company has raised $1.9 million in funding after picking up a $400,000 angel investment last spring.

Healthy credit card circulation is an underestimated aspect of what makes e-commerce work. In a world in which the average consumer carries more than three credit cards and a growing number of consumers are using those cards to shop online, it is critical that the infrastructure that delivers these cards works as seamlessly as possible – as well as for the benefit of all participants in the process.

This is what makes the new technology from Switch so compelling. The Seattle-based company unveiled Cardsavr today, the first API of its kind to give card issuers the ability to get new and re-issued cards into circulation with thousands of online merchants immediately after activation.

“Until Cardsavr, banks and merchants were held hostage by archaic credit card networks’ issuing and replacement processes and the inability alone to digitally help their cardholders manage online payments,” Switch CEO Chris Hopen explained. “This is the first time an API provides all card brands with direct control over a large source of potential and/or lost revenue.”

Switch made its name as a platform that enables consumers to easily manage their credit card accounts. With Cardsavr, the company is leveraging its core platform to help issuers and merchants increase or recapture revenues lost through the current, inefficient process.

“Our platform increases both their bottom line around credit card circulation issues and enhances cardholders’ online purchasing experiences. All parties of the e-commerce ecosystem benefit,” Hopen said. He added that Cardsavr API currently supports thousands of e-commerce sites and leverages machine learning to add more merchants daily. This enables faster card updates, Hopen explained, which was a feature merchant issuers especially liked because of the way getting cards into circulation drives outside spend, as well.

A standard REST API with support for basic CRUD (“create, read, update, and delete”) operations for cards on-file, the Cardsavr API makes it easy for card issuers to integrate Switch’s technology into their online and mobile banking apps. Mark Morrison, President and CEO of MountainCrest Credit Union and a member of the focus group that explored the Switch app, underscored this point in the statement accompanying the Cardsavr launch. “The Switch application is extremely easy to use and provides a much faster way to pay and shop at card-on-file sites,” Morrison said.

Founded in 2014 and with $1.6 million in funding, Switch demonstrated its platform at FinovateSpring 2016. The company anticipates naming a “significant list” of partners for its new Cardsavr API soon.