Bangor Savings Bank, a subsidiary of Bangor Bancorp, MHC, has been named the winner of the Celent Model Bank 2023 Award for Payments Innovation. By enabling programmable payments capabilities with Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, and PayWith, a Canada-based fintech, Bangor Savings Bank is expanding and simplifying how cardholders earn rewards and pay for everyday items, while driving more frequent card spend at local businesses.
In response to customer demand, Bangor Savings Bank implemented a programmable payments capability to enable cardholders to select multiple funding sources, including the bank’s Buoy Local® rewards program, for a single transaction. This eliminates the need for the customer to maintain a separate loyalty card or points wallet to manage rewards, as they can now simply use their debit card. Transactions can be fully or partially funded with Buoy Bucks, with the amount debited from the customer’s demand deposit account (DDA) and the value of the Buoy Bucks credited back to the account.
“Our goal was to deliver greater flexibility for Bangor Savings Bank debit cardholders to shop at local businesses that are part of the Buoy Local® program, by giving cardholders the ability to earn and then redeem rewards on subsequent purchases with their debit card,” said
Jamey Doughty, Chief Innovation Officer at Bangor Savings Bank. “The cardholder user experience with programmable payments provides a differentiated experience. We are proud to see the benefits this provides to our community members who continue to support the local businesses that power our economy.”
The customer experience starts with the registration of their Bangor Savings Bank debit card with Buoy Local® via the program app. The customer can scan and save their bank-issued debit card in the app, and also can elect how many points they would like to convert into Buoy Bucks.
“Programmable payments capabilities allow financial institution customers to configure how they want to pay, helping them maximize cash flow and incentives across a number of payment options while keeping the financial institution debit card top of wallet,” said
Sunil Sachdev, head of Fintech and Growth at Fiserv. “With these capabilities, Bangor Savings Bank is delivering an elevated payments experience for their customers while also furthering their support of local businesses through their Buoy Local® program.”
“This initiative is a great example of innovation through collaboration and demonstrates that innovation is not the exclusive domain of the largest banks,” said Zil Bareisis, Head of Retail Banking at Celent. “With a strong vision and the right partners, the bank has achieved breakthrough innovation and delivered a ‘win-win-win’ solution for its cardholders, business customers and the bank itself.”
Celent, a global research and advisory firm for the financial services industry, annually names Celent Model Banks to recognize best practices in technology usage critical to success in banking. Nominations are submitted by financial institutions and undergo a rigorous evaluation process by Celent analysts. Celent judges submissions on three core criteria: demonstrable business benefits of live initiatives; the degree of innovation relative to the industry; and the technology or implementation excellence.
In a world that is moving more quickly than ever before, Fiserv helps clients deliver solutions in step with the way people live and work today – financial services at the speed of life. Learn more at fiserv.com.
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