Set up the program.
Agree on a program fee per qualifying recurring bill. No upfront fee is intended. Union scopes integration with existing property or care-management software; no new app is intended. Both are subject to agreement and feasibility.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
A credit union issues your branded debit card to eligible customers. Everyday use brings basic cash back to the customer; qualifying recurring bills can create a reward for their offspring.
FROM PARTNERSHIP TO PAYMENT
Four steps bring the merchant, the credit union and the customer together around a recurring bill.
Agree on a program fee per qualifying recurring bill. No upfront fee is intended. Union scopes integration with existing property or care-management software; no new app is intended. Both are subject to agreement and feasibility.
Offer it at intake or billing. Eligible customers join the credit union and open an account and merchant-branded debit card, subject to the credit union’s requirements and approval.
Customers earn basic cash back on eligible everyday purchases. In each monthly billing cycle, 5 card purchases or $250 in card spending—whichever comes first—unlocks the enhanced bill reward. The recurring-bill payment itself may count toward that threshold. A qualifying recurring bill targets a 5% reward, deposited by the credit union into the offspring-owned account.
Union intends to invoice program fees monthly and report participation and retention, subject to agreed data access. Compare retention of card users and nonusers as a useful measure, not proof that the card caused any difference.
The enhanced 5% bill reward is a design target, subject to final issuer terms and approvals. Rollout, invoicing and short-notice cancellation are intended terms subject to scoping and agreement.
MERCHANT ECONOMICS
The merchant pays normal card processing costs plus a separate program fee on qualifying recurring bills—not everyday purchases or ACH.
A 5% program fee would fund a 5% bill reward on a reward-only basis, before issuer contributions, everyday-spend funding, operating costs or margin. It is an illustration, not a final commercial quote; the agreed fee could differ.
For context, a supplied interchange assumption of 1.65% + $0.15 is illustrative only, not a universal rate or all-in processing quote. Processor and network charges may be additional.
Discuss your partnershipGOOD QUESTIONS
Details to help you evaluate a branded debit program for your community.
A qualifying debit payment carries the merchant’s normal card processing costs plus a separate program fee on the qualifying recurring bill. ACH is not subject to the program fee. Card costs and ACH costs can differ, so compare them using your own agreements. The program fee is not charged on a customer’s groceries or other everyday purchases.
Each monthly billing cycle, customers qualify after 5 card purchases or $250 in card spending, whichever comes first. Under the proposed rules, the recurring-bill payment may count toward that threshold. The “3×” kicker is the enhanced reward calculated on the qualifying bill itself, with a 5% design target—not triple the everyday cash-back pool and not 15% of the bill. Basic cash back goes to the customer; the enhanced bill reward goes to an account owned by the customer’s offspring. The everyday rate and precise multiplier reference remain to be determined in final terms.
For a $5,000.00 qualifying bill, the target 5% reward would be $250.00 for the offspring-owned account. A separate 5% reward-only program-fee illustration would be $250.00 to the merchant; it is not deducted from the resident’s reward or bill. At the supplied illustrative interchange assumption of 1.65% + $0.15, interchange would be $82.65. That is not an all-in processing quote; processor and network charges may be additional. A 5% program fee would fund a 5% bill reward on a reward-only basis, before issuer contributions, everyday-spend funding, operating costs or margin. It is an illustration, not a final commercial quote; the agreed fee could differ.
The program is designed to integrate with existing property or care-management software, with no new app intended. Feasibility, data access and the implementation approach require scoping and agreement; no specific connector or existing integration is implied.
Union Financial is not a bank or card issuer. A credit union would issue the account and branded debit card to eligible customers, subject to field-of-membership and account requirements, the approved structure, and issuer and other required approvals. The credit union is responsible for its banking and compliance obligations; merchants retain their own responsibilities.
No. The 5% bill reward is a design target subject to final issuer terms; the basic everyday rate, caps, eligibility and settlement terms have not been established here. A final merchant fee requires issuer contributions, everyday-spend funding, operating costs and margin to be determined, and could differ from the illustration. An inquiry or expression of pilot interest is nonbinding and is not a payment or application.
Operators should conduct their own legal and compliance review of customer eligibility, fees, optional payment methods and related disclosures for their business. This overview is not legal advice.
LET’S WORK TOGETHER
Explore a credit-union-issued debit card designed to reward your customers and the next generation.
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