CU Spotlight: Historic Roots, New Rails: Why IH Credit Union Is Embracing Immediate Payments

ih Credit Union

In the heart of Springfield, Ohio, a credit union with deep community roots is looking forward to the future of banking. IH Credit Union—originally founded in 1934 to serve employees of the International Harvester Company—has evolved over the decades into a $359 million credit union serving 20,300 members. Now, with its recent implementation of real-time payments through Corporate One, IH Credit Union is once again proving its commitment to innovation and member service.

IH Credit Union used Corporate One’s Third-Party Service Provider (TPSP) solution to connect to the RTP® network in July 2025 and will be connected to the FedNow® Service soon. In this Q&A, Operational Specialist Julie Day discusses how this historic institution is using immediate payments to provide faster, more convenient ways to transfer money to its community.

What inspired IH Credit Union to explore and ultimately implement real-time payments?

Julie: We wanted to give our members more options for payments than simply ACH or debit. You almost have to provide more than the two traditional payment rails to stay competitive. RTP allows our members to receive their credits instantly, and the credit union operations like the fact that the payments are post or non-post. Real-time payments have been a good service to offer. I haven’t had any complaints—the members who have utilized RTP like it.

How did IH Credit Union prepare for launching real-time payments?

Julie: Corporate One worked with our core to implement RTP. We had weekly meetings with their implementation team, during which training was provided and concerns were addressed. We decided to implement Receive Only at the beginning because it was a new service, and we wanted to ensure we could reconcile and maintain it properly. We wanted to make sure we understood everything about RTP and had no issues before we really jumped in with both feet.

Looking back on your implementation journey, what have been the biggest takeaways for your credit union? How would you describe the overall experience?

Julie: The experience was wonderful, and the implementation went smoothly and quickly. Our project team included five people: our CFO, controller, project manager, me, and another accounting specialist. Any issues we faced, though few, were addressed promptly and effectively. I don't recall any major hiccup or problem that wasn’t resolved right away. It was a hundred times smoother than any other technological rollout I’ve been part of.

“We wanted to give our members more options for payments than simply ACH or debit. You almost have to provide more than the two traditional payment rails to stay competitive.”

– Julie Day
Operational Specialist
IH Credit Union

“Corporate One worked with our core to implement RTP. I don't recall any major hiccup or problem that wasn’t resolved right away. It was a hundred times smoother than any other technological rollout I’ve been part of.”

– Julie Day
Operational Specialist
IH Credit Union

When you first considered connecting to the RTP network, what concerns or questions came up from your team?

Julie: Our main questions revolved around balancing and fraud. The only concern I had with fraud was mainly that I didn't really understand the RTP network. I was thinking of it more like ACH, and once I was exposed to what real-time payments were, I realized there really wasn't much fraud because they're irrevocable and immediate, and it's either post or non-post.

Now that IH Credit Union is live on the RTP network, what changes or benefits are you starting to see? Are there any early member or staff reactions that stand out?

Julie: The main benefit I notice is that our ACH reject report is smaller. A lot of the entries that would have been ACH are now being posted as RTP. As word gets out, I see more and more RTP entries. At first, the most heard reaction from members was that the payments were not posting due to an account number error. With the education of our members, the proper account numbers began to be used, and RTP took off.

How has your experience with fraud prevention and risk management been since going live with real-time payments?

Julie: We have not experienced any fraud on the RTP network. The implementation team addressed our fraud concerns with confidence and knowledge. Reconciliation is a breeze, and fraud has not been an issue. We haven't had any return requests so far either.

Have you had to adjust any internal processes or reporting to accommodate RTP’s real-time nature?

Julie: We created a separate general ledger for this project, and we have one for FedNow, too, so it would be easier to balance. It takes about five minutes every day, so I guess I have five minutes more work to do, but it’s not tedious by any means.

As you look ahead to connecting to the FedNow Service, what use cases or opportunities are you most excited about? How do you see this complementing your RTP capabilities?

Julie: We are excited to offer FedNow in addition to RTP. Our millennials and the younger generation seem most interested in both RTP and FedNow, and we’re hoping to bring younger members into IH Credit Union. We are hoping that our members will enjoy the selection of payment systems that we have available. We believe that FedNow will complement RTP by giving yet another payment rail to utilize.