The Largest Local Credit Union in Arizona Chooses Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub to Consolidate Payments and Expand Money Movement Capabilities

WHY THIS MATTERS: The strategic decision by a major regional player like Desert Financial to deploy a unified Payments Hub underscores a critical shift in the U.S. financial services landscape. For institutions of this scale, maintaining fragmented payment systems across disparate channels—including FedNow, RTP, card networks, and traditional wires—is no longer viable for efficiency or scalable growth. This move signals that Core Modernization is moving beyond simple feature parity and focusing on aggregation and orchestration as the primary competitive advantage. The ability to route any payment across the most economically efficient rail, paired with the promise of integrated digital experiences for half a million members, elevates the importance of the credit union sector in the race toward universal instant settlement. This is a definitive step toward achieving true interoperability and positions the credit union to monetize Faster Payments effectively while lowering back-office friction.1

Alacriti, a leading provider of cloud-native payment technology,  announced that Desert Financial Credit Union, Arizona’s largest local credit union with more than $9 billion in assets and 500,000 members, has selected the Orbipay Payments Hub to modernize and consolidate payment platforms, and support a broad range of money movement use cases through a single solution.

Through the partnership, Desert Financial will implement Orbipay Payments Hub to unify payment operations across multiple rails, including the RTP® network, the FedNow® Service, and Visa Direct for faster payments and modernized wire transfers. The initiative is part of a broader strategy to move away from fragmented payment systems and adopt a unified approach that supports faster payments, improved visibility, and scalable growth as new rails and use cases are enabled.

“Platform consolidation, speed to market, and the ability to monetize payments were our top priorities,” said Louis Lerino, Vice President of Payment and Account Operations at Desert Financial. “Alacriti’s modern, open API platform integrates seamlessly with our core, online banking, and fraud systems, provides access to every rail we need, and offers credit-union-friendly pricing. This partnership expands our payment capabilities in ways that align with both member expectations and our long-term strategy—increasing our members’ financial well-being by empowering them to seamlessly pay who they want and when they want.”

Benefits to Desert Financial Credit Union Members and Staff

Through this collaboration, Desert Financial members and staff will benefit from:

• Real-Time Payment Processing: Members will be able to send and receive funds instantly through the RTP network, the FedNow Service, and Visa Direct, eliminating delays common with legacy systems and providing immediate confirmation and visibility.
• Expanded Payment Optionality: A single hub supports real-time and card-based payments, reducing complexity while expanding use case coverage for domestic and international money movement.

• Integrated Digital Banking Experience: Members can initiate real-time payments directly from Desert Financial’s digital banking platform, without needing to navigate separate systems.

• Operational Efficiency and Centralized Oversight: Staff will be able to view, manage, and report on real-time payments in one system, with automated balancing and exception handling that reduces manual work, increases accuracy, and frees up time for member-facing priorities.

“Desert Financial is taking a forward-looking approach to payments modernization,” said Mark Majeske, SVP of Faster Payments at Alacriti. “By consolidating systems, adding real-time payment capabilities, and modernizing wires, they’re fulfilling their mission to share success and create exceptional experiences.”

FF NEWS TAKE: Desert Financial’s commitment to unifying its payments architecture via a single hub is a significant industry marker that decisively moves the needle for credit union tech strategy. By connecting RTP, FedNow, and Visa Direct through a single solution, they are prioritizing member experience and operational centralization. The next factor to watch is the monetization strategy: how will they leverage this new efficiency and speed to launch innovative products that generate new revenue streams and truly differentiate their offerings in a competitive market?