Credit Union of Texas Modernizes Payment Experiences for Members CUTX

Credit Union of Texas (CUTX) is a member-owned financial institution dedicated to delivering simple, convenient banking experiences that help members manage their financial lives with confidence.

The challenge

As CUTX expanded its digital banking strategy, the organization recognized that members had differing payment experiences for loan, credit card and lease payments because each relied on a different payment system. Employees also worked across each of these payment systems that didn’t all operate the same way or process payments on the same timeline. This made it more difficult to answer member questions, troubleshoot payment issues and support members. 

Additionally, enrolling members in automatic loan payments was particularly burdensome: members completed paper direct payment forms to authorize debit card or ACH payments and staff manually processed each request on the back end. At its peak, CUTX processed approximately 25,000–27,000 of these manual direct payment setup forms annually.

CUTX wanted a simpler, more consistent payment experience for both members and employees.

The solution  

To support its digital banking strategy, CUTX partnered with PayNearMe to consolidate and centralize payment experiences across loan payments, lease payments, deposit-related payments and credit cards through PayXM™, PayNearMe’s platform for Payment Experience Management.

Before the implementation, members encountered different payment portals depending on the type of payment they needed to make. These different portals created inconsistent experiences for members and added complexity for employees assisting them. As Brandi Rose explains,

The different payment systems didn’t all work the same way or process payments on the same timeline, making it difficult for our frontline teams to quickly troubleshoot member questions.

By centralizing payment operations, CUTX created a consistent experience across payment types while providing a foundation for future growth. The implementation introduced recurring payment functionality, enhanced reporting and reconciliation capabilities and expanded payment options. Together, these capabilities gave members more ways to pay and helped CUTX maintain low payment return rates.

In March 2026, CUTX expanded the initiative to support payments for more than 14,000 credit cards and launched both self-service and agent-assisted options through the portal. The expansion represented a meaningful milestone: CUTX solved the ‘off-core’ payment challenge by building a workflow where PayNearMe processes the payment and seamlessly posts funds to the card processor without requiring members to navigate a separate system.

Today, CUTX continues to build on the partnership by refining reporting, payment workflows and operational processes as part of its long-term strategy to deliver an even more connected, convenient payment experience.

The results

The impact has been positive both operationally and financially. 

Today, CUTX processes between 25,000 and 30,000 loan and lease payments each month through the platform, and that volume continues to grow. As members embrace more convenient ways to pay, lending payment volume has increased 18%.

The partnership has also reduced manual work. Annual direct payment form volume has dropped dramatically as more members choose self-service digital payment options instead of requiring staff assistance.

Member adoption continues to expand beyond traditional payment methods. Approximately 9% of payment activity now comes through alternative payment methods—including Cash App Pay, Venmo, PayPal and Cash at Retail Payments. CUTX leadership noted that offering payment choice likely contributes to the credit union’s approximately 1% payment return rate. 

Enhanced reporting capabilities also surfaced opportunities CUTX previously could not identify. In October and November 2024 alone, the organization identified $54,000 in waived convenience fees. The collections team then implemented controls to recover revenue that had gone untracked.

What’s next 

As CUTX continues to enhance its payment experience, future priorities include embedding payments more directly into digital banking channels through Banno and eliminating re-authentication friction so members can move seamlessly from account view to payment without leaving the payment flow. 

The organization is also exploring PayNearMe’s AI payment agent capabilities for inbound payment calls. 

When asked what CUTX values most about its partnership with PayNearMe, the team emphasized one thing:

Giving members the ability to easily manage their payments on their own schedule.

For CUTX, payments are no longer a standalone operational function. They are now a strategic part of the member experience and a platform for continued growth.