The project

Digital Card Issuance (DCI) is the latest card technology that provides virtual access to a newly issued credit or debit card, allowing the member to have immediate access to their funds.

With a DCI solution, members can request a new card online at any time, day or night, then load the new card # into their digital wallet, such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay. No more waiting for the new card to arrive in the mail before it can be used to make purchases.

Understanding the terms

Real-time Card Add

Ability for the core to send a card immediately, in real time, to the card processor

Digital Card Issuance (DCI)

Delivery of the electronic version of the card for immediate use

Push Provisioning

Single click option to add a card to the digital wallet from within the mobile app

Digital Wallet

Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, or Google Pay

Online Card Ordering

Ability for a member to close a card and order a new one, via online/mobile banking

Digital Activation

Technique for the card vendor to activate a new card for e-commerce transactions via a digital wallet only (physical plastic that is mailed still requires separate activation)

A new approach

When our journey to DCI first began, the original approach was to add support for adding new cards in real time via every EFT switch. Then we’d provide a new tool to allow members to close and reorder a card in the mobile app, along with the ability to push that new card to a digital wallet. A lofty goal, but one that, at the time, seemed completely achievable.

Unfortunately, over the last couple years we found that working with all of the card vendors to support real-time card add functionality has proven to be a significant challenge. Numerous delays and roadblocks made us rethink our goals. If we want to get a self-service option into member hands, we need to set our sights a little closer to the ground.

The main point of the project was to give members a way to close and order a card themselves, anytime, without having to contact the CU, as well as to make it easy for them to put their credit union cards into a digital wallet.

Therefore, as of June 2025 we’re shifting away from the real-time component and focusing instead on speeding the process of ordering a card for a member, making it a true self-service function.

The plan

Phase One | Push Provisioning

This phase will include a new feature in the mobile app that will allow a member to choose a card and click a button to push to their wallet.

We’re working with a new vendor that will provide single-source access to all our supported EFT providers. That vendor will gather the information needed from the card record and send those details, along with mobile device’s provisioning details. This triggers the mobile processing system to open the digital wallet, allowing the member to add the card and use it as a payment method from their mobile device.

One additional benefit of our new approach is that members will be able to do this with any card, even ones they didn’t order digitally, once the card has been added on the vendor side.

Status of Phase One projects:

Phase Two | Online Card Reorders

We are creating an end-user member experience in both desktop/web banking and the mobile app that will allow members to close an existing card, and also request a new one. When the member triggers this event, we will first send the card status message to close the card, then we will generate the new card add request and drop that into the nightly batch maintenance file.

The combination of these two processes will allow for near real-time digital cards. Near real-time means withing the next 24-48 hours, once the card is built on the vendor’s side, the member would be able to return via the mobile app and push the new card to their wallet.

Another layer to this project will be to coordinate the technique each vendor uses to digitally activate new cards, which will be handled by our new process. This is critical for security, as a simple standard activation of the card would then mail an already activated plastic to a member!

Status of Phase Two projects: A prototype for online card ordering is ready based on our prior work, but will need to be adjusted to work with our new approach and vendor. Project numbers and statuses will be listed here when they have been submitted into the queue.

FAQs

Q: What about real-time card adds with Velera (CO-OP)? I thought that project was nearly complete.

A: Actually, we had completed the process of doing real-time card adds with Velera via CU*BASE, and that’s in production and working well with our beta CU, Frankenmuth CU. As of June 2025, we are still struggling to get the real-time process to work when initiated via online banking. But we are hopeful we can still successfully complete that part. Once we do, we’ll create a new page in our store where you can learn about the process of getting set up for real-time processing, which does require a project with Velera.

However, as described above, we will not be pursuing real-time card adds with any other EFT vendors at this time. The new functionality described here will be available regardless of whether the card is added real time or near real time.

Q: Will this feature allow a member to request a brand-new card, if they don’t already have one?

A: No. This is for closing an existing card and requesting a replacement for that card only, or for pushing an existing card to a wallet. We do have long-term plans to make that part of an auto-approval / auto-fulfillment process via our new credit card application, but we have a few hills to cross before we get to that!

Q: If a member closes a card this way, will the VAU/ABU (Visa® Account Updater and Mastercard® Automatic Billing Updater) service work to assist with adjusting recurring payments to the new card number?

A:We will be adding a configuration flag so you can choose to automatically opt members in for this service if you wish. (This will be at the vendor level, so all members will either be opted in or out.)

Your chef for this recipe: Heather French