EVERTEC launches ‘ATH Móvil’ mobile money transfers
From left: Sylvette Ramos, Wanda Betancourt, and Miguel Vizcarrondo.
EVERTEC Inc. and Red ATH, which run the island’s ATMs, announced Tuesday the launching of “ATH Móvil,” a service that enables electronic money transfers between individuals and accounts held by different banking institutions, through mobile phones.
The new service is part of the network’s 30-year anniversary, officials from both companies said.
“When the Red ATH was launched, we could not have imagined that our transaction exchange service would become an essential part of our daily lives,” said Miguel Vizcarrondo, executive vice president of payment services for Red ATH in EVERTEC. “It has been 30 years of operations, which have been characterized by reliability and secure service offered to people.”
With “ATH Móvil” the company expects to “continue revolutionizing the transactions and payment processing market, as it allows for the transfer of money and payments via Android and iPhone smartphones in a safe manner, and in real time,” he said.
The service is optional for any financial institution that is member of the Red ATH that chooses to become certified and offer it to their cardholders. Currently, Banco Popular, and the Las Piedras, Oriental, Roosevelt Roads and VegaCoop Credit Unions have been certified. First Bank, Oriental Bank and other cooperatives throughout the island are currently in the certification process, executives said.
Transfers and payments may also be conducted online, they added.
“We are meeting the needs of consumers and we know that the service will further simplify daily life because it is a new way to pay,” said Sylvette Ramos, first vice president of the Red ATH. “Through this service, consumers who hold debit cards from one of the affiliated financial institutions will be able to transfer money to family members, reimburse money to their friends and even transfer money from the account where they receive deposits to the ones they use to make frequent payments.”
The service will be available free of charge for six months starting Tuesday, Vizcarrondo noted. To use the service, consumers must sign up through www.athmovil.com and download the free application for their smartphones.
The new service is coupled with an advertising push highlighting the benefits of the service as the ideal solution for daily situations that require immediate payments, said Wanda Betancourt, first vice president of marketing and communications for EVERTEC.
