Cooperative Liquidity Networks Could Redefine the Payments Race: Credit Unions Win

Guest Editorial by Becky Reed, Chief Operating Officer, BankSocial

The payments race is no longer about who can process a card swipe faster or who can roll out the latest “tap-to-pay” feature. The new competition is about who owns liquidity and who controls the rails that move it.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) is shifting payments from batch-based, bank-centered systems to real-time, programmable, network-based infrastructure. And here’s the opportunity: financial cooperatives are uniquely positioned to build cooperative liquidity networks that put them at the center of this transformation.

What Is a Cooperative Liquidity Network?

Becky Reed

At its core, a cooperative liquidity network is a shared pool of tokenized deposits or stablecoins governed and utilized by participating credit unions. Instead of each institution sitting on isolated balances and expensive back-office processes, liquidity is mobilized across the network:

• Shared liquidity pools reduce idle capital and allow participants to fund payments and transfers more efficiently.

• Real-time settlement ensures every transaction finalizes instantly, cutting out reconciliation delays and counterparty risk.

• Programmable payments let institutions embed rules directly into money—splitting revenues, automating loan repayments, or distributing community dividends.

• Interoperability layers connect cooperative rails to FedNow, RTP, ACH, or even future CBDCs, making the network both modern and compatible.

This isn’t theoretical. The same logic that drives decentralized finance (DeFi) liquidity pools can be applied in a permissioned, regulated, cooperative context. Done right, it’s a payments backbone owned by the cooperatives themselves.

What’s The Big Deal?

The economics are powerful:

• Lower costs. Shared infrastructure spreads operating expenses and dramatically reduces reliance on costly intermediaries.

• Capital efficiency. Instead of trapped balances across dozens of silos, liquidity flows where it’s needed most.

• Resilience. With distributed governance and redundancy across multiple institutions, the network is harder to disrupt than a single-operator rail.

• Member value. The benefits—lower fees, faster transfers, programmable services—flow back to members, not shareholders.

Perhaps most importantly, a cooperative liquidity network creates a strategic moat. It ensures that financial cooperatives aren’t just “participants” on someone else’s rail but owners of our own future.

The Window of Opportunity

Let’s be clear: the payments landscape will not wait. Big Tech, global banks, and fintechs are racing to capture the value of liquidity and programmable payments. If cooperatives hesitate, we will be relegated to the role of price-takers on someone else’s rail.

But if we move now—boldly and collectively—financial cooperatives can own the rails, govern the liquidity, and shape the future of payments in a way that reflects their mission and values.

Cooperative liquidity networks aren’t just a technical upgrade. They’re a chance to redefine relevance in the digital era.

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Becky Reed is a credit union industry veteran and thought leader with more than two decades of leadership in credit unions and CUSOs.  Renowned for her unique perspective as both a credit union executive and CUSO leader, her expertise and advice are in demand by those who seek to embrace innovation.  As the CEO of Lone Star Credit Union, Becky led the organization through a complete digital transformation starting with a technology foundational remediation which allowed the credit union to achieve economies of scale through increased efficiency.

Becky continues to stay at the forefront of innovation by working with emerging technologies, such as DLT and AI through her role as the Chief Operating Officer for the fintech BankSocial.  Her focus revolves around the 4 'Cs' - Credit Unions, CUSOs, Crypto and Collaboration.  You can find her on the road speaking at conferences and in board rooms about disruption to traditional systems and how Fis can adapt, grow and even thrive. 

In addition to her credit union and fintech expertise, Becky is the published author of the book “Credit Unions and DeFI: A Financial Renaissance” and co-host for the podcast “Grow Your Credit Union”. Becky graduated Summa Cum Laude from Concordia University in Austin, Tex.