An article in the October issue of Wyoming Business Report highlights the fraud prevention potential of CULedger, a credit union consortium supported by the efforts of CUNA and the Mountain West Credit Union Association (MWCUA). 

The article features comments from Rick Cranston, MWCUA vice president of innovation and member of the CULedger steering committee and Rudy Pereira, president/CEO, Premier America CU, Chatsworth, Calif., and chairman of the CULedger steering committee. 

CULedger began in 2016 as initiative between CUNA and MWCUA to develop a concept for a credit union system-wide permissioned distributed shared ledger platform. It has since grown with collaboration between CUNA, MWCUA, Best Innovation Group and other credit union system partners. 

CU Ledger has formed CULedger, LLC, a credit union service organization. 

The article highlights the fraud prevention potential of CU Ledger, a credit union industry initiative for developing innovative applications of distributed ledger technology. 

Cranston explained that CULedger is a shared a shared ledger technology that creates an online system through which multiple certified parties can securely exchange information and conduct transactions, with those exchanges certified by all the organizations participating in a permissioned network.  

“What we have created potentially is the technology that will allow for a near-instantaneous authentication … in a new, unique, incredibly fast way to fight fraud,” Cranston said. 

Pereira said CULedger is an opportunity for credit unions to be innovation leaders in the financial services space. “Getting involved now in CULedger and CULedger, LLC, will offer credit unions the ability to participate in shared-ledger technology that is on the path to reshape the credit union industry as a whole in years to come,” Pereira said. 

Last month, CULedger announced an agreement with Swirlds, creators of the hashgraph distributed consensus platform, whereby CULedger will use Swirlds’ hashgraph technology as a key component of CULedger’s permissioned, distributed, shared ledger platform for credit unions.