CME Group and Real-Time Payment Transfer Platform, Dwolla, Sign Commercial Agreement to Provide Payment Efficiencies to Clearing Members

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Oct 28, 2015, 09:30 ET

CHICAGO and DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced it has signed a commercial agreement with Dwolla, a modern bank transfer platform. The commercial arrangement will offer Dwolla's real-time architecture to facilitate on demand payment capabilities for clearing and settlement, as well as streamline payment operations for CME Clearing members and clients.

"With its established customers and proven real-time systems, Dwolla's technology provides CME Group with an innovative platform to deliver secure and sophisticated payment services to our clearinghouse member firms," said Sunil Cutinho, President of CME Clearing. "As we continue to explore additional applications of Dwolla's technologies and the resulting efficiencies to be gained, we are pleased with the immediate value we will deliver to our clearing members."

The first application of Dwolla's technology will be applied to CME Group's Broker Payment Systems and Give Up Payment Systems and will enable customers to process payments more quickly and cost efficiently. This is the first time Dwolla has been applied in the exchange space.

In addition to this commercial arrangement, CME Group is also a strategic investor in Dwolla through its investment arm, CME Ventures.

"CME Group has helped Dwolla bring real-time technology to the derivatives industry to enable faster access to liquidity and funding for the industry," said Ben Milne, CEO and founder of Dwolla.

Aside from traditional bank transfers, Dwolla's network provides financial institutions with a real-time payments platform with its proprietary protocol, FiSync. Live since 2012, the secure connection provides banks an interoperable private-by-default ledger and mechanism that enables real-time clearing and settlement services, specifically the confirmation and availability of good funds.

About CME Group
As the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) is where the world comes to manage risk. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities, metals, weather and real estate. CME Group brings buyers and sellers together through its CME Globe® electronic trading platform, its trading facilities in New York and Chicago, and through its London-based CME Europe derivatives exchange. CME Group also operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers through CME Clearing and CME Clearing Europe, which offer clearing and settlement services across asset classes for exchange-traded contracts and over-the-counter derivatives transactions. These products and services ensure that businesses everywhere can substantially mitigate counterparty credit risk.

CME Group is a trademark of CME Group Inc. The Globe Logo, CME, Globe and Chicago Mercantile Exchange are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and the Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of the Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are registered trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Further information about CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) and its products can be found at www.cmegroup.com.

About Dwolla
Dwolla provides a real-time communication and interoperability network and platform for bank transfers. Using its real-time ledger, directory, and settlement infrastructure, the network connects to financial institutions to move U.S. dollars through its own instant bank transfer rails, FiSync, or existing systems, like ACH or wire. Its branded or white label APIs allow individuals, businesses, software platforms, financial institutions, federal agencies—anyone in the U.S.—to simply and securely leverage Dwolla's capabilities and the U.S. payment system to send and receive funds, without the transaction fees and heavy lifting of traditional systems. Dwolla has raised over $30 million from CME Group, Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, et al and is based in Des Moines, Iowa. Learn more at https://www.dwolla.com.

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SOURCE CME Group