MSA Pay, the first mobile payment app in the general aviation space, was named Most Innovative Product in the 2016 Monarch Innovation Awards, announced Friday. The tool from U.S. Bank Multi Service Aviation was honored by Barlow Research for uniqueness, value, “stickiness,” ease of use and “wow” factor, according to the Monarch judges.

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Barlow created the Monarch Awards in 2007 to honor innovation in the financial services industry. The awards recognize financial institutions that provide the most innovative products to business customers and risk takers who promote innovation in their organizations.

“The Monarch Awards are highly respected, due to their rigorous judging standards,” said U.S. Bank Chief Innovation Officer Dominic Venturo. “We are honored to receive this recognition for MSA Pay, which is bringing the efficiencies of paperless payment to business aviation pilots and their service providers.”

Electronic invoicing via MSA Pay frees pilots to focus on passengers rather than paper work. Prior to landing, pilots can notify a fixed-base operator (FBO) of their arrival details and desired services, such as fuel, aircraft cleaning and catering. When services are complete and the plane is ready, the FBO notifies the pilot and sends an invoice. Once approved, the app emails a copy of the invoice to the pilot and to the pilot’s back office for final processing.

“MSA Pay’s simple and secure paperless payment process grew directly from pilot feedback about what matters to them,” said U.S. Bank Corporate Payment Systems President Jeff Jones. “We are grateful to Barlow Research and to the Monarch judges for recognizing the creativity and customer insight applied by our team to bring this product to life.”

The app is currently available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch through the Apple App Store and will be added to Google Play later this year.

The U.S. Bank Multi Service Aviation Card has been a leading card for aviation fuel and related services for more than 30 years. The card runs on the closed-loop Multi Service Aviation merchant acceptance Network that reaches around the world. U.S. Bank Multi Service Aviation helps organizations pay for aviation-related services, leverage discount fuel contracts, manage monthly aviation expenses and pay invoices online from anywhere while providing merchants with flexible and comprehensive processing solutions. Find more information at usbpayment.com/aviation-solutions.

About U.S. Bank (www.usbank.com)
Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp (“USB”), with $422 billion in assets as of December 31, 2015, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the fifth largest commercial bank in the United States. The Company operates 3,133 banking offices in 25 states and 4,936 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions.

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