Three banks launch online payment service

Three banks are entering the online payments race and will let customers send money from checking accounts to other individuals with an email address or cell phone number. Bank of America, Wells Fargo and J.P. Morgan Chase launched the new service in a bid to compete with PayPal, according to the Wall Street Journal.

PayPal is the biggest electronic payment service out there. There are other companies out there trying to cash in on the popularity of online payments, so the banks are facing other competitors. The service is initially being offered free by the banks. While many banks offer the ability to send electronic payments, customers usually have to provide more information than with the new service. The service also does not require checking account holders to register for a separate account to move money the way PayPal does.

Many banks are looking to retain customers and find new sources of revenue. The Wall Street Journal article states that “U.S. households made more than $865 billion of payments between individuals through 11 billion transactions last year, according to a survey from consulting firm Aite Group LLC. That amounts to roughly $7,500 and 96 transactions per household.”

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment