Several major US banks reportedly team up on new digital wallet project
A number of US banking heavyweights are reportedly teaming up to offer a digital consumer e-wallet in order to grab market share from tech titans Apple and PayPal.
A number of US banks are reportedly partnering on the digital wallet project
Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase and four other banks are working on the e-wallet that links up with consumers’ debit and credit cards, The Wall Street Journal reports, for use in e-commerce transactions.
The e-wallet will be managed by Early Warning Services (EWS), the firm that operates US-based money transfer service Zelle, and is set to be compatible with Visa and Mastercard debit and credit cards. The group expect up to 150 million debit and credit cards will be eligible for use.
The WSJ reports that banks are worried about losing control of customer relationships and have Apple firmly in their sights. The tech giant has slowly but steadily made inroads into financial services in recent years, with a savings account product in the pipeline with Goldman Sachs.
Last year, it was revealed that Apple Pay – the tech giant’s mobile payment service – surpassed Mastercard in terms of annual transactions, processing more than $6 trillion worth of transaction volume.
And earlier in 2022, Apple launched its new ‘Tap to Pay’ feature, which leverages near-field contact (NFC) technology to allow merchants to accept Apple Pay, contactless card payments and digital wallet payments on an iPhone with no additional hardware needed.
EWS owners JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bank, PNC, Truist and Capital One are also reportedly looking to tackle fraud with the new venture. The e-wallet would do away with the need to type in card numbers, which can raise the risk of fraud and rejected payments.
Something sounds off here! These are the banks that got us in the mess we are in! What am i missing here???