Leading US banks partner for a digital wallet project
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Some of the largest banking institutions in the United States are working together to provide a digital consumer e-wallet. The banks plan for the wallet to account for a significant share of the market currently dominated by some of the largest tech companies, such as Apple and PayPal.
Top US banks partner for a digital wallet project
The top US banks that want to release a digital wallet are Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and four other banks. These banks plan to create an e-wallet that links up consumers’ credit and debit cards. The e-wallets will be useful in handling e-commerce transactions.
The e-wallet will be under the management of Early Warning Services (EWS). The EWS is a company that runs a money transfer service known as Zelle. The digital wallet will be compatible with the debit and credit cards offered by Visa and Mastercard. The banks estimate that up to 150 million credit and debit cards will be available once the wallet is released.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, PNC, Truist, US Bank, and Wells Fargo are also looking to set a milestone in the payments sector. These banks are looking for new ways to handle fraud through the new e-wallet. The e-wallet will get rid of customers keying in card numbers physically, which increases the risk of fraud and payment cancellation.
Wall Street is competing with Apple
A report by the Wall Street Journal has also noted that banks are worried about losing their grip on customer relationships. Therefore, they are closely watching tech giants such as Apple, which have made significant progress in the financial services industry. Apple recently partnered with Wall Street giant Goldman Sachs to develop a savings account product. This product is yet to be released.
Apple has also made significant progress with Apple Pay. Apple Pay is a mobile payment service that Apple has released, Apple Pay is currently competing against titans in the financial sector.
In 2022, Apple Pay reportedly surpassed Mastercard in the number of annual transactions handled by the company. Apple Pay processed more than $6 trillion in transactions during the year.
One feature that has aided Apple Pay’s growing popularity is “Tap to Pay.” Tap to Pay is a feature that uses near-field technology that allows merchants to accept payments in Apple Pay. The feature supports contactless card and digital wallet payments to iPhone users, which gives the tech giant access to the vast US market. The feature does not require any additional hardware and has revamped how iPhone users make payments.
