Payments Network clearXchange Gets Reboot
October 26 2015 - 2:00PM
Dow Jones News
Some of the country's biggest banks are rebooting a venture to
make it easier for consumers to send money to each other
electronically.
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. and BB&T Corp. are joining
clearXchange, a person-to-person payments network. The venture
already includes Bank of America Corp., Capital One Financial
Corp., First Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., U.S. Bancorp and
Wells Fargo & Co.
Launched in 2011, clearXchange lets people use their checking
accounts to send each other money with an email address or
cellphone number. Customers of the service can send funds to anyone
with a U.S. bank account.
The payment service is also expanding its ability to transfer
funds immediately for all transactions. Currently, only customers
who send money from one bank to another account at the same bank
have instant access to the funds; transactions between different
banks take a day to clear.
In addition to the new bank members, clearXchange's structure is
being overhauled. The network, which is owned by five big banks,
will be owned by Early Warning, another bank-owned entity that
specializes in fraud prevention and risk management.
The expansion is the latest sign that banks want to keep a tight
grip on their customers at a time when third-party providers are
cropping up in financial services.
"We want to keep the banks at the center of the customers'
financial life," said Michael Kennedy, clearXchange's chief
executive.
ClearXchange has fallen short of some expectations, in part
because it has been eclipsed by other person-to-person payment
schemes like Venmo, a unit of PayPal Holdings Inc., according to
people familiar with its operations.
Mr. Kennedy said the service is growing and transaction sizes
are getting larger as customers become more comfortable with
zapping money to each other.
"We think that, versus any other company, we're experiencing
comparable if not higher growth rates and volumes," he said in an
interview.
Write to Robin Sidel at robin.sidel@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2015 13:45 ET (17:45 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Capital One Financial (NYSE:COF)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024