A group of major financial institutions, including Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Truist, Capital One, PNC Bank, and U.S. Bank, are collaborating to launch a new digital wallet for consumers to use for online checkout. The digital wallet will be managed by fintech firm Early Warning Services (EWS), which owns and operates Zelle, a payment network. EWS provides risk management solutions to financial institutions, government entities, and payment companies.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the new digital wallet will operate separately from Zelle, and will be linked to shoppers’ debit and credit cards for online payments. The banks aim to compete with other third-party wallet providers such as PayPal and Apple Pay as they are concerned about losing control of their customer relationships.
EWS plans to begin rolling out the new wallet in the second half of this year, and has already secured the support of Visa and Mastercard. The fintech firm has also reached out to other card networks, such as Discover Financial Services, to assess their interest in adding their cards to the wallet.
This move by the financial institutions is seen as a way to protect their customer relationships in the face of competition from non-traditional financial players. By offering a digital wallet, they will be able to keep customers within their ecosystem, and offer a wider range of services that can be accessed through the wallet. This will provide a convenient and seamless experience for customers, while allowing the banks to maintain control of the customer relationship.
Overall, the launch of this digital wallet is seen as a positive move for both consumers and financial institutions. It will provide customers with a secure and convenient way to make online payments, while also allowing banks to maintain control of customer relationships and offer a wider range of services.
