Early Warning Powers Top Banks’ Real-Time P2P Payments

The tech giants in the P2P payments space are about to get competition from six top U.S. banks.

Early Warning, a real-time payments, authentication and risk mitigation solutions provider, announced today (March 9) that Bank of America is now live in processing real-time P2P transactions through Early Warning’s clearXchange network.

Bank of America announced their plans today, following in the footsteps of U.S. Bank, who announced plans to bring real-time P2P payments to their customers on March 3. The real-time payments solution will be available for JPMorgan Chase, Capital One, PNC and Wells Fargo later this year, according to what representatives told Reuters.

Customers at the banks can send real-time P2P payments to customers between banks, which would be available for immediate use. What this means is that for the first time consumers can directly deposit funds into their bank account to be available in real-time.

“At Early Warning, our vision of faster payments is an ecosystem built by financial institutions to provide consumers the ultimate in convenience, flexibility and safety,” said Early Warning CEO Paul Finch. “Today, I am pleased to see that vision become a reality with Bank of America and U.S. Bank. We are proud to partner with these forward-thinking institutions as we bring our real-time payment solutions to consumers nationwide.”

Once a customer enrolls in their bank’s money transfer program, they can initiate a P2P payment online or via a mobile banking app. Using an email address or mobile number, that notification for funds is made and can then be sent in real-time and ready for withdrawal through multiple channels.

“Bank of America is committed to being a leader in payments and making it easier than ever for our clients to manage their finances,” said Thong Nguyen, president of retail banking at Bank of America. “We’re focused on creating a simple, straightforward person-to-person payments experience that lets our customers pay anyone with a couple of easy, intuitive steps.”

This move by the major U.S. banks positions them against the tech companies that offer P2P payments, such as PayPal and Facebook. And now, through Early Warning’s clearXchange network availability for real-time P2P payments, the banks may be able to gain ground on Silicon Valley.

And having six of the Top 7 U.S. banks under one P2P payment umbrella certainly can give them an edge in the faster payments space. Citibank is the other large bank that hasn’t joined clearXchange. For companies like JPMorgan Chase that rely on QuickPay, that system can take between one to three business days for money to move between accounts. Now, on the clearXchange network, it will move in real-time.