Real-time payments are no longer only reserved to FinTech startups. Capital One, Chase and Wells Fargo have all started offering real-time payments thanks to Early Warning, the real-time payments authentication and risk mitigation company.
On Monday (July 11) Early Warning announced the three banks will begin offering customers the ability to make person-to-person payments on Early Warning’s clearXchange network.
“Financial institutions across the country are successfully bringing consumers the future of payments,” said Paul Finch, chief executive officer at Early Warning. “As we continue expanding the clearXchange network, we will collectively increase consumers’ access to faster payment services that will help them better manage their financial lives.” P2P payments are particularly attractive to consumers because they can access the money in real time instead of waiting for the payment or check to clear.
Chase customers will be able to send and receive real-time P2P transfers from any customers at any of the banks in the network that have enabled real-time payments. Funds are typically available immediately. Meanwhile, Capital One is offering the service to its 360 Checking customers. Currently, they can receive real-time payments from other participating banks in the network. Customers will be able to send payments later this summer. At Wells Fargo, customers can receive P2P transfers, but the ability to make payments in real time will come with the full rollout of the service in August.
According to Early Warning, P2P payments on the company’s clearXchange network is available to more than 100 million online banking and 70 million mobile banking users in the U.S. In the first quarter of this year, Early Warning said customers at banks that use the clearXchange network completed more than 46 million P2P transfers, both making payments and receiving them, representing more than $16 billion in combined transaction volume.
While P2P payments have been around for a while now, major U.S. banks this year are increasingly recognizing the importance of offering this service, with Bank of America announcing in March it would use Early Warning’s network, joining U.S. Bank. Offering real-time payments has long been the domain of technology companies including PayPal and Facebook.