Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo to make Charlotte home of mobile banking venture

Three of the nation’s biggest banks — Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo — have teamed up to start a Charlotte-based joint venture to allow customers to pay for goods and services using only an email address or mobile phone number.

The joint venture is called clearXchange.

The technology is nothing new; Companies such as PayPal already offer a similar service. But clearXchange marks the first time established banks embrace email- or mobile number-only methods of payment.

In a press release, Charlotte-based Bank of America said customers of the three banks will be able to move funds from their checking accounts using an e-mail address or mobile number, instead of providing checking account and routing numbers.

“This is an innovative game-changer in electronic payments,” Mike Kennedy, executive vice president and head of payments strategy at Wells Fargo, said in the release. “We want our customers to be able to easily send money to anyone without having to establish a new account outside their primary bank. All our customers need to know is the e-mail address or mobile number of a friend or family member and we will take care of the rest utilizing clearXchange.”

The three banks will own and run clearXchange, with Bank of America’s John Feldman serving as general manager. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Our goal is to provide convenient and safe financial services options for our customers,” David Owen, ecommerce, claims and fraud executive at Bank of America, said in the release. “By creating a utility like clearXchange, we are able to meet the needs of our customers and differentiate our capabilities from other offerings in the marketplace.”

Scott Baughman can be reached at [email protected].