Major banks are reportedly joining forces in an effort to better take on Apple Card and PayPal in the digital wallet market.
In the era of digital transactions and wallets, traditional banks have found themselves playing second fiddle to tech companies. According to CNBC, several of the biggest banks want to change the status quo and exert more direct influence.
Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo are among those reportedly looking to work together to create their own digital wallet that will link to customers’ debit and credit cards.
The new cards reportedly could launch later in 2023, with both Visa and Mastercard on board.
The banks are likely driven by a desire to maintain a more direct relationship with the customer, along with the possibility of selling them additional services as a result of that relationship. Banks are probably also somewhat leery of tech deals that leave them with the short end of the stick. For example, Goldman Sachs has reportedly lost somewhere between $1 to $3 billion on the Apple Card deal.
Nonetheless, entering the market and competing with established tech companies won’t be easy, experts warn.
Bernstein analyst Harshita Rawat said banks have “likely always had PayPal envy,” but that didn’t mean the way forward is going to be easy.
“It simply takes a very long time, a killer customer experience (which needs to be better than incumbents, not just similar), and a compelling merchant value proposition to build the two-sided network effects in payments to achieve scale,” Rawat said in a note to clients.