Bank of America is among large lenders including JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo that are part of clearXchange, a payments network that connects 100 million online banking customers and allows them to transfer money instantly from one account to another, bloomberg.com reports. The banks are hoping the partnership will mount a real defense against the growing popularity among millennials of services such as PayPal’s Venmo, while also cutting costs.
Clearing checks, keeping automated teller machines stocked and providing merchants with currency make up the bulk of the firm’s cash-handling costs. Moving customers into online and digital banking has allowed Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America to reduce the number of branches to 4.600 from 6.100 about eight years ago. During that time, the lender has reduced the number of employees in the consumer bank by 40% to 60.000.
The bank’s commercial real estate loan portfolio, valued at about USD 60 billion, is growing slowly after declining in the years following the financial crisis. US regulators recently warned of a rise in credit risk from increased lending and looser underwriting, especially in commercial mortgages.
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