Question
JPMorgan eyes payment system similar to PayPal
By Chris Sanders, Reuters
NEW YORK, March 9 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co. is looking at building an online payment system similar to PayPal, the widely-used eBay Inc. unit, a company executive said.
The effort is just one of several actions Heidi Miller, the new chief executive of the No. 2 U.S. bank's treasury and securities services (T&SS) unit, wants to take to wring profit out of an area often thought of as a sleepy back office unit.
"Yes, we are looking at all our options," Miller said during an interview with Reuters, responding to a question whether the bank would create an Internet pay system like PayPal.
She added the bank has a payments steering committee studying the best way for it to take advantage of changes in the way consumers and businesses make and receive payments.
The creation of PayPal is a good example of how big banks in general, with extensive knowledge of payment systems and with infrastructure in place, failed to keep up with smaller, nimbler companies, Miller said.
"We should be as innovative as PayPal," Miller said.
Miller, who joined JPMorgan after it bought Bank One Corp. last year in a $58 billion deal, was the chief financial officer at Chicago-based Bank One.
T&SS is hired by chief financial officers, treasurers, issuers and institutional investors to help them with numerous back office functions including trust, custody, clearing, cash management, securities lending and fund accounting.
Beyond online bill paying, Miller said her unit will play a role in the bank's plan to expand its prime brokerage offerings.
Answer
Bank One is very aggressive and much less "old school bank" than Chase ever was...(speaking as the DW of a 20+ year employee of Chase, all the way back to the "Chemical Bank" days)...I would not surprize me one whit if they did, in fact, put up a rival system to Paypal....
Answer
I remember that Citibank had a "paypal" type system but they closed that down a few years ago. I hope that JPMorgan sets one up that will actually compete with Paypal
Answer
Yes, I remember the Citibank system. The cost per transaction for non-U.S. sellers was something like $10.00.