U.S. Bank would launch a mobile wallet, if a customer need arises, a spokeswoman told Bank Innovation.
The bank announced a partnership with MasterCard yesterday, allowing customers to load their debit or credit cards into Android Pay and Samsung Pay mobile wallets. Choosing an open-wallet is the bank’s approach for now, spokeswoman said.
U.S. Bank is focused on allowing our customers to pay how ever they want to pay. This means we will be engaged with leading mobile payment platforms that our customers may choose to use, that are convenient and secure. We are always looking for ways to better serve our customers, so nothing is off the table if we see a customer need.
The lineup of mobile wallets, both from FIs and retailers, keeps increasing (Wells Fargo, Walmart, and Chase are some of the recent additions), so why are some of the banks choosing to hold back on mobile wallets of their own?
Similar to U.S. Bank, Bank of America is channeling its efforts toward more open wallet system to ensure a seamless customer experience. “How channels come together — a seamless bridge from mobile to the call center, for example — is critical,” Hari Gopalkrishnan, client-facing platforms technology CIO at Bank of America, told Bank Innovation previously. “The customer experience has to span channels, and our focus has to be not channels or products but customers.”
U.S. Bank currently offers Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay capabilities for other bank-issued cards as well, including co-branded and affinity partner cards like REI and Edward Jones. Enabling all those payment methods is key to maintaining “robust mobile payment offering” for customers, spokeswoman said.