Bank One allows people to send money over email
Reuters, 03/8/2000 00:03
NEW YORK, March 8 (Reuters) - Before you delete your umpteenth email, make sure someone isn't sending you $20 electronically.
Bank One Corp. (NYSE:ONE), the country's fourth-biggest bank holding company, has launched a system that lets people send money to each other over electronic mail, using checking accounts, Visa credit or debit cards, or checks.
At the eMoneyMail Website, emoneymail.com, people enter their checking account or Visa card numbers, and send email to another person that transfers up to $500 to the person's checking account or Visa balance. The recipient also can opt for a check in the mail.
People sending money over email pay $1 to transfer funds to a checking or Visa account while the recipient pays nothing. There is a $1 fee when a check is mailed, Bank One said. The money is credited the next business day to a Visa account and in one to two business days through a checking account.
The announcement marks the latest effort by banks to facilitate payments between consumers online. West Coast bank Wells Fargo and Co. (NYSE:WFC) said on March 1 it has teamed up with Internet auctioneer eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) to enable people selling goods on the auction site to accept credit cards.
Bank One is powering the eMoneyMail site, but people can transfer money to and from accounts at any bank in the United States. So far, the system cannot be used internationally. Bank One said it is looking at international expansion.
The bank said it hopes to partner with Internet commerce companies to attract customers, but declined to comment further about possible ties.
"We think most people will find out about eMoneyMail through partnership arrangements," Dean Lehman, a senior vice president in Bank One's retail group, told Reuters in an interview. "We are looking for partners who can communicate its availability to other customers."
The system could be used by parents to send money to children away at college, by people sending gifts and by companies that mail out rebate checks to people, Lehman said.
Copyright 2000, Reuters News Service |
