Benny:
As Gates said in 1994, we are redefining money, which may not bode well for banks. As a medium of exchange, money is less and less identified with a physical space. Instead, it is identified with a brand, and that brand has less to do with security and trust and more to do with convenience than anything else. Therefore, whoever can best link information about where I get my money with where it goes gains market share. Some banks don't want to share these links because they define money the old way, and are afraid of seeing it go out the "door" and never come back.
Most large banks can see the future, however, and are working like crazy to close branches and set up huge, centralized "operations centers". These will be giant info banks which will look a lot like Checkfree, but still be balkanized, with fewer connections between billers and consumers than could be attained with an (inter?)national clearinghouse like CKFR. CKFR or MSFDC may end up as the "glue" which ties these centers together, or simply contract with the banks to provide the "medium of exchange" function they no longer want to provide. Float will no longer have value in a world of instant or timed payment, so many banks will step away from this part of the business. The snowball is rolling.
Charlie |
