Bank of America, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo Start Payments Service

Bank of America Corp. (BAC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) started a service that allows customers of the three lenders to transfer money using only an e-mail address or cell phone number.

The nationwide initiative, called “clearXchange,” may include more financial institutions and other ways to send money, according to a statement today from San Francisco-based Wells Fargo.

“We want our customers to be able to easily send money to anyone without having to establish a new account outside their primary bank,” Mike Kennedy, executive vice president and head of payments strategy at Wells Fargo, said in the statement. “All our customers need to know is the e-mail address or mobile number of a friend or family member and we will take care of the rest utilizing clearXchange.”

The three banks will run and own the service, with Bank of America’s John Feldman serving as general manager. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dakin Campbell in San Francisco at dcampbell27@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Kraut at dkraut2@bloomberg.net