Yahoo!, British Bank Ally On Online Payment
Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO) and British banking and financial services group HSBC Holdings (NYSE: HBC) say they want to bring online payments out of the dark ages.
The two companies Monday inked a deal to launch a co-branded, person-to-person payment system called Yahoo! PayDirect with HSBC. The service would be available to Yahoo! and HSBC customers and is expected to launch later this year. Financial terms of the partnership were not mentioned.
“The evolution of payments is a critical component of e-commerce and essential for the industry to meet its promise,” says Roberta Arena, HSBC's head of Global e-Business. “This partnership is a natural, as we share a global footprint and a proven commitment to first class customer service.”
The new online payment service will let consumers send and receive money, at home and overseas, via e-mail by linking their credit cards, debit cards or bank accounts to their Yahoo! PayDirect account at HSBC.
The companies say the platform can also be used to electronically send money as a gift to family and friends, to collect contributions to group or charity events, and to pay for shopping and auctions purchases.
Yahoo! already has established its http://banking.yahoo.com/ >Yahoo! Banking and Yahoo! Bill Pay for people who want to pay utilities and other online finacial transactions, but this marks the first time by Yahoo! to establish a person-to-person payment plan.
Because financial transactions are subject to certain regulatory approvals, Yahoo! PayDirect with HSBC will launch first in the United States later this year. After that and throughout 2002, the service will be extended to other countries and areas where HSBC and Yahoo! operate.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based Yahoo! and London-based HSBC say the goal is to make the Yahoo! PayDirect technology available to other companies to enable commerce and person-to-person payment capabilities.
“With this agreement, HSBC becomes our global financial partner, helping ready us for our next phase of growth and further extending our financial and commerce services,” says Yahoo! executive VP Greg Coleman.
HSBC says it will also mount a comprehensive online and offline marketing program to make their products and services available to Yahoo!'s 200 million consumers. Yahoo! in turn will similarly market its services to HSBC's 28 million customers.
Reprinted from siliconvalley.internet.com.
Michael Singer is a career coach, podcast host, and author to help you step into a career you're excited about. Currently, He is a coach and trainer helping entrepreneurs and executives achieve business and leadership success. He is also an award-winning business journalist focused on the intersection of technology, Big Data, Cloud, SaaS, SAP, and other trending technology.
