We just published the latest Online Banking Report:

Making the Case for Person-to-Person Payments
Does mobility provide the tipping point for bank-branded P2P?

Author: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder
Published: 10 Dec. 2009
Size: 40 pages, 10,000 words
Author: Jim Bruene, Editor & Founder
Cost: For OBR subscribers: $0, all others US$495
Abstract/Table of Contents: Here (PDF)
Download or purchase: Here

Background:
If you've been around the industry a while, you probably remember the last time there was a lot of hype around person-to-person (P2P) payments. It was ten years ago and PayPal had just launched and was competing with three well-funded efforts from large banks: Wells Fargo, Bank One (now Chase) and Citibank.

The battlefield at the time was eBay, which desperately needed a trusted payment mechanism, to remove the friction from person-to-person commerce. Well, PayPal won that battle, taking out all three bank competitors and becoming the payment standard at eBay.

But the incumbent banks and credit unions have not lost the war, yet. They still own the customer payments relationship. And even though more than 70% of U.S. online shoppers already have a PayPal account, there are millions of customers that still want an easy way to transfer money to family members, friends, or acquaintances. And increasingly, they will want to send the money via their mobile phone.

While PayPal can handle that type of transaction, it's not necessarily top of mind with consumers when considering how to send $65 to their sister to pay their share of mom's birthday party. 

This is something PayPal recognizes, so they are actively pursuing bank partners to offer co-branded Powered by PayPal P2P payment services. Just last month, PayPal announced deals with S1, FIS, and First Data to make PayPal solutions available to their thousands of clients. The first S1 client to publicly announce the program is Mercantile Bank of Michigan, which is already telling customers about its Q1 2010 launch of PayPal-powered mobile payments (see previous post).

About the report: Published last week, the latest Online Banking Report includes: 

• An overview of the product and market size
• Analysis of features and benefits
• A look at potential revenue streams
• Forecast for online and mobile P2P payment usage (United States only)
• Review of the offerings from key solutions providers and financial institutions, including the latest launch from Univest National Bank & Trust, which just launched a home-grown P2P payments service (see screenshot below)
• Project priority guidance for various types of financial institutions

Companied mentioned: Amazon Payments, American Express, Bank of America, Bank One (Chase), BECU, CashEdge POPmoney, CircleUp SmartPay, First Hawaiian Bank, Fiserv, Geauga Credit Union, ING Direct, iPay Technologies, MasterCard MoneySend, Mercantile Bank of Michigan, Mobile Money Ventures, mPayy, MoneyGram, Obopay, Nokia Money, Patelco Credit Union, PayPal, Revolution Money, TwitPay, Univest Bank & Trust, US Bank, Wells Fargo, Western Union

Univest's new P2P service featured on its homepage (15 Dec 2009)

Note: The report will be mailed to subscribers later this week.