NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- You will soon be able to pay your friend back for dinner or give your kid $100 by simply logging in to your bank account and entering their name and phone number. No cash, check, PayPal or silly app required.
Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) announced Wednesday that they will launch a system, called clearXchange, allowing customers to transfer money electronically through their existing accounts.
The new cash transfer system is a direct attempt to rival PayPal, owned by online auctioneer eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) and currently the dominant player in the person-to-person payment space. This kind of streamlined venture is rare among banks, who are constantly battling each other for customers.
"We call this a model of 'coopetition,' where we're actually cooperating with our competitors," said John Feldman, general manager of clearXchange and a former employee of Bank of America.