(August 29 – 10:10 ET) – Bank of America and Toronto-based 724 Solutions Inc. today launched a wireless banking and brokerage firm in the U.S.
Clients of Bank of America Private Bank in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, Baltimore and Washington D.C. will be able to use a variety of wireless devices to conduct secure, real-time banking transactions and access financial markets and investment information. Bank of America plans a full rollout of the service in the next year to 18 months.
The bank says it launched the service in response to the anticipated growth in online banking and the rising interest among consumers for instant access to personal, time-sensitive information and transactions via non-PC devices.
“Private Bank clients increasingly are on the move, and we need to facilitate that mobility by providing more convenient and technologically advanced ways to access our products and services,” said Kathleen Gibson, Bank of America Private Bank region president. “Our wireless strategy is focused squarely on the customer – creating added value that will help us broaden and deepen client relationships with the right combination of high-tech and high-touch.”
724 Solutions, which had launched similar services with Bank of Montreal, also said it appointed J. Robert Prichard, professor of law and president emeritus of the University of Toronto, to its board of directors. Prichard is also a director at BMO, Onex Corp., Four Seasons Hotels and Biochem Pharma Inc. The company said the appointment fulfills its commitment to create an independent board with a focus on corporate governance.
The board includes representatives from BMO, Bank of America and Citigroup’s e-commerce division as well as Holger Kluge, a former executive with Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Heather Reisman, founder and CEO of Indigo Books.
-IE Staff