BMO banks on B2B payments

Canada’s commercial banks have certainly embraced technology bringing their clients automated teller machines (ATMs), telephone and online banking and more recently wireless banking. However, technology may yet prove to be the commercial banks undoing. Faced with a shrinking margin from what they can loan money out at, increasing transaction costs and the threat of foreign competition the banks have branched out into other venues such as insurance and financial investment, but now a new threat has arisen. The banks’ role in the payment system is coming under attack from new players offering on-line bill presentment and payment.