When it comes to mobile payments, it’s generally not banks who are doing the best job of taking advantage of a growing market.

Just recently, we saw firsthand how Chinese banks were losing out on big opportunity thanks to Tencent and Alibaba’s efforts.

Perhaps wanting to avoid such a fate in the United States, several major banks have combined efforts to produce Early Warning, a system that could let the banks get a big new slice of mobile payments.

Early Warning is a firm that handles authentication and payments systems, and manages the clearXchange system, a technology that allows bank customers to make transactions with a bare minimum of lag.

Where normally, it takes one to three days to move money from one bank to another, with clearXchange it can be done in a matter of minutes.

Essentially, as noted by Bank of America managing director of payments Mary Harman, the group is “…delivering payments in real time, which is what our customers have asked for.”

Thus, clearXchange becomes what amounts to a new, bank-backed mobile payment system that allows for peer-to-peer transaction support—something that even Apple Pay was spotted struggling with not so long ago—and working with other businesses besides.

While some banks have yet to join in on the action—notable holdouts include Citigroup—clearXchange users run the gamut from U.S. Bancorp and Bank of America right now to JPMorgan and Capital One Financial later this year.

It’s actually a very good idea; indeed, customers have been asking for such services, so long and so loud that many have found these services available elsewhere. For those who were concerned about security—and that’s still a pretty substantial number of users—the protection a bank can offer should go a long way to mitigate those concerns.

Not to mention the sheer peace of mind that a major bank’s name alone can offer. However, it’s important to note that Early Warning and clearXchange are very much late to the party, and will have to deal with entrenched user bases.

Thanks to the extra features and the greater possible perception of safety, Early Warning may get an edge in the market. Only time will tell if it can ride that edge to success, but the chance is certainly there.