As More Pay by Smartphone, Banks Scramble to Keep Up [telecom]

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A millennial-led shift to digital financial services could upend the consumer banking industry.

Ryan Craine hates carrying cash and finds writing checks to be a headache. He doesn't do much of either anymore - he mostly uses his smartphone to pay for things.

Mr. Craine, a 28-year-old tech support worker in Washington, D.C., uses Apple Pay at the stores and restaurants that accept it. About 20 times a month, he turns to Venmo, a digital wallet for transferring money from one person to another, to pay his share of rent, meals, groceries and utility bills. To refinance his student loans last year, he went to an online lending start-up, Earnest.