Mobile Banking from U.S. Bank

Breaking News!!!
There is no mention of the product on their website but U.S. Bank has a browser-based mobile banking solution at m.usbank.com

It's a slow evening (out-of-town on business) so I decided to catch-up on some digging. I've been keeping an eye on RBS, HSBC, and U.S. Bank and it looks like tonight it paid off. I'll let you know as I learn more.

Mobile Lockbox from Wausau and Clairmail

WAUSAU Financial Systems and ClairMail have announced an agreement to extend the mobile channel to WAUSAU's remittance processing solutions. According to the two companies, "by integrating ClairMail's Mobile Lockbox technology with its remittance processing managed service, WAUSAU will empower its customers to include payments via mobile phones as part of their receivables processing offering to their clients."
Learn more >>

Barclays Mobile Banking - Hello Money

The other day I received an email from my friend in South Africa - Christo Vrey (Managing Executive, Digital Channels - ABSA). He was writing to share the news that Barclays has launched a new mobile banking solution called Hello Money.

Click here to check out their microsite, but I'll tell you in advance that they've done a nice job of covering the key elements. There's a brief overview and then the client is quickly taken into the key features: Fast, Convenient, and Secure. Also take note that they have a very comprehensive demo including step by step instructions for all of the key functionality.


Additionally, they've done a nice job building a robust FAQ section. I myself am not as familiar with the USSD technology so I was able to learn...

"How different is it from the other technologies used like SMS, GPRS and application-based services?"

"USSD-based Hello Money is different as -
* It provides an interactive browsing experience
* It is available on all GSM handsets (even most of the legacy models)
* It has an in-built USSD encryption and 'no store just forward' facility for
performing secure transactions
* You need not remember any transaction message formats
* It works on roaming at no extra cost (no additional operator cost)
* Faster service, as the network latency is very low"

Mobile Banking - FIS, Clairmail, mFoundry

Fidelity National Information Service, Inc. (FIS) today announced the launch of its new comprehensive 2-way mobile banking and bill pay product suite, FIS Mobile Banking and Bill Pay. This advanced product offering encompasses the three modes of mobile banking – SMS/Text, Mobile Web and downloadable application solutions. This new, state of the art offering will address the varied needs of all clients and allow financial institutions to target different segments of their client-base with the most appropriate mobile banking solution(s). Learn more >>

Washington Mutual Launches Mobile Banking

I wanted to let you know that Washington Mutual has launched their mobile banking solution. I apologize - I'll have to flush out the details at another time because I'm literally writing this from the beach on my iPhone but this is very big news. Check out this link for more details.
www.wamu.com/online_banking/mobile/features_demo/default.asp

Mobile Banking on Vacation Part II

Logged into mobile banking and paid my car loan from here...

Mobile Banking on Vacation

On vacation - spent too much at Disney. Logged into mobile banking and
moved money while here...

USAA Mobile Banking

Today I learned that USAA has a browser-based mobile banking solution which allows clients the ability to:
* View Balances
* Transfers Funds
* Pay Bills
* Place a Stock Trade
* Request an Auto ID Card

To learn more visit mobile.usaa.com or click here to view their microsite and demo.

Mobile Banking Updates

Top Industry Leaders to Take Stage at 2008 TowerGroup Annual Conference
"In continuing its tradition as a top venue for sharing insights on the major issues facing the global financial services industry, TowerGroup today announced that it will host two industry panel discussions at its upcoming 2008 Annual Conference. These sessions will compliment the over 30 strategic presentations led by TowerGroup research analysts. Themed, “Charting Your Course for Success,” the event, which will be held from May 28 to 30, 2008, at Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel in Boston, Mass., will delve deep into the market mandates of the retail consumer and wholesale client management; unearth new opportunities for developing markets; and debate the practical realities of emerging technologies."

Online Resources Announces Two Key Internet Banking Wins
"Online Resources Corporation (Nasdaq:ORCC), a leading provider of web-based financial services, today announced that National Penn Bancshares and Travis Credit Union have signed new multi-year agreements with its Community Bank & Credit Union Services unit for retail Internet banking and other services. The institutions’ combined 100,000 end-users are scheduled to be converted to Online Resources’ platform later this year."

Monitise and Metavante Partner with Carphone Warehouse to Make Money Mobile
"Monitise plc (LSE:MONI.L) and Metavante (NYSE:MV) today announced that they are working with Carphone Warehouse to launch a “mobile money” scheme. The launch will see the introduction of a Carphone Warehouse prepay card, managed directly from the mobile phone, that can be used to shop in millions of outlets worldwide. The deal is the result of a partnership with Metavante Technologies Ltd., a leading provider of prepaid and licensed software in Europe, and Monitise plc, the company behind the MONILINK mobile banking and payments network."

Leading Global Banks Invest in Mobile Banking Opportunity

"Driven by the excellent opportunity provided by mobile banking to enhance existing customer services, nearly a third of the world’s largest financial organizations are planning to launch mobile banking services in the next 12 to 24 months, according to a recent survey commissioned by Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE:SY), the global leader in mobile messaging services." Read More >>

Mobile Banking - Browser Myths Debunked

Late last week I read an article on "Mobile Banker" titled "In New Mobile Model, Carriers Welcome Many Bank Partners." The article was very well written and outlined the differing opinions on the future of the mobile landscape. However, there was one topic that I'd like to discuss in further detail and that is - browser based mobile banking solutions.

For years this solution has been shunned as slow, unsecure and impossible to develop because of rendering. However, I'm here to unequivocally state that those are myths. Now, I'm not going to speculate on the source of such "tales" but I do believe that they are meant to scare bankers. After all, who benefits if a bank spends just a few bucks to develop an in-house browser solution? That's right - the banks do.

So lets take just a moment to debunk each of the rumors individually.

Security
Lets first tackle the issue of security, because after all it is priority #1. For those new to the space let me begin by clarifying that modern day browser applications are not WAP applications. In fact, you might be surprised to know that the code is actually xhtml which is a fancy way of saying, "the same code that runs your online banking solution." Now, if anyone would like to claim that online banking is not secure we can go down that path, but the discussion would likely end with the topic of Reg E, which interestingly enough, also covers all mobile banking solutions. Additionally, you should now that browser solutions are not simply built and launched. They are subject to the very same safety and security reviews as every other electronic channel and they pass with flying colors.

Speed
Next, lets analyze the speed of a browser solution against a downloadable application and an SMS solution. For this test I'll reference the videos on YouTube that show a step by step balance request utilizing two of the most successful vendors in the market. The results of the test are as follows:

Time to Conduct a Balance Inquiry
Downloadable (Firethorn) - 1:03
SMS (Clairmail) - :32 seconds
Browser (Bank of America) - :58 seconds

Rendering
The final myth is that browser applications can not render properly across the thousands of handset/carrier/browser combinations. This one is simple to refute - it's simply not true. Design for the lowest common denominator and your done.

Finally, to drive home the fact that browser based solutions are popular and are taking hold I'll reference the 276 sites on cantoni.mobi where you can sample just a fraction of the existing browser solutions on the market today.

B of A - 840,000 Mobile Banking Clients

PaymentsNews announced that Bank of America enrolled 224,000 new mobile banking clients in the first quarter of 2008 bringing their total number of active mobile banking clients to 840,000. Read More >>