Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 29

ClairMail launches mobile banking app for iPhone
"Last month, I wrote about plans by banking and security products company Diebold to launch mobile banking services in the U.S. Today, Diebold’s partner, ClairMail, a Novato (Calif.)-based company, announced another effort to proliferate mobile banking: Smart Client. This free application for the iPhone is now available to banks, which will offer it to consumers later this year, and aims to make it easier yet for smart phone users to register for and use mobile banking."

U.S. Bank Introduces Downloadable Mobile Banking Application
"U.S. Bank has launched the Mobile Wallet, its new free downloadable mobile banking application that allows more convenient banking access on the go to its customers. The bank is collaborating with Firethorn Holdings, LLC, a Qualcomm company, to provide the technology behind the Mobile Wallet."

35% of mobile subscribers will use m-banking in 2014, study predicts
"Some 35% of mobile users in Latin America will perform mobile banking transactions in 2014, predicts consultancy Signals Telecoms Consulting. Though the future of mobile banking is expected to involve consumers using their mobile terminals to carry out all sorts of transactions, removing the need to carry cash, cards and other means of payment, Signals market research director Carlos Blanco claims that the mobile banking concept encompasses a broader range of areas, including the categories of remote payments, authentication processes, bank account maintenance and payment orders."

CASHEDGE SIGNS FIRST ROUND OF BANKS FOR POPMONEY
"CashEdge, Inc. (www.cashedge.com), the leading provider of Intelligent Money Movement™ services, announced today that four financial institutions, including a top 10 bank, are adding POPmoney™ (www.popmoney.com) to their customer offerings. All are expected to be live with the new service by the end of 2009. POPmoney is the first email and mobile person-to-person payments (P2P) service for banks."

Internet Is Top Banking Method
"Online is now the No. 1 method of banking, according to an August 2009 survey of US consumers by the American Bankers Association (ABA). One-quarter of respondents preferred banking online to using branches, ATMs or any other channel."

Internet banking moves onto your phone
"WITH the rise in popularity of 3G mobiles, banks will soon offer their facilities anywhere you can get a phone signal. The world of banking has come a long way since we all queued up at bank branches to transfer money or withdraw cash. Since the first automatic teller machine appeared at a London branch of Barclays in 1967, banking has steadily evolved from a Dickensian-style, paper-based industry requiring rubber stamps on every transaction, through the telephone banking revolution of the 1990s to today's hi-tech digital operations where, with the right equipment, many of us need never visit a bank branch again."

M-Com Presents Interactive Webinar on Mobile Banking and Payments: Winning Strategies for Banks
"Global mobile banking and payments solution provider M-Com is to host a series of webinars on how banks can make money from mobile banking and payment services. Hear from industry experts at M-Com about what is working and what is not in the Mobile Financial Services space based on our 10 years of experience helping banks make the most from the mobile channel. This is not a product pitch but rather a review of key issues facing the segment, opportunities for revenue generation in the near-term and best practice approaches for delivering world class Mobile Financial Services solution in your market. Strategies discussed will be applicable to both developed and developing markets based on M-Com’s experience delivering winning mobile banking, payments and m-commerce solutions that help banks capitalize on revenue generation, cost mitigation and competitive differentiation opportunities."

First Bank Launches Free Mobile Banking
"In an effort to better service clients, FirstBank has launched free mobile banking to all account holders in the United States & British Virgin Islands. FirstBank’s mobile banking service will give clients instant connectivity to accounts anywhere, anytime using the browser on their mobile devices. FirstBank is pleased to offer clients yet another delivery channel for accessing their account information. The Bank continues to take a proactive leadership role in providing clients with the technology to meet their needs not only today but in the future."

ClairMail Extends Mobile Banking Platform
"ClairMail, Inc., the leader in mobile banking and payment solutions, today announced Version 4 of its industry leading mobile banking platform. The new platform includes cutting-edge technology designed to help financial institutions realize the strategic potential of mobile banking. This new release of the product delivers game changing capabilities in the three most critical areas of mobile banking solutions, the ability to use mobile to drive to 100% coverage of the bank's customers, the ability to proactively deliver personalized content to deepen customer engagement, and the need for a simple, yet powerful, converged customer experience to deliver comprehensive services and technology through a unified and streamlined customer interface."


CellTrust SecureSMS to Meet the Stringent Mobile Banking Requirements
"CellTrust Corporation, the world's largest provider of SecureSMS for mobile phones, announced today its SecureSMS platform meets the new and stringent SecureSMS security requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
With approximately 53% of the adult population in Nigeria financially excluded, the Central Bank of Nigeria has been working feverishly to spur innovation within the financial services sector."