Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 31

Bank Account Fraud? There's an App for That
"Mobile banking once entailed little beyond the ability to receive a text message with your account balance. But these days, it’s finally starting to live up to its name. Virtually every large bank and many regional banks and credit unions have rolled out applications that allow their clients to use a mobile phone for fund transfers, bill payments and even depositing checks.

But with the increasing popularity and convenience of mobile-banking apps comes a big caveat: the risk of downloading and installing a fraudulent application that could draw your account information and, potentially, any other data stored on your mobile device. In other words, the next generation of “phishing” scams is about to explode – and it has the potential to do much more damage than earlier versions."

5 Burning Questions: Bling Nation's Meyer Malka
"Meyer Malka sits down in the Briefing Room Hot Seat to answer five burning questions about the mobile platform wars and to reveal "what's next" for BlingNation."

Is Mobile Banking Safe? Redefining Mobile Security through App Verification
"I was told with optimism recently that there is an upswing expected in the use of mobile banking services in the year ahead for key markets within the US and EU. The trouble is however, this growth is hinged on one MAJOR hurdle which is security.

Just the other week for example, news spread from media sources like USAToday.com confirmed that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) removed more than 50 mobile banking apps from its Android Market. These apps were just a few of the growing number of phishing apps that hackers are releasing into the financial services sector of mobile banking. The questions on the minds of many is, 'How could this happen and is my mobile banking app safe?'”

Active Blaze Mobile Users Access Digital Wallet a Staggering 9 Times Daily
"Blaze Mobile, a leading application for mobile banking, today announced that active Blaze Mobile Wallet users access their digital wallet an average of nine times each day and over 50% of the active users viewing their account balance and receipts. With consistent continued increase in Blaze Wallet downloads over the past year, the active access rate has continued with strong retention and usage rates. With access to over 8,000 financial institutions, Blaze Mobile offers convenience to customers who maintain multiple bank accounts and need access to review bank balances and view transaction history on the go."

The 30s crowd, not 20s, more digitally savvy about finances
"Wells Fargo recently surveyed 1,000 online banking customers and discovered that it's the 30-somethings who are more likely to use an online bank Web site, mobile banking and other Internet-related tools to manage their finances.

The 30-something folks are also using social networking, advanced photo and film technologies, and career networking sites more often than other respondents. With a lot of surveys showing how tech-savvy the younger generation is, it may seem surprising that it was not those from Gen Y but Gen Xers who are actually more hip to the use of online tools to manage their money. "

Versatile mobile to replace credit cards
"International IT company GFT Technologies AG (GFT) is developing future-orientated solutions for online payments. As payment with a mobile phone is increasingly becoming an alternative to the classic credit or debit cards, bank customers now have a wide range of payment options from which to choose. 'The mobile phone is the credit card of the future,' says GFT CEO, Ulrich Dietz. There has been a distinct rise in the use of mobile phones to make payments and take money out at cash machines, as well as to carry out banking transactions."

ClairMail Expands Optimized Mobile Web Support to Android and BlackBerry Devices
"ClairMail, Inc., the leader in mobile banking and payment solutions, today announced an update to the ClairMail mobile banking platform that extends its highly optimized mobile Web experience to Android and BlackBerry devices.
Based on its market leading SmartRendering technology, the ClairMail platform now supports a highly device-optimized version of the ClairMail mobile Web experience for BlackBerry and Android-based phones, such as the Curve™, Storm™, Pearl™, Motorola DROID and Google's Nexus One, with plans to support other devices as they are introduced to market. ClairMail has long provided the industry's leading mobile Web banking functionality on several hundred handsets, including the iPhone, with its proprietary device detection technology that delivers the best possible user experience based on each device's specific capability."