Mobile Banking in Canada

Lately, I've been noticing a lot of mobile banking news coming from Canada. Here are a few of the articles that caught my attention.

Ready to bank on your smart phone?
"Less than 10 per cent of Canadians are using mobile banking, but experts say it won't be long before the service is more popular than online banking. Research suggests that consumers in this country would prefer to check their bank balances, transfer money, or pay their bills while sitting on their morning train commute or standing in line at the coffee shop rather than at their office or home computer."

Mobile banking and investing coming
"A growing number of investors have turned to their computers and online brokers for cheaper, more efficient handling of their portfolios. Will the smartphone be next in their arsenal of investment tools? Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce made a splash recently when it claimed to be the first major Canadian bank to offer a mobile banking application for Apple's iPhone."

Canadian firms finally getting into wireless: Analysts
"Krista Napier, a senior analyst at IDC Canada covering Canadian competitive intelligence and emerging technologies predicted, that enterprises here will embrace wireless business applications more than ever, while banks will allow wireless banking for the first time.

'We expect to see the big five banks either announcing or launching their mobile banking initiatives,' Napier said in an interview after the event. 'Scotiabank will be the first in the spring, and we expect the others to be making announcements later in the year.' [CIBC already offers mobile banking.]"

Scotiabank Introduces Mobile Banking Services
"Scotiabank has announced two new mobile services to help keep customers informed. The first is Scotia InfoAlerts, a service that notifies customers via text message or e-mail of transactional activities in their accounts. The second is an application for the iPhone and iPod touch or Blackberry smartphones, providing Canadians with a GPS locator for Scotiabank branches and ATMs."

Zoompass Trials Mobile Payment Tag
"Zoompass, a mobile payment service launched last year by a consortium of Canadian telecom players, is branching out with the introduction of a wireless payment sticker that can be attached to a mobile phone, effectively turning it into a “tap-and-pay” debit card system. Zoompass was developed by EnStream, a partnership among Canada’s three major telecom companies: Bell Mobility, Rogers Communications and Telus Corp. The service allows members to send money to friends or family with their handheld device via an iPhone app, BlackBerry app, etc., and to pay for products and services through a credit card linked to their Zoompass account."

Mobile banking continues to rise with Canada’s Telus and ATB Financial
"Telus today announced that ATB Financial has adopted the Telus Mobile Banking system. After a 90 day pilot period, the service will be rolled out for free to all ATB customers. The services will be used to provided access to secure account management and information over your mobile.

ATB customers will be able to view account balances, see recent transactions and transfer funds using SMS or mobile web, so the service can be used from virtually any mobile phone."

Mobile Webpages for Banks in Canada:
Scotiabank

RBC Royal Bank

TD Canada

CIBC