Mobile Banking Updates - May 31

Think Launches FaceCash Mobile Payment System for POS Payments
"Palo Alto-based Think Computer Corporation has announced the launch of its new FaceCash mobile payment system that lets consumers pay for items at the point of sale with a cell phone. Think says that FaceCash is the first component of its ThinkLink integrated payment and accounting network to launch."

Making the Move to Mobile Payments
"Your customers are accustomed to conducting life through their mobile devices. And soon, they may expect to be able to pay through their cellphone as well.

When a magnitude 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti in January, Americans were asked to pull out their cell phones rather than their wallets. In the first large-scale use of texting to make charitable donations, givers contributed more than $30 million in just 10 days."

Branchless Banking is 19 % Cheaper than Banks: Study
"On average, the cost for carrying out transactions with mobile banking or other forms of branchless banking is 19% cheaper than charges of conventional banks; however the gap can further widen if branchless banks tend to lower their profits, revealed a study done by CGAP research that compared 26 branchless banking pioneers and traditional banks."

Mobile Banking & Emerging Payments Technology
"The mobile movement is beyond the tipping point. Already, there are more U.S. consumers with mobile devices than without them, making it virtually impossible for any financial institution to ignore the enormous potential of this delivery channel.
But how to move forward? Many institutions have taken the first steps toward becoming mobile-enabled. In fact, Celent just reported that the majority of the Top 50 U.S. retail banks will offer some form of mobile banking by the end of this year."

Mobile banking's growth rate putting bank leaders in check
"Not only has the recession driven demand for it as more customers who are worried about their money go online to check their accounts, but younger people also are turning to technology for their banking needs."

‘It’s not just the logo’
"Nigerian banks should improve their brand value, as well as their customer care and call centre services locally and internationally, while seeking to deliver financial services and products to their customers, Foluso Phillips, the chairman and CEO of Phillips Consulting has said.

Mr Phillips, who stated this at the launch of ‘Flashwallet,’ a new product of Fin Bank Plc, said improving customer care services in the banking industry would go a long way in addressing some of the challenges customers face, both in the country and outside."

Demand For Safer Online Banking And Shopping Experience To Drive Mobile Banking In Australia
"With 13% of people using mobile banking at least once a week in Australia, local adoption is on par with other Western countries such as the US (13%), Canada (12% and UK (15%), but still lagging behind emerging Asian markets, including India (47%) and China (51%), according to a recent survey by Sybase 365. Sybase 365 is a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY) and the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce services."

Moving beyond the branch
"The rise of mobile banking has created new opportunities for financial institutions to improve their competitive position, enhance acquisition and loyalty, and lower the cost to serve customers.

To date, most institutions have promoted this new channel primarily among current online banking customers, overlooking millions of possible users and reducing the potential return on their mobile banking investment. A more effective approach would be to implement a proactive channel migration strategy aimed at converting offline customers, who are not regular users of online banking, from traditional channels to the mobile channel."

Visa To Form JV In India
"In an attempt to further penetrate into the Indian consumer market, on Wednesday, Visa Inc. announced its partnership with London-based Monitise plc to offer an array of mobile financial services in India through a joint venture (JV) operation. The JV is expected to reach fruition by June 2010."

Mobile Banking Updates - May 25

New Boston Fed Paper: Mobile Payments in the US at Retail Point of Sale
"The Consumer Payments Research Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston has released a new public policy discussion paper titled 'Mobile Payments in the United States at Retail Point of Sale: Current Market and Future Prospects' authored by Marianne Crowe, Marc Rysman, and Joanna Stavins."

Navy Federal Credit Union and EffectiveUI Unveil Navy Federal iPhone App
"Navy Federal Credit Union, the world's largest credit union, and EffectiveUI, an award-winning user experience (UX) design and development agency, today announced the release of a free mobile banking app for the iPhone and iPod touch®. The Navy Federal mobile app will make it easier for the organization's 3.4 million members to securely manage their accounts from wherever they may be in the world."

Sun National Bank Goes Mobile With mFoundry
"Sun National Bank announced today that it has partnered with mFoundry to launch Sun on Hand(TM), a state-of-the-art, fully integrated and comprehensive mobile banking solution for its customers. Featuring text messaging, mobile web and application technology, the program makes financial management possible anytime, anywhere for people with mobile phone access."

KeyBank Enhances, Expands Online and Bank Channel Capabilities
"KeyBank has enhanced its online banking capabilities and added mobile banking to its suite of banking solutions. Both moves reflect Key's ongoing efforts to provide clients with a breadth of options that meet their specific banking needs while delivering a superior overall client experience."

Bank of the West deploys online account opening and funding service from CashEdge
"US financial services provider Bank of the West has teamed up with account aggregation, funds transfer and online account opening company CashEdge to deploy the latter's online account opening and funding service for its retail banking customers."

Obopay Names Deepak Chandnani President
"Obopay, a leading mobile banking and payment provider, today announced the appointment of Deepak Chandnani as president of Obopay, Inc. The appointment is effective immediately and is a newly created position for Obopay."

MasterCard to Open Its Software for Application Development
"MasterCard Inc. is planning to open up its software format, enabling third-party programmers to develop payments applications for its network. The company said Tuesday that it would release open application programming interfaces for developers later this year. 'We feel this will unleash innovation within our industry, especially in the burgeoning areas of e-commerce and mobile payments,' Josh Peirez, MasterCard's chief innovation officer, said in a press release."

SMS Banking upgrades dominate recent development
"The May update of Mapa’s UK Mobile Banking and SMS Competitor Intelligence dashboards recorded notable new services as well as removed services in the UK market. Barclays have been the most active player in the mobile field the last months. Following the removal of SMS Banking highlighted in the Mapa update from February, the bank has now introduced their new and upgraded SMS Banking service. Customers sign up within Internet Banking and can register for regular balance alerts as well as triggered transaction alerts for a flat fee of £2 a month."

Mobile Banking Updates - May 23

Has the iPhone lost its cool?
"Did Google just turn the tables on Apple? Having entered the mobile software market late with its Android offering, Google's initial efforts were a pale imitation of the iPhone OS, a clunky user experience on sub-par handsets. Fast forward to 2010. Suddenly, Google Android is winning over the hearts and minds of technologists and signing up 100,000 converts a day. That raises the question: Is the iPhone losing its sheen?"

Top Mobile Banking Users? Android Phone Owners
"A new Javelin Strategy & Research report issued today – 2010 Mobile Payments – Crossing the Chasm: Industry Models Battle to Bridge the Gap – finds that Android phone users are the most likely mobile phone owners to have logged into their bank in the last seven days, followed by iPhone users. The on-the-go functionality of smartphones is revolutionizing how consumers make financial transactions – or want to. Up to one-in-five consumers have expressed interest in using their mobile device to make payments; Javelin expects a sharp rise in that demand over the next few years. To meet that mandate and boost the currently stalled mobile payments market, diverse stakeholders must work together to identify and shape effective business models and technologies and build the value proposition for both consumers and merchants."

Monitise: 20m mobile banking actions in six months
"Monitise's Mobile Money Manager platform provides mobile banking services to 240 banks in the UK and the US. It says its apps are now being used at the rate of a million a week. These apps run on iPhone, Blackberry and Nokia, and the company is also working on an application for handsets using Google’s Android software."

Obopay, YES Bank introduce mobile banking services
"Obopay, a mobile payment technology provider, has partnered with YES Bank and Nokia for the Commercial Pilot Launch of mobile banking services in Pune. This service is called Mobile Money Services by YES Bank, said a press note here. Obopay provides the technology platform which enables mobile money transaction services. The commercial pilot was launched in Pune in late February. Obopay is also responsible for the entire back-end work and has been able to enroll a significant number of Pune’s population, as well as sign up a substantial number of merchants and agents since then, the note said."

Mobile Banking Subscriber Numbers Doubling Every Year
"New forecasts from ABI Research indicate that in 2015 about 407 million people worldwide will carry out financial transactions with their banks using their mobile phones. Of those, some 66 million will be in North America.

According to senior analyst Mark Beccue, however, 'It’s not the North American market that is moving fastest to mobile banking: that crown goes to the Asia-Pacific region, which accounted for the lion’s share of the world’s 52.2 million mobile banking subscribers in 2009. The global number of subscribers more than doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to almost double again in 2010. This growth can be seen everywhere, but Asia – led by India – is pushing it particularly hard.'”

Mobile Banking Updates - May 20

New Mobile Banking Product Launched in Kenya
"A new mobile banking product, targeting rural areas, has been launched in Kenya. Kenya's largest mobile operator, Safaricom, and fastest growing bank, Equity Bank, have unveiled M-Kesho, a mobile banking product targeting rural areas. M-Kesho will allow M-Pesa (Safaricom's mobile money transfer service) account holders to deposit money, withdraw cash and access loans."

Mobile banking services help consumers control funds
"Two free services from JP Morgan Chase & Co. may soon make mobile banking easier and more efficient for customers. Instant Action Text Alerts will send a message via text message immediately after the funds in a checking account falls below a predetermined amount. This is similar to the company’s low-balance account alerts, according to an announcement from Chase.

After receiving an alert, customers will be able to transfer funds by texting "T" and the desired amount of money. They may also transfer from one Chase account to another. Individuals interested in reviewing transactions on their mortgage, savings, credit card and other accounts may do so by texting Chase (24273)."

New Mobile Banking Text Service Launched by MBNA
"MBNA has launched a new mobile phone service that helps U.K. customers to text for their credit card information.

Within seconds, customers, with the help of the new Mobile Banking Text service, can use their mobile phone to get credit card account information, such as balance, payments and transactions, by simply texting to a dedicated mobile short-code number - 83838."

Are mobile payments reaching a tipping point in the US?
"The growth of mobile payments in the United States has stalled largely because the market’s diverse stakeholders have been unable to build compatible business models. But is the tipping point at hand?

The various players’ unwillingness to work together has further slowed the integration of supporting technologies such as Near Field Communication into handsets and has delayed merchant adoption of acceptance devices. However, while many market participants are struggling to achieve dominance in market share and revenues, the threat of losing out to alternatives continues to grow."

Mobile Banking Security May 19

The Coming Wave of Mobile Attacks
"The pace of innovation on mobile phones and other smart wireless devices has accelerated greatly in the last few years, adding features, speed and computing power. But now the attackers are beginning to outstrip the good guys on mobile platforms, developing innovative new attacks and methods for stealing data that rival anything seen on the desktop, experts say.

For years there have been dire predictions from industry pundits about the coming wave of mobile malware, viruses and Trojans that would specifically target smartphones and PDAs, wreaking havoc on mobile devices. But that giant tide of mobile malware never materialized. There have been a few mobile viruses here and there, but for the most part attackers have decided to forego those kinds of attacks and instead have focused on stealthy techniques that give them unlimited--and unnoticed--control of the device."

Mobile Security Threats Become Aggressive
"Another activity that was once restricted to computers has also recently been making the leap to the mobile phone � banking. Performing banking services on a mobile phone is a relatively old idea, having been mooted sometime around the late 1990s. It was only around 2007 however that the major infrastructure for mobile banking � applications, networks, bank and consumer education and willingness � was finally set up and pilot projects launched.

As of early 2009, mobile banking has not yet seen any of the threats that plague computer-based online banking (phishing, pharming, banking Trojans, etc). A note of caution however � it is unlikely that mobile banking's 'honeymoon' period will last forever. Currently, maybe less than 10% of bank customers eligible for mobile phone banking services make use of this option, as awareness, trust and confidence in mobile banking still needs to be nurtured. As more consumers adopt mobile banking however, security experts expect hackers to migrate their money-stealing efforts to the mobile phone as well."

Security Threats and Opportunities
"For the time being the mobile banking environment is fairly safe. That's not because mobile phones are secure, often they're not. Few people use passwords or install anti-virus software. Security experts say they're safe simply because cybercriminals have not yet seriously targeted phones for malware. But as more people adopt mobile banking and it becomes more transactional-not just checking balances and getting alerts-the threats are likely to mount quickly.

Jacob Jegher, a senior analyst at Celent, says criminals have not targeted mobile phones for the same reason they have bypassed Macs in favor of PCs. Criminals want to develop spyware for the masses, and mobile banking adoption is simply too small to attract serious attention."

Mobile security: The long road ahead
"The market for mobile enterprise solutions is undoubtedly growing, so everyday sensitive data walks out the doors of the enterprise--customer contact lists, pricing data and R&D information that executives and sales staffers carry around on their mobile phones.

As next-generation smart phones become progressively more full-featured and powerful with applications like mobile banking, m-wallet, support multiple VPN methods and run a broad range of business applications, more employees will adopt these devices as a primary connectivity method."

ABSA and Western Union

South Africa's largest retail bank, Absa, and Western Union, a leader in global payment services, have enhanced their joint service offering to Absa accountholders by allowing them to conveniently access the Western Union(R) Money TransferSM service to send or receive cross-border money transfers using either a cell phone or Internet banking. >> Continue Reading http://ir.westernunion.com/press/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=469391

Mobile Banking Updates - May 14

Mobile Banking Must Read: Obopay Responds To American Banker’s Article On Mobile Money for Banks
"Obopay SVP, Michael Diamond, responds to the American Banker's recent article that characterizes Obopay's decision to deliver mobile money services to bank as potentially too late and as a mobile money transfer play, rather than a suite of mobile banking services. If you are interested in mobile banking, you will want to read this."

Retail Bankers - Wake up to the 21st Century!
"James Gardner did a great post on his blog today that got me thinking. Why is it so hard to get Mobile banking and social media on the minds of the top bankers today?

The iPad has sold over 1 million units in just over 1 month since its release, but this pales in comparison to the iPhone which has exceeded 100 million total units, with sales globally expected to reach 58 million this year alone. Considering that the iPhone has only recently been officially launched in Japan and China, we can expect the future of iPhone sales to be extremely robust. But this is only part of the smartphone revolution. Google’s Android operating system has been a huge success too. In Q1 of 2010 in the US market, Android-based phones actually outsold iPhones with 28 percent of the marketshare of smartphones going to Google’s platform. Blackberry still commands 36 percent of the US market due to its strong enterprise support."

Mobile Banking Set to Soar
"For consumers, mobile banking is about convenience: the ability to check account balances, pay bills and transfer funds from a device they take with them everywhere. For financial institutions, it is a means to deepen customer relationships, streamline operations and cut costs. Several forecasts predict that by 2015, 50% or more of US mobile users will be conducting transactions from their mobile devices.

'The ubiquity of these devices offers banks an opportunity to connect with customers outside the online channel, including those who are always on the go as well as the underbanked and unbanked consumers who lack consistent Internet access,' said Noah Elkin, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report 'Mobile Banking: Financial Services Firms Look to Cash In.'"

Mobile Banking Updates - May 11

Mobile Payments on the Small Screen: NACHA Payments 2010 Followup
"A curious thing happened at the recent NACHA’s Payments 2010 conference in Seattle – it was how quickly the person to person (P2P) payment conversation turned to mobile commerce, consumer to business (C2B) and business to business (B2B). Voila! Granted the remittance payment market is ultimately P2P, banks are becoming more comfortable with the use/risk cases and will finally move beyond A2A (account to account transfers) Mom paying Billy at State U to ecommerce, Mom paying the homeowners association and spa (you need a break), and may one day allow two Gen Y’ers to pay each other back for drinks with smart phones. If the bank doesn’t serve them, Twitter might. The consumer is younger and more ready to pay businesses and each other from the small screen. Slightly over 80% of the 18-29 age group use only wireless/mobile communications. Bankers, these are your new consumer and business customers."

Fiserv Unveils ZashPay - P2P Payments via Online Banking
"Fiserv has announced ZashPay, a new person-to-person payments service that 'will allow consumers to tap into a community where they can quickly send or receive money using their existing online banking accounts. With ZashPay, consumers will be able to send money to anyone they know using only an e-mail address or mobile phone number. The payment will be deducted directly from the sender’s banking account and deposited directly into the recipient’s account in as little as one business day, utilizing the same secure processes as a typical online banking transaction.'"

NPD report: Android outselling iPhone; BlackBerry number one
"The iPhone gets the bulk of the mind share, but in actual U.S. smartphone sales, the iPhone trails not only Research In Motion's BlackBerrys but also now handsets built around Google's Android mobile operating system. That's what NPD Group is reporting, based on the market researcher's first quarter 2010 mobile operating system numbers that were released today. NPD says its wireless research reveals that the RIM OS has 36% of the mobile OS market, compared to 28% for Android devices and just 21% for the iPhone. Data is based on unit sales."

Obopay Announces Mobile Money for Banks
"Obopay has announced Mobile Money for Banks - a new service that 'will allow banks to deploy their own branded mobile money service. Designed to make bank accounts the anchor for all current and future mobile money transactions, the service combines complete brand control and a full range of mobile transactions and applications with simple low-cost integration and deployment. Mobile Money for Banks includes the ability to send and transfer money, makes payment card acceptance available to everyone and can be implemented in 30 days or less.'"

EX-Lloyds innovation boss chides HSBC over m-banking
"Mobile banking has long been touted as a delivery channel with huge potential. Last year Berg Insight predicted take up is set to soar, with the number of people using the technology growing from 20 million in 2008 to 913 million in 2014. Only last month research outfit Forrester urged banks to update their strategies in preparation of a surge in popularity as Europe sees increased smartphone adoption. Yet, alone among the UK's major banks, HSBC offers no retail mobile service at all, prompting James Gardner, now CTO at the Department for Work and Pensions, to ask on his blog: 'What is going on HSBC?'"

Mobile, Online Banking Draw Mixed Reactions
"Banking is becoming more handheld and convenient every day, it seems. You can text your bank to check your balance, pay bills via mobile device, or manage all of your finances on your bank’s website. But how do people feel about banking on the go? It turns out that some people don’t need it, while others can’t do without it. Check out this video and learn some of the advantages and disadvantages of mobile banking from every day people with a variety of opinions on Online banking.

Mobile Banking News, Net.Finance, and a New Job

I would like to take a minute to apologize because I won't be able to attend the Net.Finance conference later this week. However, please don't misunderstand, I am still a huge supporter of the event and I encourage you to sign up if you're not currently registered.

This is one of the few events held in the Chicago and it will provide you the opportunity to hear from:
Secil Watson (Wells Fargo)
Dion Lisle (Citi)
Dottie Yates (Bank of America)
Denise Rossi Henn (PNC)
Doug Peacock (M&I Bank)
Sarah Overcash (SunTrust)
Kevin Lynch (1st Mariner Bank)

In case you haven't heard, the reason I won't be able to attend the conference is because I have accepted a new position and I'm preparing to move my family across the country. My new role is still within the mobile industry, but I won't be able to share the details for another couple of weeks.

Also, please take comfort in knowing that I will continue writing the Mobile Banking Blog and it will remain the single most comprehensive resource for mobile banking news...

P2P Payments: What You Need to Know
"U.S. banking institutions are quickly adopting the new, simple payment solution called 'Person-to-Person' (P2P) for customers to send money to family and friends via email or text message. At the top of the list for reasons to deploy this new mobile payments solution: Customer convenience. But at a time when fraudsters prey upon electronic transactions, what are P2P's unique security concerns? For insights on P2P, we spoke to two institutions that have deployed the service, as well as a P2P solution providers."

Despite America's iPhone Obsession, We're Behind the World's Mobile Calling Curve
"Despite our noisy fascination with iPhones and iPads, it turns out the United States is one of the least advanced places in the world when it comes to the way we use mobile devices. That is the conclusion of a new study by Sybase 365, which provides services for mobile messaging and mobile commerce.

In fact, when it comes to using mobile devices for things like text messaging and instant messaging, the survey indicates we’re getting blown away. Only 31.5 percent of people in the United States use a mobile device for text messaging and sending IMs—while in China 90 percent of people surveyed use mobile devices for those things."

ICO in talks with Barclays over weak mobile banking security
"The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is in talks with Barclays Bank about the security set-up of its mobile banking service. Last week a Computer Weekly reader complained about the ease with which the online banking service can be accessed. People who lose their bank card or have their card details copied could have their banking transactions exposed to prying eyes. The problem affects the Barclays.mobi web link which connects customers to pages designed to be viewed on mobile phones."

The State of Mobile Banking 2010
"2010 will be remembered as the year that implementing mobile banking moved from being a get-on-the-bandwagon trend to table stakes in the American retail financial services market, the year that big banks began to recognize the channel's own legitimacy, and the year that most mid-tier and community banks put mobile banking on their short list of things to get done.

For banks, the good news is that, relative to other pressing technology investments like enterprise risk management or core replacement, mobile banking is relatively cheap to bring to market. The challenge is that there are many moving parts to consider: basic banking functionality, security, back-end integration, payments integration, NFC, and marketing and loyalty plays. The bigger challenge is that many consumers are already steps ahead when it comes to adopting a mobile lifestyle, so every month that lagging banks spend deliberating on all these options is another month that competitors grab mindshare as the mobility-focused brand."

S. Korea sees 11.4 percent increase in Internet banking in Q1
"More South Koreans used the Internet banking in the first quarter of this year from the previous quarter as a report from the central bank Thursday showed an 11.4 percent increase in people who engaged in online financial transactions.

According to the Bank of Korea, South Korea saw an average 33 million online banking transactions per day in the January-March period, a rise from the previous quarter's 29.7 million transactions.

It also resulted in a 3.9 percent increase from the previous quarter in total value of Internet banking transactions as it reached 33.6 trillion won (30 billion U.S. dollars) in the first quarter alone, the central bank said."

Berg Insight’s figures on mobile banking reviewed
"Amongst the innumerable analyst opinions that the purchase of Palm by HP was the best thing since sliced bread, a piece of research from Berg Insight on mobile banking appears to have been overlooked.

The company is predicting that the worldwide number of users of mobile banking and related services is forecasted to grow from 55 million users last year [ 2009] to 894 million users in 2015. Which is pretty impressive.

The problem with such research is that these reports tend to be very ‘developed world’ centric. Take this example from Marcus Persson, who is a telecom analyst with Berg Insight."

The Young and the Mobile
"On some New Jersey trains this spring, the guys looking out the window included George Washington and Abe Lincoln. Sun National Bank says the unusual image succeeded in getting attention.

As part of a major campaign to tout mobile banking—which it began offering in February—it wrapped trains and buses in advertising that depicts the presidents as commuters.

'The message is, your money is moving wherever you go,' says Ed Malandro, the executive vice president of consumer banking for the $3.6 billion-asset Sun in Vineland. 'The presidents are symbolic of money, that’s why we used them.'”

American Express Launches Express Mobile App for iPhone
"American Express has announced the launch of its new mobile banking suite, which will allow cardholders to access their accounts from their Blackberry, Windows Mobile Phone, iPhone or iPod Touch.

The official American Express iPhone App, available for the iPhone or iPod Touch, allows you to pay your bill, check your balances, and access other card services all fro your mobile phone. With the app, which is available for free on the iTunes Store, you can see recent transactions, view membership rewards, and log into your regular American Express online account."

Chase is First U.S. Bank with a Native iPad App
"Last week, Spain’s BancSabadell and “la Caixa” became the first banks in the world with iPad apps. But the U.S. was still shut out until today, when Chase became the first U.S. bank with a native iPad app (iTunes link). It doesn’t yet show in the Finance category of my iPad. But if I search for Chase, it appears as a download option.

I successfully downloaded it, and about 60 seconds later was looking at my Chase account. Unlike some banks, it was not necessary to activate the app in online banking. First-time users log in to the app with their online banking credentials. Then an 8-digit code is sent to a pre-existing phone number or email address. Users then enter this code into the iPad."

Mobile Payments Market to Quadruple by 2014, reaching $630bn in value, although still only accounting for around 5% of ecommerce retail sales
"A new study from Juniper Research has found that the value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC (Near Field Communications) transactions will reach almost $630bn by 2014, up from $170bn this year, representing the gross value of all purchases or the value of money being transferred.

The mobile payments report revealed that growth across all market segments was being driven by the wide adoption of Smartphones and the increased use of apps stores. In addition SMS ticketing schemes such as those offered by OBB Austrian Railways and Skane Traffic in Sweden were also important developments. Shopping by mobile at stores such as Amazon Mobile is also tipped for significant expansion over the next five years."