Mobile Banking Updates - Aug 8

Jailbreaking Joins the List of Security Issues For Mobile Banking Developers to Ponder
"Mobile banking program developers have a lot of security issues to think about, the latest of which is iPhone jailbreaking. Last week, the Librarian of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office said that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a law that forbids anyone from breaking through encryption technology to copy or modify copyrighted works, does not apply to the copyrighted encryption built into the bootloader that starts up the iPhone OS operating system, as Apple claimed it did."

A glimpse of the future of mobile banking
"Mobile banking in the United States has been making impressive gains in usage, reflected by the launch of higher-end services by top banks. JPMorgan Chase's new remote deposit app falls into that category. But the rest of the world seems a little farther down the adoption curve. We're seeing top banks roll out some impressive services in countries where mobile banking is more established. The latest example: Taiwan."

Banking With State Farm Bank® as Easy as Point-and-Shoot
"With the newest version of the State Farm® Pocket Agent™ iPhone® app, State Farm Bank customers can deposit checks into their State Farm Bank deposit account directly from their phones.
The process is simple: Just endorse the check, enter the amount and take its picture. Mobile Check Deposit supports scanning of unlimited checks per day, up to $10,000. State Farm Bank is making banking easier with secure check deposits whenever – and wherever – it's convenient for people."

Survey: Consumers Warming Up to Mobile Devices for Banking
"Mobile banking through mobile devices such as cellular phones, smart phones and personal digital assistants has more than doubled globally since 2008, with consumers in the Asia-Pacific region, Central and Eastern Europe and the United States at the forefront, new research from KPMG International suggests.

The New York-based audit, tax and advisory firm in late July released results from its Global Consumers and Convergence survey. KPMG conducted the research earlier this year through an online and telephone survey of 5,627 consumers in 22 countries including as Australia, Germany, France, Japan and India. Respondents on average were 35 years old; in the U.S. respondents on average were 37."

Concern rise over smartphone security
"Alarms are ringing on the security flaws of smartphones that hackers could exploit to tamper with users’ personal data. But experts say the gadgets are not much more vulnerable to intrusion than other computing devices. They may be secured through caution, and programs now used to protect personal computers and mobile devices. A multitude of warnings on the safety of mobile operation systems from Apple and Google were issued last week by both government and private watchdogs."

Why Smart Crooks Don't Use Smartphones
"How does the modern criminal plan out a caper? Not on a cellphone -- if he's smart, that is. Smartphones can take pictures tagged to a particular location and time, provide turn-by-turn directions, find the closest gas station or the best nearby Italian restaurant, and communicate via voice, texting, e-mail and even videoconferencing. They can also store all that information, yielding everything the cops need to capture a bad guy. The iPhone is particularly popular with cops, because it's so popular with consumers."

Public Adapting Quickly to Mobile Banking
"With everything from music to shopping to chatting with friends going digital these days, an increase in the prevalence of online and mobile banking should come as no surprise. According to a Lafferty Group study, smart phones will be the banking portals of choice by 2020. By 2029, bank branches will be an afterthought, responsible for one-twentieth of transactions."

Tell us about your visit to Washington DC?
"The State Department had a half day event for employees and guests about Mobile Money. Well attended and great interest in mobile money for “development” (improving political, economic, and human conditions around the world).

The group was diverse in experience – which is a challenge for a presenter. Since I co-presented the first session my goal was to create a common understanding of mobile money, how it is successfully implemented, and what are the benefits. I wanted to make sure the audience came up to speed quickly and got beyond the simplistic view."

Europe’s First Launch of microSD-based Contactless Mobile Payments
"Visa Europe recently announced that it is launching Europe’s first microSD-based mobile payment systems in Turkey with its technology partner, DeviceFidelity, and Akbank, one of Turkey’s leading retail banks."

Mobile Banking Offers USAA a New Road to Cross-Sales
"USAA Federal Savings Bank is shifting mobile banking into high gear by offering auto loans through customers' phones.

While most mobile financial services mimic banks' online bill-payment and account-management offerings, the San Antonio banking company may be the first to embrace handheld devices as a sales channel. USAA has emerged as a mobile banking technology leader, largely because it recognizes that phones offer much more than just a small Web browser.

Mobile Banking – the shape of things to come?
"Every now and then innovation disrupts the existing status quo. There is probably no better recent example than Apple, with iTunes and iPod, the introduction of the product revolutionised the music industry.

Twelve years ago the Retail Banking industry thought the end of ‘bricks and mortar banking’ era was nigh with the introduction of main stream internet banking. This however did not materialise as Banks in their quest to differentiate, realised the value of the Branch in the selling process and its necessity for customer acquisition and authentication. The internet became a convenience channel and every customer with access to a PC expected their Bank to provide an internet enabled banking service. Also without a clear integrated multi-channel approach Banks have in general not realised the expected cost savings and revenue opportunities of introducing an internet channel. Will mobile banking change the Banking landscape in SA?"