Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 5

Money on-the-go from FirstCaribbean
"IN an age when TEENs want to become more financially independent, this new initiaitive is a welcome answer. And parents don't worry, this won't cost you any money. If you have a phone and a FirstCaribbean International Bank account then in less than 10 minutes, you can now bank on-the-go, thanks to the bank's new Mobile Banking service. Customers of FirstCaribbean can do their banking via SMS text messaging and immediately receive their account information via return SMS text."

DBS mBanking Application Empowered by Tagit Mobility Platform
"Tagit is one of the leaders in inspiring and integrating enterprise mobility for end-to-end consumer applications. Tagit (News - Alert) currently empowers DBS' mobile banking application, mBanking, which runs across all major mobile platforms and devices including the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android (News - Alert), Symbian, J2ME, Brew and Windows Mobile."

NAB releases Android banking app
"National Australia Bank (NAB) has quietly released a mobile banking application to the Android Marketplace today, allowing users of the Google operating system to bank on the go. According to the application's page on the Android Marketplace, customers can use the free app to transfer funds, pay bills, check account balances and transaction histories and view their Online Trading share portfolio. The application also includes a branch and ATM locator, as well as a foreign-exchange calculator.

2011: The year for mobile banking
"Research published recently by Forrester shows that mobile banking provision in Europe is gathering pace. This refers to all three of the main mobile banking services – mobile web, mobile app and text-based services.

According to its analysis, of the European banks offering mobile banking services:

• 76% offer SMS alerts
• 67% offer mobile banking web sites
• 64% offer iPhone apps"

Second password to be must for mobile banking
"If you use a credit or a debit card for any transaction by phone, then you need a second password starting from 1 January, 2011. The Reserve Bank of India has made second password mandatory for all transactions based on interactive voice response (IVR). 'It is very important for security of the customers and it will also reduce cases of frauds,' said Suresh Sethi, group president, Yes Bank . The cardholder has to send an SMS to a particular number . The bank will SMS back a password to the cardholder. This password will be the second authentication, which would be required to complete the transaction."

Creating the Right Mobile Banking Ecosystem
"Mobile network providers are feeling the crunch as consumers are demanding more applications, richer content and value-added services. A recent Alcatel-Lucent study determined that consumers have an ever-growing appetite for social networking, entertainment and information, all delivered over the mobile network. When you add mobile banking to the mix, the pressure is intense."