Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 24

Mobile Transactions Ready to Ramp
"Consumers are increasingly becoming more comfortable with mobile banking, payment and shopping to the point where the value of global transactions on the go will jump from $162 billion in 2010 to nearly a $1 trillion by 2014, according to research firm Yankee Group. The Yankee Group highlights a few interesting nuggets in its report about what consumers think about mobile transactions."

BankSimple Aims to Declutter Mobile, Online Banking
"A young and hip Brooklyn-based company called BankSimple has been developing a simple, clean, and easy-to-use interface to basic banking products such as checking accounts and prepaid cards. BankSimple is not a bank, but it will soon become a middleman of sorts between bank partners and their customers."

Two Opportunities to Encourage Mobile Banking Adoption
"Last month, Compete released the results of its Q3 2010 Smartphone Intelligence survey. One of the notable insights from the survey is that mobile banking usage is on the rise, with 40 percent of respondents reporting using mobile banking apps once a month or more. However, with only 6 percent of consumers using mobile banking apps daily, we also noted that mobile banking is not yet part of the consumer’s regular routine."

Drumbeat grows for mobile banking in the Caribbean
"WITH Haiti having embraced mobile financial services, there are increasing calls to see it implemented throughout the Caribbean where large swathes of populations remain unbanked. The liberalisation of the telecoms sector has seen practically every adult in the region in possession of a mobile telephone, thus providing an avenue for more transactions and bringing the region even closer to a cashless society."

Less than 10% of US consumers willing to pay for mobile payments
"Less than one in 10 consumers in the US are prepared to pay for mobile payment and banking services, despite a surge in use in the past year. Research from the Yankee Group has found mobile transaction volumes are expected to grow at a very high rate, with the estimated total value of global mobile transactions rising from US$162 billion in 2010 to US$984 billion in 2014. However, the group’s consumer survey results also indicate that less than 10% of respondents would be willing to pay extra for mobile transaction services such as mobile banking, mobile coupons and mobile payments."