Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 29

Mobile Glut Is Still Far Off
"Few people have ridden the growing wave of mobile banking – or perhaps helped drive it – more than Drew Sievers. In 2004, he co-founded mFoundry, a mobile banking apps developer based in Larkspur, Calif. As its CEO, Sievers has seen the mobile platform provider grow to a client list of about 600, including hundreds of credit unions added in the past year alone, individually and through partnerships with FIS, First Data, CO-OP Financial Services, PSCU Financial Services, COCC, PayPal, Open Solutions and others."

Mobile money: A veritable tool?
"As mobile banking involves person-to-person payment through the mobile phone or the use of mobile phones to conduct financial transactions, this latest electronic banking innovation is gradually changing the lives of millions across the globe. This mechanism requires delivery of mobile payment to the banking and non-banking community, with the overriding vision of achieving a nationally utilised and internationally recognised payment systems."

Bankers Increasingly See Mobile as Key Element of Their Retail Strategies, American Banker Research Finds
"Bankers increasingly see mobile technology as a must-have component of their retail offerings, but say that regulatory and risk-management concerns will dominate IT spending initiatives in 2012, according to a recent American Banker Research survey conducted in partnership with bank technology and payment systems specialists Tata Consultancy Services, TSYS, and Jack Henry and Associates."

Going mobile: what is the future for bank accounts?
"In recent months and years, we've seen real changes in the way people do their banking, or at least in how they plan to do it. With the rise of smartphones, mobile banking is starting to become more than just a nice idea, while many people nowadays wouldn't even know how to manage their money without online banking. So what's next for banking? What can we expect to see in the future, and what parts are likely to die out?"

Smartphones Rapidly Transforming Mobile Banking From New Concept to ‘Tablestakes,’ According to AlixPartners Study
"As U.S. banking consumers continue to embrace mobile technology -- and specifically, the widespread adoption of smartphones -- the use of mobile banking services is expected to approach 50% by 2016 versus 15% today. And, already today 39% of consumers say that having a mobile offering is either “extremely important” or “important” in their decision to switch primary banks. That’s according to a study released today by AlixPartners LLP, the global business advisory firm."

Mobile Banking Security - Feb 28

Mobile Banking Causes Security Concerns
"'Mobile banking has had the biggest impact on financial institutions since the introduction of ATMs,' says Paul Stull, senior vice president of strategy and brand at Arizona State Credit Union, the first credit union to introduce mobile banking in Arizona.'The convenience of being able to use a mobile device to manage funds, track balances and pay bills is a huge advancement in convenience and time savings for consumers.'”

5 Mobile Banking Security Tips
"It wasn’t that long ago when the only way to deposit, transfer or withdraw money was to physically visit your local bank branch or ATM. Today, thanks to the wonderful world of technology, consumers have a full suite of options to choose from when conducting their financial transactions. With online and mobile banking on the rise, it’s only natural that security be on the minds of both financial institutions and customers."

KOBIL Debuts New Mobile Application and Online Service Security Solutions at RSA Conference 2012
"KOBIL Systems, a leading provider and market leading trendsetter of mobile IT security and digital identity solutions, introduced the new mIDentity App Security Toolkit, (mID AST), which protects mobile users from multiple security attacks. KOBIL offers two reference implementations of this toolkit: mIDentity Trusted Web View (mID TWV), an application for secure authenticated mobile web browsing and the mIDentity Trusted Messages Sign (mID TMS), an application designed to replace weak and costly text/short message (SMS) online services and phone callback OTP services with authenticated transaction messages that cost less."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 26

JPMorgan eyes mobile payments, invests in GoPago
"JPMorgan Chase & Co plans to start testing a mobile payments service in April using an application from GoPago Inc, a start-up in which the bank is making a cash investment. The GoPago service would allow consumers to use their mobile phones to order and pay for local goods or services and then show the merchant a receipt on the phone screen when picking up a purchase."

M&T Bank Introduces Mobile Banking for Business
"M&T Bank business customers can now bank securely and conveniently on their smartphones, using the new Mobile Banking for Business service. With these new capabilities, business customers can perform a range of banking transactions any time. They can pay bills, view account histories and transaction details, check current balances and perform funds transfers."

Device Adoption Drives Mobile Banking
"After a pause in 2010, mobile banking adoption surged by 63 percent in 2011, rising to 57 million from 35 million U.S. adults, representing 22 million consumers in one year, according to a new study by Javelin Strategy and Research. Over the next five years, mobile banking is projected to increase at a steady compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.3 percent as financial institutions roll out new offerings and the pent-up backlog of demand is eased, says Mary Monahan, Javelin Strategy and Research EVP and Research Director, Mobile."

Mobile Banking versus the Mobile Wallet?
"With recent news that Barclays Pin-git (or is it Ping-it) has had 120,000 downloads in 5 days, that Square has 1m merchants on their payments platform (1/8th of all US card merchants/retailers) and Starbucks is doing 25% of it’s North American payments via a cardless App – it seems like Mobile Payments are taking off like the H1N1 virus."

Mobile Banking: CUs Challenged to Aid On-the-Go Members
"While Hartford Federal Credit Union’s 14,000 members are a diverse group when it comes to age, most of the initial interest in mobile banking came from the younger set. 'We started the process of figuring out mobile banking a while ago,' said John Riley, chief operating officer of the $77 million Hartford Federal Credit Union in Hartford, Conn. 'We did our initial research in the trade press, but we also tried to listen closely to our members about what they wanted in mobile banking. In the end we paid more attention to our members.'”

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 23

National Study Shows Shift in Retail Banking Communications Strategies to Meet Rising Consumer Demand for Mobile and Personalized Options
"A recent survey of customer communication trends in the U.S. retail banking industry shows that there is a shift in how customers seek and respond to information. Banks are beginning to adjust their priorities to meet consumer demand and focus on consumer engagement through new and better solutions that are more adept at reaching mobile customers, providing self-service options and better aligning communications to customer behavior and preferences to generate higher response rates."

The US Banking Industry to Reach US$14 Trillion in Terms of Assets by 2015, According to New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc.
"The global economic crisis, which started from late 2008, witnessed the fall of several banks and financial institutions. The markets, such as the US and Europe, were the most affected, while the banking markets of India and China in the Asia-Pacific region, which represented a more conservative and government-controlled financial system, afforded some measure of protection."

Virtual Piggy Announces New Mobile E-Commerce Application for Apple iOS Devices and NFC Plans
"Virtual Piggy, Inc. (OTCBB: VPIG), the innovator in safe-online youth purchasing, today announced the release of its mobile iOS application, which allows parents and kids to manage their Virtual Piggy accounts on their Apple phones and tablets. Virtual Piggy offers a secure, COPPA compliant, e-commerce solution to enable kids under 18 to make online purchases."

Kony Introduces Version 2.0 of the Industry's Most Configurable & Extensible Mobile Banking Application
"More extensible and configurable than any other mobile application on the market, Kony Mobile Banking 2.0 offers immediate access to state-of-the-art mobile banking features, such as payment approvals, mobile check deposits, and full account management capabilities. Only Kony Mobile Banking provides companies with the flexibility to integrate business-specific intellectual property into their applications. Kony Mobile Banking offers organizations virtually limitless mobile functionality and protection for their investments in mobile technology."

Clairmail Banks on Better Sales Performance with Xactly
"Xactly Corporation, the leader in on-demand sales compensation and sales performance management (SPM), today announced that Clairmail, the leader in mobile banking and payments solutions, is using Xactly Express to help manage and motivate its fast-growing sales team."

Mobile Banking Security - Feb 22

Google, Citi discover first-mover advantage comes with a price
"The mobile industry let out a big “oops” this week when flaws were exposed in mobile applications from Google and Citi that put consumers at risk, suggesting that the rush to be first in mobile payments and mobile banking may come with a price. Two security flaws were identified last week in the Google Wallet mobile payment app that potentially let hackers access consumer accounts."

Fraud: The Latest Threats
"What are the top emerging fraud threats via mobile banking, and how must security leaders respond? In an RSA Conference preview, Julie McNelley of the Aite Group offers tips for fighting the newest threats. By 2014, Aite Group estimates 44 million consumers will be using some form of mobile banking. And as more institutions roll out mobile banking and payments, more consumers will jump on the mobile bandwagon, making mobile banking an increasingly inviting target for fraudsters, McNelley says."

Support Grows for Mobile Banking Apps, But Security Still a Concern
"Mobile banking applications enable smartphone and tablet users to do everything from scan and deposit checks to transfer large amounts of money, but many consumers and business professionals remain concerned about the safety of using such apps."

Fraud Fight: How to Pick Your Battles
"From mobile malware to the Anonymous hacktivist attacks, how can banking institutions tackle the changing threat landscape? Joe Rogalski of First Niagara Bank has some new ideas. One of the challenges: Proactive risk assessment often takes a backseat when banks and credit unions feel pressure to quickly launch new offers like mobile banking."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 21

Standard to expand African mobile services
"STANDARD Bank plans to expand its cellphone banking and payment services in Africa to tap into a growing middle class that is expected to fuel one of the highest growth rates among emerging markets. The bank, which already dominates in processing mobile transactions in SA, would use a mobile payment platform developed locally but which would be tailored to meet the unique conditions of various markets on the continent."

FNB's mobile money solutions a hit across Africa
"Mobile banking is taking off in Africa, with FNB recording a 150% jump in transaction growth for its cellphone banking service and 1,384% growth for eWallet for the month of December 2011 when compared to the previous December. The bank's customers conducted 2.4 million cellphone banking transactions during December 2011 in Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Swaziland and Lesotho, to the value of R214 million as compared to R986,000 transactions in December 2010."

The Rise of Mobile Banking in the UK
"In the UK, the number of smartphone users accessing a bank account via their device has increased by 86 percent over the past year. In the three month average ending December 2011, over 4.8 million smartphone users accessed bank accounts on-the-go, compared to 2.6 million in December 2010."

Africa sprints ahead with mobile banking
"With all the right ingredients for a successful banking on-the-go eco-system to develop, Africa is the leading the way in mobile banking. Visa's 2011 US$110 million purchase of South African mobile financial services infrastructure provider, Fundamo, certainly let the cat out of the bag. While most of the world might still be feeling their way around mobile banking, many African countries are making giant strides forward in this space and it seems likely that this is where mobile banking models are going to evolve."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 19

Barclays introduces Pingit - Mobile Banking app that lets you transfer money via text
"Barclays have release a mobile banking app called Pingit for BlackBerry smartphones. While a lot banks have been releasing apps where you can view your bank balance as well as transfer money, you could only do this between your own accounts. The Barclays Pingit app goes a step further and allows you to send money to other Barclay customers as well as non-Barclay customers. Better yet transfering money is as easy as sending a text."

Research and Markets: 2011 Mobile Banking Financial Institution Scorecard: Money Begins to Move on Mobile
"Consumer satisfaction with mobile banking is high and adoption is soaring as financial institutions move beyond mobile monitoring and into money movement with mobile P2P transfers and mobile remote deposit capture offerings. Javelin's third Mobile Banking Scorecard examines the 23 mobile banking offerings of the 25 largest retail banking financial institutions measured by deposits."

Intuit Releases iPad Banking App
"This week Intuit Financial Services announced the availability of its iPad application for banking. Banks and credit unions can offer the app to their customers under their own brand names through the Apple iTunes store. The Intuit Tablet Banking app for the iPad is similar to the company's mobile banking offerings for smartphones, but it takes advantage of the iPad's large screen by offering more robust graphics and interactivity."

The Data Digest: Mobile Banking Uptake
"The New York Times recently published an article based on a Forrester report (Mobile Is The New Face Of Engagement) about the uptake of smartphones worldwide in the years to come. And for 2011 it was estimated that just under 500 million smartphones were shipped. Knowing the drivers behind the growth of smartphones gives businesses confidence in mobile technology investment — even when uptake is currently still limited."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 15

Banks Seek Sticky Relationships from Mobile Apps
"Mobile banking continues to dominate banks' application development initiatives, as it has for the past several years, a recently released American Banker survey shows.

The survey of the American Banker Executive Forum found that 42% of banks currently offer mobile banking or mobile payments. And among those that don't, 40% have firm plans to offer them within the next 12 months."

Mobile Banking App Usage Increases Dramatically in 2011
"In Q2 2011, 16 percent of the total U.S. mobile audience age 13+ reported using their mobile devices for accessing financial information or carrying out a financial transaction. While browser usage continues to be the dominant channel for banking services on a mobile device, app usage has seen a dramatic increase in the previous year – largely due to the popularity of smartphones and investment of financial institutions into their mobile channels. By Q2 2011, banking app usage had risen 74 percent from nearly a year go, followed by app usage among credit card users (up 58 percent)."

The Rise of Mobile Banking: Will Cash Become Obsolete?
"If you like carrying cash and sorting through a wad of bills to find the correct change, you're not only a merchant's nightmare, but you could soon be the one being asked to wait while a clerk runs off to make change.
And it's not just cash that's coming under fire, credit and debit cards are too. Industry research shows that the average "plastic" transaction takes close to one minute to process, whereas through mobile payments, you can pay and be on your way in less than 12 seconds."

Trends in mobile banking today
"Today's consumers are Internet-savvy and want the convenience of checking their bank balances on the fly and performing transactions as quickly and effectively as possible. In response to the ever-increasing demand for portability and convenience, many financial institutions have been ramping up their mobile banking efforts and coming up with ways to please today's consumers. Here are some mobile banking trends you can expect."

Oracle Introduces Oracle FLEXCUBE Multi-Channel Solution on Direct and Mobile Channels for the Financial Services Industry
"To help financial services organizations deliver more personalized services and offerings via direct and mobile channels, Oracle Financial Services today introduced Oracle FLEXCUBE solutions for multi-channel banking.

Oracle FLEXCUBE Multi-Channel Solution, with new versions of Oracle FLEXCUBE Direct Banking and Oracle FLEXCUBE Private Banking, enables banks to offer complete portfolio view-based products and services on multiple direct channels, including mobile devices. Banks can introduce highly personalized offerings while reducing customer acquisition costs by offering a comprehensive range of products through a one-stop portal."

mCommerce Services
"The mCommerce suite includes the mobile solutions—mBanking, mPayments and mRemittance. Based on the Sybase Mobiliser Platform, Sybase mCommerce 365 includes a number of value added services including our advanced Marketing module.

This highly adaptable mobile commerce solution enables the mobile economy by allowing anyone with a mobile phone to pay, buy, bank and remit money. With the mCommerce product suite, you can introduce a standard, convenient communication and transaction channel that supports anywhere, anytime mobile commerce services."

Mobile Banking Security - Feb 14

Mobile Banking Is More Secure Than Online Banking
"Mobile banking is on the rise, and chances are you’re one of the 52 percent of consumers who have accessed some form of mobile banking in the past six months. Yet perceived security risks remain a hindrance to full adoption of the technology. In truth, accessing your account via your bank’s mobile website or using your bank’s mobile app is as secure, if not more secure, than banking online via PC. Why?"

Four mobile banking risks, and how to avoid them
"Thanks to smartphones, tablets and ever-expanding 3G and 4G cellular networks, keeping tabs on your bank account is easier than ever before. Booting up your bank's app and checking your balance before you buy can prevent surprise overdrafts, and mobile options make reallocating funds a snap. Mobile banking isn't all sunshine and rainbows, though; on-the-run account transactions hold some very real security risks. Let's take a look at some of the biggest ones -- and how to protect against them."

M-banking adoption outpacing security
"As mobile banking use continues growing, the security risks associated with it are not limited to malicious software or viruses targeting mobile devices. That the device becomes the main channel for banking transitions, its compact size, and an underdeveloped mobile security landscape also compound the risks, observers say."

Is Mobile Banking Secure?
"Online and mobile banking apps provide millions with easy access to their accounts and billpay, but what happens when something goes wrong? Citibank customers who used an iPad app to pay their bills were charged twice, some without their knowledge, the bank aknowledged this week. The problem began in July and went undetected until December, the New York Times reported."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 13

Svyaznoy mobile banking on success
"The management of Russian mobile phone retailer Svyaznoy say they intend an IPO in London within two or three years. In the meantime, they are going to sell part of the business to private investors to raise money for its new banking activity. Svyaznoy started its banking business in 2010 after buying Promtorgbank and re-naming it Svyaznoy Bank."

S. Koreans' mobile banking use doubles in 2011
"The use of mobile banking in South Korea more than doubled in 2011 from a year ago on the back of the ballooning local smartphone user population, the central bank said Monday. Mobile banking transactions reached an average of 7.67 million per day in 2011, growing more than two-fold from 3.74 million in the previous year, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK)."

JP Morgan launches ACCESS mobile banking platform in Asia Pacific
"JP Morgan Treasury Services has unveiled its ACCESS Mobile banking platform in Asia Pacific. The new platform allows cash management clients the ability to view balance and transaction information at any time via smartphones and tablets. The new platform includes the ability to view multicurrency cash balances, transaction details and third-party bank accounts in key Asian markets and globally."

Kenya: How Mobile Banking Has Changed Lives
"Long queues and journeys to the bank for payment of salary is a thing of the past for Mr Martin Wanzala, a cane cutter for Mumias Sugar Company in Western Kenya. Like many of his workmates, he started receiving his salary mid last year through his mobile phone."

Abu Dhabi group enters in mobile financial services
"Abu Dhabi Group has entered into mobile banking to grab its sharing in the fast emerging mobile and branchless banking in Pakistan. The group has launched an independent mobile financial services company. Abu Dhabi Group (ADG) is one of largest investors in Pakistan and has been operating in the country since 1997. The group companies have over USD 6.5billion in total assets in Pakistan. ADG has invested in banking, telecommunications, real estate, insurance, sugar, asset management and health care sectors.

The group has made significant contribution towards development of many sectors in Pakistan, directly through its companies as well as indirectly, positively affecting the lives of millions of Pakistanis who experience group’s products & services, every day, from fast & efficient banking transactions to high speed internet to reliable mobile communication to advanced diagnostic & preventive techniques for healthcare."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 12

Is Mobile Banking More Popular Than Social Media?
"More people check their bank account balance than “check-in” on Foursquare, according to “Mobile Dependence Day,” a recent ExactTarget report on mobile usage. The report revealed 34% of smartphone users check their bank account balance on their smartphones, compared to 28% who “check-in” using a service like Foursquare, 23% who pay a bill, or 15% who redeem a mobile coupon."

Mobile banking grew 63pc year-to-year: study
"Fueled by large financial institutions, mobile banking grew 63 percent from 2010 to 2011 and reached 22 million new consumers in 2011, according to a study from Javelin Strategy and Research.

In the “Mobile banking, smartphone and tablet forecast: 2011-2016” study, Javelin took a look at the current state of mobile banking and where it is headed in the next five years. The report also presented how mobile banking stacks up between large and smaller financial institutions."

Up your mobile game or face customer churn
"As moves to make account switching easier draw closer (D-day for regulation to come into play is currently September 2013), the Payments Council has published a report confirming the consumer demand for a more simple way to move from one current account provider to another.

There are many fables about consumer reticence in changing their main banking provider, including the fact that you are more likely to divorce than switch banks in your lifetime. However, customer churn is now slowly rising up the list of challenges that banks face."

Visa Introduces Suite of Mobile Services for U.S. Financial Institutions
"Visa Inc. today announced the launch of mobile services that allow financial institutions to offer their account holders the ability to monitor account history and balances, transfer funds between accounts, and receive near real time transaction alerts on their mobile devices.

Working in collaboration with Monitise UK:MONI +5.80% , Visa made a significant enhancement to its issuer processing platform, Visa DPS, to offer mobile services that are fully managed by Visa and can be accessed with any mobile device, any mobile channel, and with any eligible debit, credit or prepaid account."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 9

Internet banking registers phenomenal growth
"With a new era of information technology the bank customers are also gradually shifting towards the internet banking and with over 100 percent growth, internet banking transactions value reached Rs 85 billion during first quarter of current fiscal year. Bankers said phenomenal growth was observed in the mobile and internet banking which was due to the higher consumer preferences and confidence on the usage of these systems for their financial transactions."

New Cellulant, Barclays Africa deal to encourage mobile financial services
"Kenya-based Cellulant, a provider of mobile financial services, announced a new deal with Barclays Africa aimed at fostering the development of new mobile financial products and services. The company said it will provide digital services for Barclays Africa in 12 African countries. Cellulant provides mobile banking for more than 32 banks in Africa and operates Africa’s leading mobile commerce network."

CHARGE Anywhere® Announces Strategic Agreement with Innovative Solutions and Services LTD of Greece
"CHARGE Anywhere® LLC, a leading provider of award-winning, secure mobile payment and payment gateway solutions, along with Innovative Solutions & Services LTD of Athens, Greece, announced today a Strategic Agreement. INSS will deploy the ComsGate® Payment Gateway, CHARGE Anywhere Retail POS and Mobile POS Payment Application Software and ComsGate Card Issuing Services that will enable consumer mobile payments on Apple®, Android(TM) and BlackBerry® phones."

Canadians Embracing Mobile Devices and Mobile Banking
"A recent poll for CIBC conducted by Harris/Decima revealed strong growth in smartphone ownership and affinity for mobile banking services among Canadian consumers. The poll found that:"

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 8

Customer Satisfaction Grows for Financial Institutions and Banking Websites in 2011
"comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the 2011 edition of its annual State of Online and Mobile Banking report, which provides a comprehensive view of the key online and mobile banking trends in the U.S. in 2011. The report draws its analysis from a survey of more than 2,000 U.S. Internet users, supplemented by data from the comScore Mobile Financial Services Advisor report and the comScore opt-in behavioral panel of over 1 million U.S. Internet users."

City Bank Mobile Banking
"Surprisingly for a community bank, City Bank, a $1.9 billion institution in Lubbock, Tex., offers a few wrinkles in its recently updated mobile banking app that we haven't seen elsewhere. The app lets users turn their debit card "off" if they think their card has been lost or stolen. 'If you wake up in the morning and don't know where your debit card is, or if you've misplaced it, you can log onto the mobile app and turn your debit card off,' says Jim Simpson, vice president of IT. 'Then if you find the card later in the day, you can log back into the mobile app and turn the card back on. You're able to avoid calling an 800 number and going through all sorts of manual steps to do the same thing.'"

Why corporate mobile banking is scary
"In its December report on the emergence of corporate mobile banking, Celent wrote that “a slew of new devices, cheaper data plans, and faster networks are upon us. Business mobile users have the opportunity to take advantage of rich and powerful mobile banking services, provided their bank has an offering,” Sound pretty good. But the report, “Corporate Mobile Banking: Revolutionizing Cash Management,” authored by Jacob Jegher, also raises red flags about security."

PNC Strikes to Head Off Mobile Banking Patent Suit
"On January 25, Finnegan client PNC Financial Services Group Inc. filed a declaratory action against Maxim Integrated Products Inc. in the Western District of Pennsylvania seeking to avoid becoming Maxim’s latest target of patent litigation over mobile payment and banking applications. The suit claims that not only do PNC’s iPhone app and other mobile banking apps not infringe Maxim’s patents, but that the patents in question are invalid."

Mobile Banking Security - Feb 7

Mobile Security: Act Now
"Many financial institutions are not addressing mobile banking security risks in a targeted way. Mobile banking is not a prominent part of their risk assessments and mitigation strategies. But it should be. Although federal regulators have yet to spell out clear-cut mobile security requirements, banks and credit unions cannot afford to wait for federal guidance before taking action. They need to put plans in place now to mitigate emerging risks, such as attacks from mobile malware and device identification challenges posed by roaming IP addresses."

All Wired Up - Should mobile device have anti-virus protection?
"This is a question that's bothered me ever since I was gifted my iPod Touch more than a year ago - should I have anti-virus protection on this thing? Do mobile devices need protection at all? I wouldn't dare surf the 'Net on my PC without anti-virus protection and a firewall enabled, so why am I so nonchalant about my iPod and a wireless connection? My cell phone is a clunker and doesn't have Internet access, so it's a non-issue."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 6

Bank of America drives app downloads via iAd campaign
"Financial institution Bank of America is using a mobile advertising campaign to catapult downloads of its mobile banking iPhone application. The ads walk users through the app’s features and educates consumers on Bank of America’s mobile banking. The ad campaign is running inside Apple’s iAd network."

Achieving A Mobile-First Mind
"Glen Reardon, head of industry, financial services advertising at Google, asked a simple question during a brief presentation at Celent’s Innovation & Insight Day in Boston on Thursday: How influential is the digital journey within the purchase process? Immensely. Reardon helps fortune 1000 companies across the insurance vertical with their overall market strategy. He conducted industry research with Shopper Sciences seeking to deconstruct the decision-making process for insurance consumers in an increasingly digital world."

Citi's iPad Banking App Now Accepts Credit Card Users
"Consumers yearning to track and analyze their credit card spending to the smallest degree with graphs, comparisons with past months and even with their peers are in luck. Citigroup Inc. on Tuesday announced an upgrade to its online banking application for Apple Inc.'s iPad that includes what Citi says is the first such robust iPad credit card account-analysis application."

Fidelity Launches Mobile Wallet
"Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) recently collaborated with mobile payments technology provider, Paydiant, to launch a cloud-based mobile payment solution, namely FIS Mobile Wallet. The solution, which is currently being implemented by a number of clients on a pilot basis, allows customers to use smartphones to make purchases at the point-of-sale (POS) as well as for online shopping."

Mobile : Banks That Dare: Will their guts come before glory
"At least one bank is ending 2011 on a high note. In December, Chase swept the honors in two mobile banking awards. Javelin Strategy and Research ranked their solution “Best in Class” above those of 24 retail banking heavyweights; Key Lime Interactive adjudged Chase’s mobile banking website and app the best among the top 4 U.S. banks."

Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 5

FIS and mFoundry Strengthen Relationship
"mFoundry, the fastest-growing provider of mobile banking and payments solutions, today announced that it has strengthened its strategic relationship with FIS™, the world’s largest provider of banking and payments technology.

With a recent investment, FIS increased its ownership holdings in mFoundry. The two companies have been working together on mobile banking solutions for the past several years, serving more than 200 financial institution clients. The enhanced relationship will continue to combine FIS’ strong position in financial services technology with mFoundry’s award-winning mobile banking products."

Mobile banking app usage grows 74 percent in a year: comScore
"The use of mobile banking apps is growing quickly as consumers look for ways to easily access their financial information while on the go, according to a new report from comScore. While the 2011 State of Online and Mobile Banking report shows that app usage among mobile bankers is up 74 percent from nearly a year ago, it also indicates there is still significant room for usage to grow. The report also shows that mobile bankers are highly engaged customers."

Smartphones let customers bank on the go
"Smartphones are here to stay, and banking institutions are working to keep up with new technology to cater to their customers. Brian Pearce, Wells Fargo senior vice president and head of the bank's retail mobile channel, describes the growth in mobile banking over the past five years as explosive. 'Customers are adopting this mobile lifestyle,' Pearce said. Wells Fargo finished 2011 with 7.3 million customers using mobile banking services."

Review: What Corporate Mobile Banking Will Really Mean For Your Bank
"I’m just back from the US where I was presenting at our Corporate Mobile Banking event. Unsurprisingly, given the topic, we had a very high level of interest, resulting in a large number of registrations. We also had a first for me - a gate crasher who had to be ejected! Many thanks to all those who attended and who made the event the success it was. I’d particularly like to thank my colleagues Dana and Erica who made it run so smoothly."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 1

Mobile Banking Takes Off In Nigeria
"When he graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with an MBA in 2005, Nigerian-born Tayo Oviosu said advice from the business world in his home country was loud and clear—'don't come back.' At that time, he explained, 'Nigeria was still about who you knew, and people did not yet properly value experience from abroad.'"

Cellulant to run Barclays M-Banking services
"Cellulant Kenya has sealed a deal to provide mobile banking services for Barclays Africa across its markets in the continent. In a venture dubbed, ‘One Africa’ Barclays Bank has entered into a deal with Cellulant to offer satisfying customer digital experience."

Emerging Markets Set Stage for Mobile Wallet Shopping
"Increased use of mobile money in Kenya has created a ripe environment for the use of near field communication (NFC) technology and other forms of mobile wallets which could be more widely accepted as payment systems compared to traditional ones such as credit cards. Adoption of the alternative payment systems could not only further slow the growth of the use of credit cards but could also see the creation of a new market for NFC-enabled devices including point of sale terminals and mobile phones in the country."

Is mobile banking demand on the climb?
"Canadians are increasingly embracing mobile computing but are we keeners to access our bank accounts from smartphones or tablets? The answer to that question depends on whom you talk to. From the customer's perspective, mobile banking is about convenience. For the banks, mobile banking is about providing self-service options and increasing the number of transactions per customer. Thus more transactions will take place but at a lower cost-per-transaction."

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Obopay, Warid Telecom Partner to Launch Warid Pesa Mobile Banking and Payment Service in Uganda
"Obopay, a mobile payments company headquartered in the US state of California, has partnered with Warid Telecom, a Pakistan-based postpaid cellular phone service provider, to launch a mobile banking and payment service in Uganda called Warid Pesa. Warid Pesa allows customers to transfer money to other people and merchants, request money, obtain statements, obtain account balances, change personal identity numbers and top up prepaid phones for themselves or others."

Citi Hungary mobile app with GPS puts branches/ATMs on the map
"Batara Sianturi, Citi Country Officer for Hungary, said, 'Citibank Mobile Banking allows customers to enjoy a superior, secure and smart banking experience anytime and anywhere in the world, including transactions on their Citibank accounts. With this new application, we have made another significant step in reaching our goal to become the world's and Hungary's leading digital bank.'"

New considerations for mobile banking strategies in Europe
"comScore and Telefónica Germany announced the results of "Connected Europe" Study which highlights how smartphones and tablets are shifting media consumption in Europe. With regards to mobile banking, the study shows that over 20% of smartphone users in Europe accessed their bank accounts with their mobile devices and 12% used electronic payment services to pay for goods from their mobile phone."

Mobile Banking 2012 to reach new heights
"Trade Conferences International is proud to bring you the second annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa conference and exhibition. It will be held at the Indaba Hotel, Fourways, from 13 to 15 March and promises to be all that the 2011 event was, and more."