International Mobile Banking Updates - May 15

Mobile money transfers reach 16 percent of sub-Saharan African population
"Money transfer via mobile phones has expanded to 16 percent of the total population in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new World Bank study that provides a global picture for how people save, borrow, make payments and manage risk. The Global Financial Inclusion Database, or Global Findex, has found only 3 percent of the population in the rest of the world take advantage of money transfers through mobile phones."

A bank that can go anywhere, anytime, and fits in the pocket
"This bank can go anywhere, is open anytime, and fits inside the pocket of your jeans. And this is what Citibank has unveiled – its complete suite of Mobile Banking Applications for today’s widely popular smartphones such as iPhone, Blackberry and Android phones. Aneth Ng-Lim, Citibank Country Corporate Affairs, said in a roundtable discussion with the media that their free mobile app was designed to fit the lifestyle of their clients who are always on the go and have a need to constantly access their accounts."

Uganda: Housing Finance Set to Introduce Mobile Banking
"Housing Finance Bank (HFB) has moved to introduce a virtual Bank account scheme which enables clients to effect payments and money transfers. The all inclusive account which is a partnership with MCash Uganda limited was unveiled last week and allows HFB customers to save and send money within Uganda."

International Finance Corp., MasterCard Foundation working to expand microfinancing in Africa
"The World Bank partner devoted to developing the private sector and The MasterCard Foundation will spend millions of dollars so more impoverished Africans can get loans and other financial services, officials said Monday. At a Johannesburg news conference Monday, officials from the International Finance Corporation, which is part of the World Bank group, and The MasterCard Foundation said they would spend $37.4 million over five years to support banks and other institutions across Africa that provide small loans, a strategy known as microfinancing. People around the world have used such loans to lift themselves out of poverty by starting or expanding small businesses, sending children to school or buying fertilizer for subsistence farms."

Rabobank releases mobile banking app for Windows Phone
"Rabobank, one of the largest banks in the Netherlands, has released a mobile banking app for Windows Phone. Like its counterparts for Android, Blackberry and iOS, the Rabo Banking App lets users take care of their banking needs, be it checking their balance, viewing account history or making transfers, wherever they may be."

Bank of Ireland launches mobile banking app
"From midnight tonight, those who bank with Bank of Ireland will be able to download a new mobile banking app for the iPhone from the Apple App Store. According to Bank of Ireland, the new app will deliver high-speed, secure bank account access to the 500,000 personal customers who have signed up for its online banking service."

Commonwealth Bank tapping into growing mobile banking market
"Commonwealth Bank Indonesia, a subsidiary of Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is tapping into growing mobile banking market in the country, benefiting the increasing number of middle-class people in the largest economy in Southeast Asia. 'Up to 80 percent of [the Indonesian] population is less than 40 years old, 35 percent of whom use social media. If you look at the way people interact and travel in Indonesia, mobile is the key part of that,' Commonwealth Bank director of retail and business banking, Ian Phillip Whitehead, said in Singapore on Friday."

Kiwibank app fights 'soulless' banking
"All banks want their customers to love them – but the drawcard feature of Kiwibank's first mobile banking app may make banking relationships even more intimate. Due to be released this week, the bank's iPhone app has the unique feature, when it comes to mobile banking, of assigning customers their own online relationship manager to help deal with any queries via text or email."