Mobile Banking Updats - Jun 27

Mobile Wallets: Big Opportunity, Big Hurdles
"What's the role of banks in the new mobile payments model? Sitting in front of a room full of bankers at the Mobile Banking and Commerce Summit in San Francisco, some of the biggest players in the burgeoning mobile wallet space wasted no time Tuesday tackling that question. The query itself suggested that banks still don't know enough about the power of mobile wallets and the potential benefits of partnering with their developers."

Tablets, Mobile Payments, Disruptors Among Hot Topics at Celent Banking Innovation & Insight Day
"Tablet banking, mobile payments and financial services disruptors were among the big topics discussed at analyst and research firm Celent's fifth annual Banking Insight & Innovation Day. The event, held in Charlotte, N.C., drew more than 100 bankers and financial services technology companies to go over the hot topics of the day. The overarching message? Change is coming to banking, and it's coming soon."

Mobile Banking Leads Survey as Next Shared Banking Service
"A majority of participating credit unions with the Credit Union Centers, a shared branching CUSO that serves primarily credit unions in Indiana and Illinois, listed having a mobile version of shared branching as a shared branch service they would most like to see developed."

Top Mobile Banking Security Tips
"Remember when mobile banking meant visiting your local branch? Today it means being able to make balance inquiries, deposits and account transfers with just a few taps on your smartphone. And that’s just the beginning. 'The scope of mobile banking has clearly expanded over the last 18 months,' said Sonia Lalli, a mobile banking analyst at Juniper Research, 'particularly because of the expanded and more intelligent capabilities offered by the smartphone, as well as a greater range of affordable non-iPhone devices.'”

Will Banking Apps Kill Debit Cards?
"Forget your debit card? Soon, withdrawals by smartphone may become routine, if they can overcome security issues that continue to plague mobile banking apps. The U.K. is making strides in mobile banking, with the Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest developing mobile banking apps so customers can withdraw money from ATMs using their smartphones instead of debit cards."

Westfield Bank Leads the Way in Mobile Banking
"Westfield Bank (the “Bank”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Westfield Financial, Inc. (NasdaqGS:WFD), is enhancing its state-of-the-art services to customers with the release of new apps for the Apple iPhone®, iPad®, iPod touch® as well as smartphones using the Android operating system. The Bank is one of the first community banks in the western Massachusetts area to offer these high-end technology services. The Bank’s leadership is committed to keeping traditional banking services while also enabling on-the-go customers convenient access to their finances using smartphone mobile devices."