International Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 11

European Mobile Banking Users Get Smarter
"In the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) 30 million people accessed a bank accounts via their smartphone in July 2012, an increase of 85 percent compared to a year ago. The UK had the largest user base with 7.3 million smartphone owners accessing bank accounts in the month, nearly twice as many as just one year ago. Spain showed an even stronger increase with 113 percent more users making use of service compared to last year."

RBI cold to mobile wallet
"Reserve Bank of India deputy governor H R Khan on Wednesday said mobile telephone operators cannot be permitted to provide a cash-out facility from virtual wallets to customers, as such an activity would amount to ‘bypass banking’. However, they could do so if they acted as a business correspondent (BC) to a bank, he added. Recently, Airtel had launched m-wallet services that enable a customer to make utility payments and transfer money from one user to another. By the norms, mobile transactions are permitted only if attached to a specific use, such as paying electricity bills or shopping at retail establishments that accept mobile payments."

Getting mobile banking right
"M-PESA, Kenya’s popular mobile money transfer system via mobile phones, has inspired several similar models all over the world. Kenya’s mobile penetration plus the simplicity and effectiveness of M-PESA are reasons for its popularity – 68 percent of Kenyans use their mobile phones to transfer money. Soon, remittances from the UK to a dozen African countries should be possible via Barclays Bank’s pingit, a money transfer app. First made for BlackBerrys and Barclays’ customers, the app can now be downloaded by non-customers of Barclays with smartphones to send and receive money. UK residents will be able to beam money first to Kenya, then Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius."

Keeping mobile banking secure in an unsecure world
"MOBILE phones today are multipurpose, so it is no surprise that the number of mobile banking users has doubled over the past three years. Most banks have worked to make it easy by optimising their websites for mobile devices, allowing you to check your account and make payments and transfers on the go. But while a number of mobile users find this incredibly convenient, they are still in the minority, representing about 12% of online adults."

Absa mobile banking a hit
"Banking group Absa says it has 3.6 million customers registered for mobile banking. The group says that growth patterns in the use of its mobile website have exceeded expectations seeing over 1.3 million page views each month. The bank has also seen year-on-year growth of 450% in mobile traffic, largely due to the portal’s redefined user experience, optimised for mobile visitors, it said."

USAID-backed mobile banking project to be launched in PH
"An officer of the United States Agency for International Development (US AID) will be in the country to launch a mobile banking project aimed at expanding Filipinos’ access to financial services. In a statement, the US Embassy in Manila said that USAID Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator Maura O’Neill would be in the Philippines from September 9 to 12. 'O’Neill will lead the launch of USAID’s Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money (SIMM) project, which aims to give Filipinos easier and more efficient access to banking and payment services through mobile phones,' it said."