Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 23

Mobile Banking Crosses the 300 Million Users Mark Worldwide as Financial Institutions Seek to Capture Developing Markets
"'Business case or not, financial institutions broadly know that mobile is no longer optional,' says a recent article in ABA Banking Journal. Mobile networks now cover between 85-90% of the world's population. The number of mobile phones in use around the world in 2011 reached six billion while the number of mobile banking users worldwide reached 300 million with adoption of the service in developed countries growing significantly."

Pew Report Finds Smartphone Users Eschewing Apps
"A new report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project may bolster the conventional wisdom in the credit union industry that security concerns could be impacting mobile banking adoption. A survey conducted among 2,254 adults this spring found that 54% of smartphone app users chose not to install an app when they discovered how much personal information was needed in order to use it, Pew researchers said."

Banks begin to mobilise the forces
"When St George’s head of eChannels Travis Tyler told the bank’s technology chief that he wanted to let people apply for credit cards through their mobile phone, the first reaction was disbelief. 'I told Travis ‘no one will want to do that’,' says St George chief information officer Dhiren Kulkarni."

Missouri Credit Union Survey Finds Nearly 40% Mobile
"Nearly 40% of 2,084 people who participated in an online survey said they are using mobile banking, according to a Consumer Attitude Report released by the Missouri Credit Union Association in St. Louis. The non-scientific, statewide survey also found that across all age groups (18 to 65+), Missouri consumers use mobile banking primarily for confirming payments, balancing checking accounts, transferring money, account alerts and paying bills."

10 Best Apps for Mobile Banking and Finance
"The major banks and brokerage firms are making mobile banking and trading easier than ever with apps on the iPhone, iPad and Android platforms. This way, you can be in control of your money even when you leave the bank’s branch or are not by your computer. From checking account balances to cautiously monitoring your 401(k) returns, we uncover the benefits of the major banking and stock apps…and they’re all free."

Wells Fargo, SunTrust Add Mobile Check Deposit To Banking Apps
"When it comes to personal banking, the smartphone can now accomplish most of what a bank teller or an ATM can do, aside from actually dispensing cash (iPhone 6 feature, perhaps?). Two more big banks, including Wells Fargo and Sun Trust, have revamped their banking apps to allow customers to make deposits on the go by snapping a photo of a paper check using a smartphone's built-in camera."

Branchless banking soaring high
"The growth momentum of the branchless banking sector - still in its early stages - ceases to amaze. The sector is leapfrogging ahead despite inherent sectoral difficulties and overall challenging macro conditions. The recently released fourth quarterly issue of the SBPs BB newsletter series shows yet another period of impressive all-round gains in the sector. To start with, the BB services penetration increased by a handsome 37 percent between April and June, for the registered number of mobile banking accounts is said to have reached 1.45 million as of June end. The push came from a 3.7 times quarterly increase in Level 0 (basic) accounts that now represent 25 percent of total accounts. "