Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 31

Bell State Bank Deploys Fiserv's Mobile Banking System
"Bell State Bank & Trust in Fargo, N.D., has chosen Mobiliti, Fiserv's mobile banking service. Mobiliti allows customers of the $2.6 billion-asset bank to make payments from their smartphones, the Wisconsin-based fintech firm said Tuesday. The bank also began using Mobile Source Capture, Fiserv's mobile deposit system. Mobiliti is currently available to Bell State's customers through text messaging, web browsers, iPhone and Android phones, and the bank plans to add iPad compatibility, the release says."

Fed: Number of Americans using mobile banking increasing
"Nearly 1-in-3 mobile phone owners accessed a financial account via their phone in the past 12 months, a marked increase from a year earlier, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday. For those who own a smartphone, the number jumps to nearly half of all users, according to the study of consumer attitudes released by the reserve’s Board of Governors."

Mobile devices increasingly popular for banking services
"More consumers are using their mobile phones and smartphones for their banking needs, according to a Federal Reserve Board survey released this week. Twenty-eight percent of mobile phone users and 48 percent of smartphone users had used mobile banking in the 12 months prior to the survey being conducted in November 2012, up significantly from 21 percent and 42 percent in December 2011, according to the board’s Survey of Consumers’ Use of Mobile Financial Services."

Demand for Online, Mobile Technology Services Growing Among Business Banking Clients
"It’s hard to ignore that more and more people are using mobile devices to communicate, and banking institutions are aware of the growing demand for their services via the Internet among business clients. According to the American Bankers Association, businesses and consumers are demanding more payment options. This, coupled with shifting demographics, have banks re-thinking their service models to offer a wider range of products."

Mobile banking will break the 1 billion user mark in 4 years
"By the year 2017, studies are showing that the use of these services will have skyrocketed. The latest mobile banking study data from Juniper Research has indicated that an increasing acceptance of this type of smartphone and tablet based service has caused users to bring the number of users up to nearly 200 million."

Bank of Atlanta Mobile Banking
"Bank of Atlanta Mobile Banking allows you to bank on the go. Its free to download and offers quick access for managing your Bank of Atlanta accounts. Just like Online Banking, securely sign in with your current login information to check your balances, pay bills, transfer money, and locate ATMs and our banking centers."

Silicon Valley Bank Launches Mobile Banking App for Businesses
"Silicon Valley Bank, financial partner to technology and life science companies of all sizes, launched Apple® and Android™ mobile banking apps for its commercial clients in the US."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 28

Oklahoma CU Deploys Tyfone Mobile Banking
"Communication Federal Credit Union is deploying Tyfone's mobile banking software. Tyfone's suite enables mobile banking via mobile app, mobile web or SMS. It is capable of integrating with Fiserv's XP2 core account processing software and is said to provide financial institutions a path to deploying mobile payments through its iCashe mobile wallet. The Oklahoma City-based credit union—which has about $850 million in assets and serves 55,000 members in Oklahoma and Kansas—and Tyfone did not immediately return requests for comment on the scheduled rollout of mobile banking and payments."

FIS Looks Forward On Mobile
"When Jacksonville, Fla.-based FIS completed its acquisition of mobile banking and payment solutions provider mFoundry last week, it was not just a one-off business transaction but part of a larger mobile strategy the company is planning over the next decade. "We see mobile as being a huge part of our future at FIS and the future of the clients we serve," Susan Hawkins, Group Executive and General Manager of eBanking, Mobile and Commercial Treasury Solution at FIS, recently told Bank Systems & Technology."

Snap happy mobile banking customers deposit checks via photos
"Earlier this month, Juniper Research released their "Mobile Banking: Handset & Tablet Market Strategies 2013-2017" report revealing that, within the next four years, 19% of tablet owners will carry out bill payments via their mobile device compared to the 9% that currently do so. New research, this time from mobile document capture software firm Mitek, found that Americans are increasingly comfortable with depositing money into their accounts simply by taking a photo of a check. More than 12 million have now done so, depositing more than $40 billion in to accounts. According to Mitek president and CEO, James B. DeBello, mobile banking is not only fast, easy, and gratifying, it's also fun."

Tablet Banking Forecast 2013-2017: Mobile Banking Users to Exceed One Billion by 2017
"Online banking is common enough these days, but Juniper Research believes the practice is heading to the mobile world. The March 12 report shows that users have become accustomed to pushed financial services, particularly tablet banking. The acceptance of mobile banking apps, plus the vast numbers of tablets in circulation among consumers, will encourage people to look up and pay their bills on mobile devices."

Banks Now Able to Enrich their Consumer Banking Offerings with New Online and Mobile Banking Range of Products from Misys
"At the 'Misys MENA Market Forum 2013' today Misys is announcing its new innovative range of online and mobile banking products, Misys BankFusion Digital Channels, which significantly enhances the way banks provide products and services via the Internet or mobile devices. Misys BankFusion Digital Channels comprises a range of proven and mature modules covering online banking, mobile banking, personal financial management and Internet brokerage, which enable banks to extend their services and add more value to their customers. The innovative solution enables banks to keep up to date with the changing needs of consumers. It allows banks to provide a better digital service all the time and allows them to optimise their costs, as customers migrate from transacting in branches to banking via digital channels."

International Mobile Banking - Mar 27

Report: Mobile banking faces global hurdles
"While we're talking about mobile banking as the "Next Big Thing" (next to big data, of course) as cloud computing becomes "that old thing", there are still some very big hurdles that CIOs need to be aware of when planning their mobile banking strategies. According to GSMA's report "The Economy of Mobile 2013", an estimated 2.5 billion adults in developing nations do not have access to a formal bank account. While this figure means that people do not have access to a local ATM or a branch with a human teller, they will have access to mobile banking via their cell phones."

Orascom’s Burundi Unit to Start Mobile Banking to Add Customers
"Leo Burundi, a unit of Orascom Telecom Holding SAE (ORTE), wants to quadruple subscribers to its mobile phone cash-transfer platform by the end of the year as it introduces financial-services products. A partnership with Interbank Burundi SA will allow clients to deposit money into savings accounts and make withdrawals using their mobile phones, Laurent Ndayikeza, a manager, said. U.S.-based Obopay Inc., has been hired to provide a secure Internet connection and servers to process transactions, he told reporters today in the capital, Bujumbura."

Uganda: Bou Wants Banks to Adapt Mobile Banking
"Deepening the penetration of financial services requires commercial banks to invest more resources in mobile banking technology to attract the unbanked population, a senior Bank of Uganda (BOU) official has observed. Justine Bagyenda, the executive director supervision at BOU, noted that millions of potential customers for banks are scattered across the country in places that are not viable for permanent bank branches, a gap that can only be closed by boosting mobile banking, "Few people of the total population have bank accounts."

Mobile banking is still waiting to take off
"THE growth of mobile money will continue at a rapid rate this year, global mobile industry body GSMA said in a recently released report titled The Economy of Mobile 2013. More than 2.5-billion adults — the majority of whom live in developing economies — do not have access to a formal bank account, according to the World Bank."

HNB cruises with mobile banking
"Rajendra Theagarajah, Managing Director, CEO HNB at the re-launch of HNB’s mobile banking proposition ceremony held in Colombo on Thursday said plans were afoot to convert at lease 15 % of its customer base into active mobile customers in the next two to three years. Theagarajah said, sometime in 2010, soon as the end of the war, the bank’s top team relooked at the national vision, the national strategy and acknowledged it was time that they re-examined their own direction and strategy and to see whether they were also going in the same direction or whether there were gaps which prevented the bank from fully benefiting from the new found paradigm of prosperity."

Mobile Banking Security - Mar 26

Mobile Payments and Banking - The 'Real' Security Risk
"Let me start by saying what wonderful things mobile payments and mobile banking are. You can’t deny the convenience of being able to bank, pay for goods and services, and perform P2P payments while “on the go”. It is these little conveniences that help turn train and bus travel into something more useful than simply reading the newspaper. With the introduction of mobile wallets and new security innovations, many companies are making big promises that your mobile is becoming the most secure means of banking and payments."

ATMIA Publishes Best Practices for Preventing Mobile Banking Fraud
"ATMIA today announced the publication of a new best practice manual for preventing mobile banking fraud, with special reference to applications linked to ATM systems. Due to the increasing popularity of mobile phones, and in particular smartphones and tablet computers which are capable of full internet access, mobile banking and related mobile commerce has become an important channel for the financial services industry, including the ATM industry."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 24

Mobile Banking Innovations
"In 2006 Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize for his achievement with Grameen Bank. It gives microcredits to people too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans and the bank made a signficant profit with this business model. If the Nobel Committee was composed of international CEOs you can be sure Mr. Yunus would probably have received the Nobel Prize for Economics as well. He was able to create business opportunity where it was mostly overlooked or deemed impossible. He did that by offering new services and out-of-the-box thinking."

Loyalty To Mobile Banking Kept Some From Switching To CUs
"Credit unions could have gained even more members than the 2.2 million members they added in the weeks surrounding Bank Transfer Day, if they had made it easier for consumers to transfer their mobile accounts, according to Jim Van Dyke , CEO of Javelin Strategy & Research."

City National Bank aims mobile banking suite at small and mid-sized businesses
"Banks big and small are scrambling to "mobilize" their offerings, including those aimed at business clients. Today, City National Bank, a financial institution with $28.6 billion in assets, announced that it's offering a new online and mobile business banking solution called Book2Bank. The new suite of services includes connections to accounting software such as QuickBooks, as well as the ability to automate payment activities."

Infographic: What’s Really Going On in Mobile Banking
"By 2017, an estimated one billion people will use mobile banking. Even today, mobile banking has become an accepted – if not routine – part of daily life. But according to the data presented in a new infographic from FICO, there’s often a gap between what mobile services customers want and what their banks offer."

Check depositing via mobile banking reaches $40B threshold
"According to findings from mobile document capture software firm Mitek, Americans 'are increasingly comfortable with depositing money into their accounts simply by taking a photo of a check.' Sure, this survey came from a vendor who found that people just love what they do, but there is some interesting data nonetheless. The findings state that more than 12 million have deposited funds via check capture software. So far, this translates into more than $40 billion into accounts."

Future of Mobile Banking: Fewer Banks, More Apps
"Mobile banking is increasingly popular, according to a report from consulting firm Bain & Company, offering banks a chance to cut costs but also increase customer loyalty. The December 2012 report from Bain found that 20 percent of mobile users in the U.S. had accessed a mobile banking app in the past 12 months, with 64 percent performing a simple balance inquiry. Forty-one percent used a remote deposit capture system on their phone, while 26 percent paid bills with a mobile device."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 21

Malauzai Software Launches Mobile Banking SmartApp for iPad
"Malauzai Software Inc., a provider of mobile banking SmartApps for community financial institutions, has launched its mobile banking app for iPad devices. The technology is currently in use by several institutions, including Huntsville, Ala.-based Worthington Federal Bank. Malauzai’s iPad SmartApp takes advantage of the larger tablet screen to introduce enhanced navigation capabilities to the mobile banking experience. Accounts are now displayed on scrolling tiles instead of lists, and users can have more than one workspace open at a time. For instance, users can view transaction history while making a transfer."

Mobile virus writers pay to Google Play
"An explosion in mallicious software -malware - targeting Android smartphone users is being fueled in part by a budding market for mobile virus creation kits, as well as a brisk market for hijacked or fraudulent developer accounts on Google's app store Google Play that can be used to disguise malware as legitimate apps for sale. I recently encountered an Android malware developer on a semi-private underground forum who was actively buying verified developer accounts at Google Play for $US100 apiece. Google charges just $US25 for Android developers who wish to sell their applications through the Google Play marketplace, but it also requires the accounts to be approved and tied to a specific domain. The buyer in this case was offering $US100 for sellers willing to part with an active, verified Google Play account tied to a dedicated server."

Will mobile banking fees turn away consumers? - Mobile Commerce Daily
"PNC bank is reportedly considering charging customers a fee when they use their mobile phones to deposit a check, a service that is now free. One of the attractions of mobile banking for consumers has been convenience but the fact that these services are typically free has also played a role. The question is whether by tacking a fee onto mobile deposits, this might slow the adoption of mobile banking."

Tablet users expected to make up 19 percent of mobile banking customers in 2017
One in four tablet users is predicted to pay bills via the device by 2017, according to a report by Juniper Research. Adoption of bill presentment and payment, or BPP, transactional banking by tablet users will be higher than by smartphone users, the report found. Tablet users are expected to make up 19 percent of mobile banking customers in 2017, or 200 million users, up from 9 percent of mobile banking customers in 2013."

Pros and Cons of Mobile Banking
"Many major commercial banks are now offering consumers the choice to make deposits, send money, and perform other routine tasks using a mobile app. Bank customers can now use a smartphone or tablet for basic transactions like check deposits and bill payments, making it easier to keep an eye on finances without a trip to the ATM."

Fiserv integrates P2P service into mobile banking platform
"Financial services technology provider Fiserv Inc. is looking to expand the use of its Popmoney peer-to-peer payments product. The company announced today that it will be integrating the P2P feature into its Mobiliti mobile banking platform. With the integration, P2P payments can be made directly from a user's mobile banking account. Additionally, users of P2P payments can manage payments and view transaction history from within their mobile banking application."

As Mobile Reshapes Payments Business, Fiserv Combines P2P Payments & Mobile Banking Offerings
"As consumers become more comfortable and engaged with the concepts of mobile wallets, mobile payments and other forms of digital payments transactions, the financial technology community is taking notice. For example, more than 16 billion person-to-person payments are made each year, according to McKinsey & Company. A 2012 Forrester Research report found that 51% of tablet banking users and 46% of mobile banking users would like to make person-to-person payments via their devices. Even though there is still considerable uncertainty about how things will play out in terms of standards, revenues and regulation no one wants to be left out of the race to dominate the mobile money space."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 20

Commercialbank names winners of online, mobile banking campaign
"Some eight lucky Commercialbank customers have been named as the winners of the bank’s recent online and mobile banking campaign. The eight week promotion, which was open to all new and existing customers registered for Commercialbank’s online banking and mobile services, highlighted the 'flexibility, security and range of banking services' that the bank’s customers have access to from their mobile phone or computers. Commercialbank’s mobile banking platform is compatible with iPad, Android and all smartphones, in addition to the iPhone, BlackBerry and mobile web."

RBS launch mobile banking app days after second card network crash
"From today, customers using the RBS/NatWest mobile phone app will be able to send a payment of up to £100 to anyone with a Visa card, by entering their mobile phone number. The announcement comes just days after the banking group apologised to customers for its second computer hitch in a year. A hardware fault left RBS Group customers blocked from using cashpoints for several hours last week, while online and telephone banking services were also disrupted. As well as currently having more than two million active users, the RBS/NatWest mobile banking app has 13 million logins per week."

Bank Alfalah, Warid launch mobile banking solution
"Monet – an independent mobile financial services company – partnered with Fundamo – Visa’s subsidiary and one of the world’s largest specialist mobile financial service providers – to launch a mobile money network in Pakistan, the press release said. Monet – which was set up by the Abu Dhabi Group last year – had secured approval from the State Bank of Pakistan to build its network, which is being offered to local firms planning to launch mobile money services."

The Benefits of Mobile Health, on Hold
"The world now has 5 billion mobile phones – one for every person over 15. Africa has a billion people and 750 million phones, and mobile is growing so fast there that in a few years there will be more phones than people. In some countries this is already true — South Africa has 47 million people, but 52 million SIM cards. The mobile phone is doing more than revolutionizing communication. It has the potential to improve many aspects of life in poor countries: commerce, health, agriculture, education."

Polish FI rolls out mobile banking, payment solution
"Polish financial institution PKO Bank Polski has launched its first mobile payment solution, called IKO. Based on the mobile payment platform of Swedish company Accumulate, the product supports mobile banking and payment services at the point of sale, real-time peer-to-peer payments and cardless withdrawals from ATMs."

Mobile banking a game changer, says SBP governor
"State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Yaseen Anwar has said that developments in branchless banking across the country have been so far marvelous, leaving nobody in doubt about the potential of mobile phone banking to be a game-changer in banking, m-commerce and financial inclusion. Speaking at the 6th International Conference on ‘Mobile Banking in Pakistan’ at a local hotel on Thursday, he said that developments in m-banking and m-commerce will lead us to connect the unbanked segment of our population to financial services, thus contributing to their empowerment."

Mobile phone-banking is failing to meet its potential
"India's 840 million mobile phone connections are emerging as knights in armour in the financial inclusion challenge—they hold the promise of providing banking access to the large swathe of India's unbanked population. Yet, today, less than 20 million people in India are using mobile banking services offered by some 50-odd banks, even though the National Payments Consortium of India (NPCI) has rolled out a gateway for inter-bank mobile payment services (IMPS)."

Shell-Backed Solar Company Bets on Phone Banking for Africa
"M-KOPA Kenya Ltd., backed by a Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)-funded charity, sees sales of its solar-lighting system that allows users to pay by phone surging 13-fold as mobile operators roll out banking services in Africa. The system, a panel powering lights and a phone charger, links to mobile banking services to allow customers to pay 40 Kenyan shillings (46 cents) a day to use it, M-KOPA says. The company plans to boost clients in Kenya to 100,000 from about 7,500 now, and expand abroad in future, Managing Director Jesse Moore said."

Kiwis double up on mobile banking
"The proportion of New Zealand's smartphoners who use their phone to conduct online banking transactions has almost doubled in the past year, according to Roy Morgan's latest Mobile Phone Monitor. While a majority of smartphone users (58%) still bank online using a computer, 16% now conduct banking on their mobiles—up from 8.3% in January last year."

Mobile banking service expanding in Bangladesh
"Mobile banking is gaining ground among the people in Bangladesh within a short span of time for facilitating its easy transaction services. Some 3.0 million people make now the use of different services under mobile banking. There are about 70,000 outlets of mobile banking service-providers, making the services available to the users. The extent of such services and the volume of transactions involve a sizeable amount of money, between Tk 300 million and Tk 350 million, per day, according to the data of the Bangladesh Bank (BB)."

Mobile banking technologies catch on in Russia
Portable terminals and personal finance management services are sweeping the global banking market. In Russia, the mobile- and online-banking segments are growing, introducing similar innovations to the market. Some banks are ready to invest in these innovations, while others wait for these new technologies to become actual drivers for the industry."

ANZ launches enhanced mobile banking app
"The ANZ Bank has launched more enhancements to its mobile banking application, goMoney, which the company says makes it the “first bank in Australia” to integrate personal and business accounts into a single mobile banking application for customers using an iPhone. Nick Reade, ANZ General Manager Small Business Banking, said small business customers wanted to do their banking “when and where it suits them,” and increasingly customers were using mobile devices."

Santander UK Launches Mobile Banking App for Android
"Santander has launched a brand new mobile banking app for customers who use Android smartphones and tablets, including the Kindle Fire, as well as updating the iPhone/iPad app the bank originally launched in January 2012. The new apps provide a secure service for banking on the go, including a helpful single platform where customers can see information for all their Santander current accounts, savings and credit cards. The apps are available from the Apple App Store and the Android store (Google Play) and free to all of Santander's personal banking customers."

Visa Europe signs new three-year deal with Monitise to expand its mobile banking services across Europe
"Visa Europe has signed a new three-year deal with Monitise to develop and expand its various Mobile Money solutions, which support mobile banking, payments and commerce networks, to more leading financial institutions across Europe. The extended partnership means that Monitise is guaranteed minimum revenues of €45 million over the next three years, with the chance to go beyond that provided 'certain user generated thresholds are achieved.'”

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 18

The Future of Mobile Banking
"Mobile banking apps make banking and managing finances more convenient and less time consuming. They also reduce the need for working with loads upon loads of paper, like all those forms you need to fill out in brick-and-mortar banks. The most common activities performed by mobile banking app users include scanning and depositing checks, monitoring account balances and, for some, managing travel or hotel bookings. Many banks also offer online banking options for those who want an easier way to control their cash flow, pay their bills, and locate ATM stations."

For Students, Banking 2.0 Involves Social Media (and the Ads That Go With It)
"Let’s say you’re in college. You’re taking a full load of courses, balancing classes with a work-study job that pays minimum wage, and whether you eat or not depends entirely on the credit still left on your weekly meal plan. Money’s tight and you’re caught in between independence and still having to rely on your parents’ generosity."

Banks must adapt to Hispanics' mobile banking needs, study says
"A recent study has found that as Hispanics across the country embrace mobile technologies, banks hoping to attract Hispanic customers must change their marketing tactics to be more mobile. The “Hispanic Mobile Banking Trends Study” — which was conducted by Zpryme Research and Consulting LLC, an Austin-based research advisory firm, and ThinkNow Research, a California-based Hispanic consumer research firm — found that 69 percent of Hispanics use their smartphone for mobile banking and 49 percent use their tablet for mobile banking."

Mobile Banking Will Help the Poor Prosper
"When it comes to strengthening our financial security, Americans' relative wealth means more access to banking and the kinds of innovative technologies that put financial management and security at our fingertips. In the U.S. and much of Europe, smartphone use is becoming ubiquitous, and virtually every major bank offers app-based banking services. Even in the U. S., however, access to basic banking services isn't as widespread as it may seem. One in 12 American households lacks any kind of deposit account, according to a recent report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. In much of the rest of the world, access to formal financial services of any kind is even harder to come by. An estimated 2.5 billion adults lack consistent, reliable financial services, according to data from the World Bank. For three out of four of the world's poorest individuals – those who live on less than $2 per day – access to basic financial tools is nearly non-existent. But there is hope."

Mobile Banking Fees: Money Maker Or Momentum-Killer?
"Will charging for mobile banking apps slow their rate of adoption? We could see an interesting case study in that debate soon, as PNC bank is reportedly considering charging for its mobile check depositing service. PNC’s mBanking features are, as they are for most major banks, currently free for customers. But according to this recent Mobile Commerce Daily piece, the potential to add revenue may be too great a temptation for banks to resist: even if it means fewer people us their services."

Next in Mobile Banking: Photo Bill Payments
"Now that many banking customers are used to depositing paper checks by snapping a photo with their cellphones, some banks are adding another feature: photo bill pay. U.S. Bank this week introduced a mobile “photo bill pay” service, which allows its online and mobile banking customers to snap a photo of a paper bill with their phone and have the information automatically loaded into their account. Then, they can pay the bill electronically. First Financial Bank in Abilene, Tex., began offering the service earlier this year, too. A hat tip to Netbanker for bringing that bank to our attention."

Report: Tablet boost to mobile banking
"A quarter of tablet PC users will use their device to pay bills by 2017. That is one of the headline findings of a new report by Juniper Research. Because of a sharp rise in tablet adoption, Juniper calculates that users of transactional tablet banking services will number almost 200 million in 2017. The research firm says this will account for around 19 per cent of total mobile banking customers in 2017, up from 9 per cent this year."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 17

Mobile Deposit Combines the Old and New in Bank Technology
"Remote deposit capture (RDC), long tied to the PC and desktop scanner, has arrived at its ultimate destination -- anywhere, anytime check deposits through popular mobile banking capabilities and smartphones. By combining powerful technology trends and strong consumer demand with a traditional banking process, mobile deposit enables financial institutions banks to retain customers, prevent the fragmentation of customers’ banking relationships and, ultimately, forever change the bank’s relationship with its customers."

Onsite Coverage: Mobile Message at BAI is ‘Go Big or Go Home’
"What a change a year makes. The loud message at a morning session on mobile banking at the BAI Payments Connect conference in Phoenix is this: "Go big or go home." Mobile banking adoption now is occurring at a “dizzying rate,” said panelist Bob Hedges, a managing director at research firm AlixPartners. Before, AlixPartners had talked about mobile banking “nearing” a “tipping point” – but it’s there and well beyond that now, Hedges said at the Monday session."

Centier Bank Improves Banking Security with Mobile-based Card On/Off Support
"In an effort to increase mobile adoption and enhance customers' security options, Merrillville, Ind.-based Centier Bank has implemented new mobile banking functionality from Computer Services, Inc. (CSI) (OTCQX: CSVI) to allow its customers to better manage debit cards from their mobile devices. CSI's newest mobile application enhancement, referred to as Card On/Off, allows users to manually enable or disable the use of their debit card within the bank's mobile app in the event the card is lost or stolen."

Millennials embrace mobile banking
"Meryn Oswald is 23, just out of college and can’t remember the last time she was in a bank branch office. Her father, Jim Oswald, who’s executive vice president and chief lending officer for Affinity Bank of Pennsylvania, is amazed watching his daughter bank on her phone. This is one reason the Spring Township bank is exploring mobile banking."

Report: 1 billion mobile banking customers by 2017
"Bill payment from a tablet is, not surprisingly, on the rise. Analysts at Juniper Research said that growing acceptance of mobile banking coupled with a rise in tablet adoption will push users of transactional tablet banking to nearly 200 million consumers in 2017. That's about 19 percent of all mobile banking customers, the report said. Juniper said adoption of bill payment via tablets will be higher in developed areas, as they have a higher adoption of tablet devices overall."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 7

Google Glass Could Spur Mobile Banking on Steroids
"Since their inception, computers have morphed. Once bulky, now small. Once obvious, now discreet. Soon they will be wearable. So, when you walk down the street, a message will brilliantly appear in the corner of your eyewear: Look, an ATM! What seems like a futuristic fantasy could become reality later this year. Google's (GOOG) latest foray into wearable computing, Glass, is ripe for financial services innovation. It is similar to what you'd imagine to be the heads up display inside a fighter pilot helmet."

The Future Of Mobile Banking Fueled By Smartphone Cameras
"The impetus for financial institutions to provide mobile remote deposit capture and mobile photo bill pay is growing. A full 58% of iPhone users finding mobile deposit desirable, and 42% of mobile bankers say they’d like to use photo bill pay. Mobile remote deposit has created a buzz and it is a surprisingly popular service among consumers. For many consumers looking for a reason to try mobile banking, remote deposit seems to fit the bill."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 6

ACLEDA Bank Earns Celent Model Bank Status for its Fiserv-Powered Mobile Banking Initiative
"Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that its client, ACLEDA Bank, PLC., was named a Celent Model Bank for 2013. Celent selected ACLEDA, headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, based on its successful initiative to bring mobile financial services to consumers without banking relationships, which the bank accomplished using Mobiliti Reach™ from Fiserv."

Mobile banking passes 6 million . . . fast
"Using a mobile phone for banking passed through 6 million users in Australia in the September quarter 2012, which was six months faster to that mark than Internet banking a white paper has revealed. While Internet banking took 15 quarters (3.75 years) to be adopted by 6 million users in Australia, mobile banking took only 13 quarters (3.25 years) to reach the same mark."

Banks moving towards mobile banking
"Bankers and software designers are meeting in Singapore to discuss how to take advantage of smartphones and tablets to expand their business. Banks are shifting investment, from brick and mortar branches packed with staff to slick IT solutions. Singapore software company Tagit is tailoring solutions differently for emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, and banks with established networks in developed countries like Japan and Australia."

New Research Reveals China’s Potential for a Mobile Banking Revolution
"Researcher Patrick Ainslie calls it ‘handshakes over hetongs’ (the Mandarin word for ‘contract’). It’s an opportunity, an open challenge even, to reach 250 million people in China and potentially transform their lives. Ainslie is part of a team of researchers at New York-based social enterprise Reboot, which recently published a study, based on extensive field interviews, on designing financial services for China’s marginalized groups."

 The Moving Target of Mobile Banking Service
"When my colleagues and I talk about mobile banking, we are struck by how many banks operating in mature markets could learn from Africa. Despite the infrastructure challenges – and in some ways because of them – many African banks display a real commitment to innovation in service. Standard Bank of South Africa, for example, is working to provide “inclusive banking” – banking services for the previously unbanked. These customers may not own smartphones, but they can now deposit money and pay for utilities using the phones they have."

Mozido Appeals To Politicos For Action On Mobile Banking
"Gregory Corona, president and chief executive officer of Mozido LLC, has reached out to two top administration officials to run interference for his company with the Bank of Jamaica over a mobile banking deal with the credit union league that has been stalled by regulatory review. Texas-based Mozido operates a local subsidiary, Mozido Jamaica, managed by Kavin Hewitt."

Only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference
"With only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference 2013, we invite all financial, retail and IT professionals dealing with mobile banking and mobile payments to secure their seats at this high powered event. Registrations are filling up and the conference once again promises to be a full-house."

Mobile Banking Security - Mar 5

How Risky Is Mobile Banking? Depends on Customer Behavior
"Smartphone technology, thanks to consumer demand, is poised to become the most significant technology disrupter since the Internet and will forever change how banks serve their customers. Smartphones appeal to bank executives because of their labor-saving potential and because they provide another point of competitive distinction as banks race to create innovative handheld applications."

Consumers Yet To Trust Mobile Banking and Alternative Payments, Study Finds
"Despite being around for several years now, mobile banking still has yet to earn the kind of trust that consumers put in online banking and ATM’s, new research from BT Global Services, an IT consulting and outsourcing firm, suggests. The firm released the results of a recent global survey of 1,000 consumers today, and the findings show that consumers still trust ATM’s, self-service kiosks and online banking far more than they trust mobile banking services. Among the U.S. consumers questioned in the survey only 13% said that they would trust mobile banking more than they would these other technologies, although that percentage was higher than in some European countries like Germany (5%) and Britain (10%)."

Android mobile banking exposure to risk concerns
"Don’t move your wallet onto your phone yet: Mobile banking on Android phones could put consumers at risk of fraud and cost banks millions a year global IT security firm MWR InfoSecurity has warned on the final day of the Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona. MWR Labs, the research arm of MWR InfoSecurity, investigated the security standards of leading Android mobile phone brands to determine the overall exposure to risk of consumers who use mobile devices phones for online banking. Recent research has shown that Android is now the leading phone platform with over 50% market share, driving the development of mobile banking apps for the Android Environment."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 3

A More Mobile Future For Banking
"In some ways, mobile is like a religion in the banking industry. It even has evangelists, who spout off statistics like a preacher does Bible verses as they make their impassioned pleas for banks to prepare for a mobile future. But figuring out the right strategy is a complex proposition. There is forecasting involved, about where technology is going and what consumers might do. And there are goals to settle on. Can enough routine transactions be moved to mobile to justify closing branches? Can branches, free of the foot traffic from deposits and checks, be reoriented around sales to boost revenue? Can't we just wait on all this to see what happens?"

Top 10 Hispanic Mobile Banking Trends, Zpryme & ThinkNow Research Reports
"Based on a recent survey, Hispanic Mobile Banking Trends Study, by Zpryme and ThinkNow Research, nearly seven out of ten (69%) Hispanic mobile bank users consult their smart/cell phones to do mobile banking, with almost half (44%) visiting their primary bank’s Facebook page. More poignantly practically one-third (30%) said they would switch primary banks to get mobile banking services."

Mobile banking happening in places where smartphones are rarely found
"At a technology conference devoted to the slick and snappy, a small French company proudly displayed a chunky, antiquated Nokia cellphone that is allowing mobile banking to happen in places where smartphones are rarely found. It was a message heard often at the four-day Mobile World Congress this week. While companies in wealthy nations struggle to get customers to pay for products with sophisticated mobile gadgets, millions of people in poorer nations are adopting the practice with clunkier cellphones as an efficient, practical alternative to cash."

Bank Wars: The Battle For Internet Traffic And Mobile Banking
"Online banking has become an increasingly essential and competitive part of the financial landscape. Everything from mobile check deposits to online Twitter customer service support has transformed the banking industry, forcing firms to adapt to this changing environment. What is the best way to analyze who is winning this battle over Internet traffic and paving the way for growth?"