Mobile Banking Updates - April 18

Capital One, DBS Bank Win Kudos for Private Mobile Banking Apps
"Mobile banking apps from Capital One and DBS Bank of Singapore shared first place in a new study of 50 global banks’ smartphone offerings for private banking clients. MyPrivateBanking, a Swiss research firm, evaluated the offerings of 50 banks. Capital One and DBS received a score of 50 out of a possible 60. The firm awarded second place to Societe Generale of France (with a score of 49). Third place was shared by ABN AMRO of Amsterdam and Westpac of Australia (both earned 48 points). The top scorers’ apps went beyond providing basic account information and transaction features, according to the report."

Infographic: Consumers prefer mobile banking to mobile payments
"Proponents of mobile payment technology, which lets you link a payment card to an app and pay with your phone, tout the convenience of leaving your wallet at home. Yet a March 2013 Federal Reserve survey shows just how far apps like Square Wallet, Google Wallet and Isis have to go to make that a reality. Just 6 percent of smartphone users have made a point-of-sale payment with their phone, while more than a third of them don't see any benefit to mobile payments -- and would prefer to pay with another method. Concerns about security are the main barrier to mobile payment adoption, although they're becoming less of a concern, the survey found. Thirty-eight percent of respondents in this year's survey said they had security concerns, compared with 42 percent in 2011."

Mobile payments: The next great debate
"I find myself at the forefront of many debates these days. And I’m not talking about politics, but rather how we will pay for products or services in the future. A year ago, the topic of mobile payments circulated as mild Internet banter in terms of how money is exchanged across sources, rails and platforms. Today, this complex subject makes its way into daily conversations. When discussing the future of mobile payments, rarely do I observe people who ride the party line. You’re either for it or against it. There’s no such thing as a moderate. And the ever-important question: near field communication (NFC) or the cloud? Is there room for both? And are people actually ready to use something other than plastic to pay for stuff?"

More consumers banking by mobile app
"The explosive growth nationally in mobile-phone banking is giving consumers a critical new option in managing their money, so much so that some Colorado banks say they are scrambling to keep up with the demand. While increases in the use of smartphone technology for banking applications have ballooned by as much as 250 percent in two years in Colorado, some experts think a single security breach could chill some of the enthusiasm."

Liberty Bank offering mobile banking app
"Liberty Bank has launched mobile banking service which now allows consumer customers to bank via mobile app, mobile browser, and text message from a smart phone or tablet. 'The industry is seeing huge growth in the use of mobile devices to access information on the go and to execute banking transactions. Liberty Bank is capitalizing on this trend to make banking even more effortless and convenient for our customers,' says Liberty Bank president and CEO Chandler J. Howard."

Banks Add Card Controls to Their Mobile Banking Apps
"When the president of City Bank Texas asked his IT team about adding a feature that would allow customers to temporarily disable their debit cards through its mobile banking app, senior vice president and chief technology officer Jim Simpson recalls outwardly smiling at him while inwardly thinking, "Is it even possible?" But first, the bank wanted to figure out whether the feature would solve a customer pain point. "We listen to the call center first to [determine] how we build innovative solutions," Simpson says. After getting positive feedback more than a year ago from the unit, the $2 billion-asset bank began working with its mobile banking provider, Malauzai Software, to bring a card control tool to life."