Mobile Banking Updates - June 12

B of A's Gopalkrishnan Uses 'Hackathons' to Create Mobile Apps
"Like most of the bankers we profiled this year, Hari Gopalkrishnan, managing director, consumer and wealth management, ecommerce technology, consumer banking architecture and segments technology executive for Bank of America Merrill Lynch speaks of simplicity in mobile banking design and user experience."

Feeling Insecure About Mobile Banking? You're Not Alone
"It's a scary cyber-world out there, and fear concerning Internet security is one of the top reasons that bank customers avoid mobile banking. For banks, expanding mobile offerings is win-win, enabling them to shutter expensive branch locations while opening newer, more modern spaces that cater to banking via the Internet. So, what do banks need to do to assuage customers' fears about mobile banking -- and, more importantly, what is being done to improve security measures to protect consumers' private information?"

Wells Fargo & Co (WFC), Bank of America Corp (BAC) & Citigroup Inc (C): Feeling Insecure About Mobile Banking? You’re Not Alone
"It's a scary cyber-world out there, and fear concerning Internet security is one of the top reasons that bank customers avoid mobile banking. For banks, expanding mobile offerings is win-win, enabling them to shutter expensive branch locations while opening newer, more modern spaces that cater to banking via the Internet. So, what do banks need to do to assuage customers' fears about mobile banking -- and, more importantly, what is being done to improve security measures to protect consumers' private information?"

Blackhawk and Monitise in mobile gift card partnership
"Blackhawk Network and Monitise are partnering to make mobile gift card purchasing available to consumers through certain banks and financial institutions in the US. In addition, the companies intend to expand their relationship into additional markets. Prepaid gift cards from Blackhawk Network's popular GiftCardMall will be available to consumers for purchase from participating banks and payment companies' mobile wallets, powered by Monitise. With this new relationship, Blackhawk's extensive network will integrate into Monitise's mobile banking ecosystem, making it easier for consumers to purchase Blackhawk gift cards from popular retail brands via mobile."

Mobile Banking Is Mainstream — What About Security, ROI, Payments?
"Sitting alone at the back of a hotel meeting room, Theodore Iacobuzio had a stern message for bankers: "The train is leaving the station," said Iacobuzio, a MasterCard executive, referring to the emerging mobile payment economy. 'You have to get on.' Earlier that Wednesday, Iacobuzio had spoken on a panel at the Mobile Banking and Commerce Summit in Miami about using data to drive relevant offers to cardholders. Mobile banking and payments are at the forefront of his mind."

Threat of the Week: Mayhem in the Mobile Browser
"It’s coming. For the past five years warnings of a coming assault by cybercriminals on mobile banking have kept getting louder. Yet the plain fact is that successful attacks on the mobile channel in the United States have been scarce. 'Mobile threats remain nascent,' said Vince Arneja, a vice president at security firm Arxan. But just maybe that’s about to change, mainly because more cyber crooks are putting more energy into mobile and, lately, there are signs that the bad guys are starting to cash in on a vulnerability that is found on just about every smartphone."

Consumers Calling the Shots in Mobile Banking
"In mobile banking, customers are faster at conveying what they want than banks are at delivering the goods. That was one of the main messages conveyed by a panel of bank technologists at the Mobile Banking and Commerce Summit on Tuesday. The customer in control marks a wild transformation from years past, when banks waited for account holders to call them. Such a passive communication approach is no longer acceptable for financial institutions."