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 Updates - Jul 12

Visa Trying To Pick A Mobile Winner?
"Last week, Visa announced an alliance with Monitise plc, a major player in the mobile banking & payments space. This announcement was significant given that the mobile banking & payments space is very hot these days, and continues to be billed as “the next big thing” in payments."

GSMA launches Mobile Money Exchange to support financial services companies
"The body representing the worldwide mobile communications industry, GSMA, presented its Mobile Money Exchange initiative at the Annual Mobile Money Summit in Barcelona, Spain. Through this initiative, the GSMA intends to support financial services companies, entering the mobile environment, by providing a common voice and formal business forum for business collaboration. Mobile Money Exchange builds on the Mobile Money Program that the GSMA implemented in 2006 and which was very successfull in terms of building a global community."

The Smartphone Chess Board
"With so much buzz on the iPhone and its alleged “killer” competitors, many developments occur behind the scenes that are often overlooked. Industry stalwart Blackberry still retains a relatively large portion of the market but must continue to enhance their phone’s capabilities to keep the iPhone in their sight."

Corporate Branding Races to iPhone Apps: Winners and Losers
"iPhone apps are probably the most popular thing to be used since the color TV. We've seen companies of all sizes put together some really cool concepts for iPhone apps. While most of these applications exist only as marketing techniques, some of them are quite useful. The question is, however, are they meeting the expectations of iPhone users?"