International Mobile Banking Updates - July 23

Over 80 million people in Middle East and Africa will turn to mobile banking by 2017
"Experts predict that mobile banking in the Middle East and Africa will jump from 19,8 million to 82,1 million users by 2017. Over the last five years the developing world has experienced substantial growth in the adoption of mobile technology. Emerging markets offer not only new possibilities for traditional banking but major potential for transformative banking."

BMI Bank launches mobile banking service
"Bahraini retail and commercial banking institution, BMI Bank recently announced the launch of a new service to help enhance its customers experience when interacting with the Bank. mBanking, the Bank's new mobile banking service, will enable customers to carry out most of their regular banking transactions in a convenient, safe and secure environment simply using their smartphones."

China Mobile and China UnionPay present NFC payments service
"Chinese bank card association China UnionPay and China Mobile, a mobile network operator, have rolled out their NFC payments service in over 14 cities, including Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou in the country. Available for Android devices, customers can send and receive mobile payments at participating merchants equipped with UnionPay QuickPass contactless POS terminals with the help of an NFC SIM card and mobile wallet application, as reported by the Nfcworld.com."

New tax sparks fears for the future of Uganda's mobile banking
"The Ugandan government has levied a 10 percent tax on mobile banking transactions, in a move some have criticized as being short-sighted and potentially harmful to the country's expanding mobile money industry. The country's finance ministry hopes to raise $12m from the mobile banking tax, which went into effect in early July. At least some of this money will come from remittances, which, according to finance minister Maria Kiwanuka, amounted to $767m last year. But the vast majority of mobile banking customers live in Uganda, and faced with rising transaction costs, many are starting to rethink the system altogether. This could spell trouble for Uganda's emerging mobile banking industry and the economic potential it represents."

FNB strides towards mobile banking
"FNB says that 10% of its banking clients accessed its website via a smart device over the past year to June 2013, up from 4% previously. The bank went live with its revamped website on Sunday (14 July 2013), aimed at an improved user experience and a responsive design enabling scalability to multiple devices. 'At least 900,000 clients have accessed FNB.co.za via a smart device and 10% of banking clients are accessing via a smart device…and growing. It was only 4% last year,' FNB CEO of Online Banking Lee-Anne van Zyl told BusinessTech."

Malaysia’s New Mobile Banking Platform: Poised for Success
"Bank Negara Malaysia has recently launched a new mobile payment channel called MyMobile through its wholly owned subsidiary Malaysian Economic Clearing Corporation (MyClear). For the kickoff, MyMobile has teamed up with the country’s three largest banks, CIMB, Maybank and Public Bank, as well as the three largest mobile operators, Maxis, Celcom and DiGi, who collectively represent 93 percent of the country’s market."

Paying mobile dividends, digital payments giving banks a run for their money
"Australia's big four make up a cosy oligopoly without any real competition, say the critics. But now cashed up global giants are muscling in to the mobile payment space. The likes of Apple, Google and PayPal are on the offensive giving consumers and merchants plenty of new options to choose from."

Judge dismisses legal action to shut down Safaricom’s M-Shwari service
"An injunction sought by Faulu Kenya, a Kenyan micro-finance provider, to shut down Safaricom’s M-Shwari mobile banking service – pending the outcome of a court case – has been dismissed by a judge according to local press reports. As part of its push to broaden the range of M-Pesa services, Safaricom launched a banking service last November in partnership with the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA). Dubbed M-Shwari, which runs on the M-Pesa platform, the service offers loans and interest on deposit accounts."

RBC announces RBC Secure Cloud: The first cloud-based mobile payments solution in Canada
"RBC today announced its RBC Secure Cloud mobile payments service (patent-pending). This new technology, a first in Canada, will allow clients to more safely and securely pay for purchases using their mobile devices. Keeping sensitive client data secure with RBC in the cloud, not on the phone, makes RBC Secure Cloud a safer, faster, more flexible solution. RBC will bring RBC Secure Cloud to market by the end of the year with debit and credit on a number of smartphone platforms."

TD thanks customers for eighth straight J.D. Power Award in customer satisfaction
"A leader in responding to customers evolving needs, TD Canada Trust has built a stellar reputation for exceptional customer service and convenience. Building on its commitment to delivering convenience to Canadians, TD Canada Trust has received the highest ranking in customer satisfaction among the Top Five banks for the eighth straight year by the J.D. Power 2013 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study(SM). TD Canada Trust performs well in all seven factors, including channel activities; account information; facilities; product offerings; fees; financial advisor; and problem resolution."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 28

Benefits of bringing mobile banking to the unbanked
"There is no doubting the growth in popularity of mobile banking. According to Juniper Research, the market for mobile payments is expected to reach more than $600bn (£393bn) globally this year – double the figure of February 2011. And many development organisations are riding that telecom wave to reach people who don't have access to financial institutions."

Over 30 Million Sign Up for Mobile Banking
"The number of people using mobile banking services surpassed 30 million last year for the first time as smartphone use grew explosively. The Bank of Korea on Thursday said a total of 37.05 million people had signed up for mobile banking services as of the end of last year, an increase of 13.3 million people from the previous year. Two thirds of them were smartphone users."

Research and Markets: Mobile Money: Mobile Payments, Mobile Remittance, Mobile Banking & Mobile Commerce Market - Advanced Technologies, Value Chain, Worldwide Market Forecasts; Analysis (2013 - 2018)
"The growth in mobile telecommunication services and ubiquitous availability of mobile phones are creating unexplored business opportunities not only for the mobile operators, but to a range of other industry participants. Mobile phones are known to transfer information, where as Mobile money enables it to transfer cash from one entity to another, it acts as an alternate payment method to transfer cash/ credit/ check and make financial transactions with the mobile phone. The success of M-PESA, which was launched in 2007 in Kenya and other African regions, has made the operators to focus on this market."

Kenya’s M-Shwari crosses Ksh1 billion in mobile banking transactions a month
"Recent estimates put adoption for M-Pesa, Kenya’s wildly successul mobile payment service for the unbanked, at 17 million users. The service that allows users without bank accounts to complete simple financial transactions, received a boost through M-Shwari, a bolt-on service that allows M-Pesa users access to savings accounts and loans, in late 2012."

‘Mobile banking will see explosive growth in emerging markets’
"Mobile banking will be the front runner among various trends and technologies in the emerging markets banking landscape. Justice M.N. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India, expressed this view while delivering the Karnataka Bank Founders’ Day lecture here on Monday. Stating that the country has around 675 million active mobile telephone connections, he said mobile banking will witness explosive growth and change the entire banking scenario. Because of their reach, ease and capabilities, mobile devices have recorded penetration of more than 50 per cent in countries with per capita GDP as low as $500. A majority of mobile subscribers around the globe are located in emerging markets, he said."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 16

Filling the Gap: Mobile Banking in the Developing World
"In many parts of India and the Philippines, women hide the little money they save under mattresses or in various places throughout the house. That means it’s difficult if not impossible for them to say no when a relative or friend comes looking to “borrow” money. (Plus, the money is not secure or accruing interest). Because banks are often scarce and difficult to access for many people in Asia, a savings account isn’t an option for most, says Julie Peachey, program manager of the microsavings initiative at Grameen Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. and a partner of Qualcomm’s Wireless Reach initiative."

Ethiopia: Mobile Banking Legal At Last
"Without much deviation from its draft state, the long awaited directive that will allow banks and Micro Financial Institutions (MFI) to provide transaction-based mobile and agent banking services was issued, on January 1, 2013. Now clients of banks and MFI's, offering mobile banking services, will be able to make deposits and withdrawals through their mobile phones. They can also make payments to businesses or transfer money to clients using their mobile phones."

New mobile service M-Shwari brings banking to underserved Kenyans
"A little over two months since launching M-Shwari, Safaricom says the mobile microcredit service has performed better than expected, with billions of shillings deposited and loaned out to help small and emerging businesses. Safaricom launched M-Shwari in November in partnership with the Commercial Bank of Africa to provide savings and loan services to the 15 million users registered for its M-PESA service, which allows Kenyans to transfer money via text messaging."

The Netherlands Showcases Europe’s Enthusiasm for Mobile Banking
"Mobile banking has been among the most popular mobile money activities among users, and the Netherlands is one country where that’s more than evident. According to Telecompaper, citing numbers provided by major banks within the country, Dutch broadcaster NOS reports that mobile banking apps users doubled last year. Rabobank and ING each said they served more than 1 million mobile banking customers, while ABN Amro had about 760,000 and 10 percent of SNS Bank’s customers conducted business through its mobile app."