Mobile Phones Set To Reduce Banking Branches In 2014

"This is the year that mobile banking will really make a dent in branch networks, according to James DeBello, CEO and president of Mitek, a company that is helping make that happen. It introduced remote deposit capture — take a picture of a check with your smartphone and send the image to your bank.

Now it is introducing mobile account sign-up, so you can open an account from your phone or tablet without ever setting foot in branch. Just shoot images of the front and back of your drivers license." Continue Reading

5 Bold Mobile Banking Predictions for 2014 From Mitek

"Mitek Systems has seen incredible customer and revenue growth this year, and the company expects this growth to accelerate during 2014. Mitek is the leading developer of smartphone camera-based mobile banking applications designed to make it easy for consumers to use mobile banking applications with as little data entry as possible.

The company this year added to its Mobile Deposit application by rolling out Mobile Photo Billpay, which was adopted by U.S. Bancorp's (USB_) main subsidiary U.S. Bank, NA in March." Continue Reading

Mitek and Kony Collaborate to Deliver Mobile Photo Bill Pay With Mitek MiSnap(TM), Automatic Image Capture

"Mitek, the leading innovator of mobile imaging for financial transactions, and Kony, Inc., a leading enterprise mobility company, today announced a collaborative agreement to deliver Mitek's Mobile Photo Bill Pay solution.

The agreement includes Mitek MiSnap™, a touch-free mobile capture experience that provides real-time feedback to users until a suitable image is detected, and then automatically captures the image." Continue Reading

Mitek Granted Second Mobile Photo Bill Pay(R) Patent

"Mitek Systems (Nasdaq:MITK) (www.miteksystems.com), the leading innovator of mobile imaging for financial transactions, today announced that it has been issued U.S. Patent No. 8,577,118. "Systems and Methods for Mobile Image Capture and Remittance Processing," by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is the second patent related to the use of Mitek's mobile imaging technology for the purpose of paying a bill. Mitek now has 17 patents issued and 22 patent applications pending." Continue Reading

U.S. Bank Partners with Mitek to Launch Mobile Photo Balance Transfer™ to Customers in November

"U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the United States and lead bank of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), and Mitek Systems (NASDAQ:MITK), the leading innovator of mobile imaging for financial transactions, have made an agreement in which U.S. Bank will offer Mitek's Mobile Photo Balance Transfer™ to U.S. Bank mobile banking customers.

Mobile Photo Balance Transfer will allow U.S. Bank customers to easily take advantage of credit card balance transfer offers from U.S. Bank by snapping a photo of a credit card payment coupon using their mobile device and sending it to U.S. Bank to apply for a balance transfer to a U.S. Bank credit card. Standard eligibility criteria and credit approval processes apply." Continue Reading

Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 15

Digital strategies must pass the ROI test
"Large investments in emerging services like mobile and online do not always translate into higher customer satisfaction or even high financial performance, says Javelin Strategy and Research in a recent report. The firm also released a new competitive benchmark service, Outperform, which is a result of analyzing over 20 leading financial institutions. It provides insights to improve each banks’ return on investment on emerging bank services—mobile and online banking services."

Banking leads on-device conversion
"Banking and finance has the highest level of mobile conversions of any category at 54%, according to new research which also shows that half of US mobile banking and finance activity is transactional, and half search and browsing. The findings form part of the Annual US Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study, from xAd, the mobile advertising platform, and Telmetrics, the call measurement company. This is based on data from an online survey of 2,000 US smartphone and tablet users and observed consumer behaviors from Nielsen's Smartphone Analytics Panel of 6,000 Apple and Android users."

First Hawaiian Bank Now Offering "Mobile Deposit"
"First Hawaiian Bank will begin offering Mobile Deposit, an innovative service that allows customers to deposit checks using their smartphones or iPads, according to an announcement today by Bob Harrison, the bank’s president and chief executive officer. Mobile Deposit is yet another feature of FHB Mobile Banking and represents the latest addition to a long list of electronic banking convenience offerings by the bank. The easy-to-use Mobile Deposit feature lets you take a photo of a check and deposit it directly into your eligible FHB checking account using an iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device."

Consumers Will Use Your Digital Channels, But They Won’t Necessarily Love You
"Large investments in mobile and online services do not always translate into higher customer satisfaction or improved financial performance. There is little correlation between consumers’ adoption of banking technologies and how satisfied they are with their banking provider, according to a bank-by-bank comparison analyzing over 20 leading financial institutions, Javelin Strategy & Research."

Statewide FCU Expands Beyond the Branch with Mobile Branching App
"Statewide Federal Credit Union looks to increase its member reach by launching its first mobile branch. In partnership with Vancouver, BC-based TRG Mobilearth Inc., Statewide is set to go live with the tablet-based MobiBranch app, enabling employees to leave the branch and perform branch functions like new accounts, loan and mortgage applications anywhere their members live, work or play."

Tips to Avoid Online Banking Security Threats - Tip Sheet by SecuritySystemReviews.com
"There’s no doubt about it—online banking is a tremendous convenience. It offers users the opportunity to quickly and easily complete transactions from their home computer, smartphone or mobile device, without having to take the time to visit a bank. Most banks take tremendous precautions to ensure mobile banking programs are as safe and secure as possible, but as a consumer, there are still steps that can be taken to keep financial and personal information secure. In fact, many people don’t realize that even though they may have the best home security systems, the biggest threat of theft often comes from computer-based sources."

Paydiant Banks $15M, Shows Patience in Mobile Payments
"You hear a lot about the Series A funding crunch for startups these days. But just as telling, maybe even more so, is the Series B crunch. And the Series C crunch. For New England tech startups, there’s a fair bit of seed funding going around—and growth capital, too—but less money seems to be flowing to the middle, into the fledgling companies that are trying to become, well, real companies."

Mobile-First Banking App Numbrs Bags Further $3.8M For U.S. Launch
"Numbrs, the mobile-first banking app founded out of Swiss company builder Centralway, has raised a further $3.8 million from its parent — money that will be ring-fenced for a planned U.S. launch early next year. In addition, the young startup is opening a New York office for which it’s hiring a marketing team. The new investment adds to the original $7.7 million put into Numbrs by Centralway to continue making headway in Germany, while I’m told that the previously announced plans to enter the UK market this Fall are still on track, including moving into a London office in the next few weeks, to be shared with Centralway and another of its portfolio companies, Sandbox Network. (In fact, they’ll be based at Summerset House, sharing the newly-developed top floor with hail-a-cab startup Hailo.)"

Mitek Rolls Out Mobile Photo Account Opening
"Mitek Systems (MITK_) is taking another major step in the development of a fully featured mobile banking platform with the Tuesday rollout of its Mobile Photo Account Opening product. Mitek is the leading developer of smartphone camera-based mobile banking applications. The company had 1,059 financial institution customers for its Mobile Deposit product as of June 30, increasing a remarkable 19% from 889 the previous quarter. Among signed customers for Mobile Deposit, 559 had deployed the service as of June 30at the end of the second quarter, include the largest 10 U.S. retail banks."

Millennials Rule in Mobile Banking - According to xAd/Telmetrics Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study
"Proving the strongest on-device conversion category to-date in this year’s xAd/Telmetrics Mobile Path to Purchase Study, Banking & Finance mobile users are heavily ruled by Millennials. Nearly half of all mobile bankers were under the age of 35 and one-third indicated that smartphones were the most important device for their banking needs according to the overall Banking & Finance category findings—conducted by Nielsen."

Has mobile payment bug bitten you yet?
"It looks like more and more people are getting used to making payments using their mobile phones. According to data to National Payment Corp. of India (NPCI), the nodal agency to manage and promote retail electronic payments in India, till August 2013, 846,000 transactions have taken place through immediate payment system (IMPS) compared with 93,715 in September 2012, a jump of at least eight times. And this is only part of the story since it’s only one mode of mobile payment system we have considered here."

Malauzai Software Adds PFM Elements to iPad SmartApps With Launch of Better Mobile
"Malauzai Software Inc., a provider of mobile banking SmartApps for community financial institutions, has enhanced its mobile banking SmartApp for iPad devices with the Better Mobile suite, which includes personal financial management (PFM) functionalities. The Better Mobile addition to the iPad SmartApp gives users access to basic PFM features that are most used by consumers. The Future Cash Calendar displays money movement on a visual calendar and calculates what the balance will be on each date. Transaction history is shown in Cash Flows as a simplified bar chart indicating “money in” and “money out,” providing a visualization of how money is used during a given time period. Scratch Pad notes paper checks and other transactions not yet withdrawn and accounts for them in the balance."

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."

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 - Jan 2

Intuit Survey: Mobile Banking Is Pathway to Profits
"Think digital banking is only for Gen Y and younger? Think again, think older. Much older. That is the sharp message contained in a new report from Intuit on the ongoing digital banking revolution. The other key finding: mobile banking is a pathway to profitability. An ongoing temperature reading of digital banking habits, the Intuit report is filed quarterly by the Mountain View, Calif.-based financial software company. It is filed with factoids, such as this: 'people who bank online and via their mobile and tablet devices log in about 30 times a month and are more profitable to a financial institution than those who don’t bank digitally.'"

Mobile Banking and Mitek: Business Finally Starting to "Get" B-to-C Apps
"U.S. Bank will soon up the ante in business customer service with the introduction in early 2013 of a Mobile Photo Bill Pay application for their customers. The fifth largest bank in the country will utilize technology from Mitek Systems to let bank customers set up and make bill payments by snapping a picture of their paper bill using the camera on their smartphone or tablet. Good-bye keypad."

Mobility Matters: Login-Free Mobile Banking?
"The must-add list keeps getting longer, with everything from digital wallets to mobile remote deposit capture emerging as 2013 must adds for credit unions that are determined to stay relevant. But know this: there are even more “out there” ideas that, frankly, may not be quite ready for prime time ... but they definitely deserve a spot on your watch list. Two ideas seem especially ripe to me, and both revolve around a fundamental question: How does a financial institution know who you are?"

Comarch and Alior Bank present a new quality of mobile banking
"Alior Bank has implemented the Comarch solution providing access to new channels of mobile banking for smartphones and tablets users - it is a completely new quality of customer communication with the bank that takes advantage of all capabilities of modern mobile devices. - Comarch Smart Finance is an innovative mobile banking solution, which keeps up with the latest trends in banking 2.0 and multichannel banking."

Mobile Banking Updates - Dec 9

Mobile Banking's Legal Dark Side
"Heard of Maxim Inc.? If you're a bank interested in developing mobile payments innovation, you should have, because the company claims it invented key technology that entitles it to a piece of the mobile payments pie."

Citizens Bank Mobile Banking Apps For iPhone®, Android™ Receive #1 Ranking For Customer Satisfaction
"Citizens Bank’s Mobile Banking apps for iPhone and Android have been named the “best integrated apps” in the industry by Javelin Strategy & Research following its review of customer ratings in the Apple App Store and in Google Play. Citizens Bank’s average customer rating of 4.25 out of 5 stars was the best in the industry, tied only by USAA, Javelin reported this week."

U.S. Payments Market: Mobile & Alternative Payments Analysis with A Business Case for Mobile Banking
"RnRMarketResearch.com adds "Mobile and Alternative Payments in the U.S., 3rd Edition" , "The Business Case for Mobile Banking" , "Mobile Banking and Payments" and "Alternative Payment Channels" reports to its store. With mobile taking over daily, dedicated personal space and time of people, banking and financial industry has the most exciting and equally challenging task on hand of offering mobile payments and mobile banking services with all security and personal touch of the non-mobile payments and banking experience to the end users."

Bank of America CEO's Desperate Mobile Banking Pitch
"Is Bank of America (BAC_) CEO Brian Moynihan really excited about mobile banking--or is that just the best he can do to try and change the conversation from lawsuits, fees and regulations? Inevitably, Moynihan was asked about fees during an appearance on CNBC Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal had reported on its front page Sunday that the bank was backing away from fees in a bid to get customers to hate the bank a bit less."

Research and Markets: Mobile Banking Gains 10 Million Users As Smartphone And Tablet Adoption Soars
"The ability to securely manage banking transactions, especially on smartphones and tablets, has become extremely appealing. Mobile banking gained 10 million new users in 2012 and currently reaches one-third of the mobile adult U.S. population. As smartphones outnumber feature phones and tablets surge, Android and Apple delivered and defined the market in 2012. Consumer adoption of mobile banking at small, medium, and giant institutions and credit unions varies by the quality of mobile services offered. This report contains an annual roundup of five-year forecasts for the U.S. consumer market for mobile banking adoption, mobile phone usage, smartphone adoption, smartphone adoption by operating system, tablet adoption, and tablet adoption by operating system."

For These 4 Banks, the Future Is Now
"For banks looking for innovative ways to serve customers without incurring costs to themselves, mobile banking is the perfect area in which to grow. Overall, banks have been somewhat slow to develop and promote these services. Here are four that are actively pushing mobile offerings, placing them ahead of their more sluggish competitors."

U.S. Bank Partners with Mitek for Mobile Photo Bill Pay; Will Launch to Consumers in Early 2013
"U.S. Bank, fifth-largest bank in the United States and lead bank of U.S. Bancorp (NYS: USB) , and Mitek Systems (NAS: MITK) , a leading mobile imaging software solutions provider and the pioneer of Mobile Deposit® technology, have entered into a strategic mobile technology partnership to offer Mitek's Mobile Photo Bill Pay™ product to U.S. Bank customers."

Javelin Research: It’s a Mobile World
"The newly issued 2012 Mobile Banking Financial Institution Scorecard: from Javelin Strategy & Research hammers home one point, loudly: Financial services have become a mobile world. Mobile banking now is used by 33% of mobile consumers, per Javelin, a jump from the 24% who used it in 2011. Of the top 25 financial institutions in the U.S., half now offer mobile person-to-person payments as well as mobile remote deposit capture, numbers that have “more than doubled” since the 2011 report."

Mobile Banking Updates - May 28

Who Will Win the Battle for the Mobile War
"Over the next five years paying with your phone will become as commonplace as paying with cash, which is why every man, his bank and his phone company are in the battle to win the mobile wallet space. So who's going to win?"

Ally Mobile Banking
"Ally Mobile Banking has arrived for iPhone® and Android™ users! Now you can check your balance, view recent transactions, transfer money between your Ally Bank accounts and find ATMs and cash-back locations near you."

iPad and Kindle Fire: Banking on Tablets
"A young, prosperous generation is becoming increasingly mobile, and its gadget of choice on which to perform day-to-day financial business is the tablet. A handful of banks, led by Bank of America (NYS: BAC) , are frontrunners in this brave new world of banking and will most likely reap the rewards while their counterparts dawdle."

Mitek enables $10B in mobile banking deposits
"Mitek Systems' imaging technology has now enabled $10 billion in mobile banking deposits, with transaction volumes increasing more than 143 percent since the end of 2011, the firm reports. Mitek's Mobile Deposit technology allows consumers and businesses to make financial deposits by snapping photos of checks via smartphone or tablet camera."

Consumers Prefer Online Banking to Traditional Branch Banking
"More than half of consumers prefer to do their banking online and nearly half would do all of their banking online if they could. This was a key finding of the national consumer survey on retail banking trends conducted by Rosetta, an independent brand in the Publicis Groupe of global agencies and one of the nation's largest digital and direct interactive agencies."

Mobile Banking Reaches the Regionals
"Mobile banking websites and apps have become increasingly important to smartphone users over the last several years. Nearly all major national banks now offer their customers a variety of ways to perform their banking on the go, and with demand as high as it is, regional banks can’t afford to sit on the sidelines either. One interesting case is Dollar Bank, located from southwestern Pennsylvania to northeastern Ohio, which has been riding the mobile wave long before many larger firms. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Dollar Bank is once again beating many larger firms to the punch."

Mobile Banking Vendor Updates - Mar 23

PayOne Simplifies Mobile Payments on a Global Scale
"PayOne (www.PayOne.com), formally called PaymentOne, announced today a complete rebranding of the company that invented “no credit card required” carrier billing for digital commerce more than twelve years ago. PaymentOne becomes PayOne today with a new look, a new website and the launch of a new simplified One-Click mobile payments platform designed for the future of global commerce in support of a 360 degree mobile lifestyle."

Mitek Systems: A Smart Play In Mobile Banking
"Mitek Systems creates applications and programs for mobile banking services. Because of Mitek Systems, a person with an iPhone can take a picture of a check and have that check be deposited to their checking account automatically. Consumers and the banking industry are just beginning to realize the economic advantages of mobile banking technologies."

MCHN Launches Mobile Solutions Suite of Banking Services
"Mobile Clearinghouse Network (MCHN), a recently awarded Microsoft BizSpark One member, is announcing the inaugural launch of their MCHN Mobile Solutions banking platform for mobile devices. The initial pilot has rolled out in the country of Georgia with the BTA Bank, a Silk Road Group majority owned entity. Through the combination of the MCHN global hub integration capabilities and MCHN Mobile Solutions' suite of transaction services, clients are positioned to offer their customers a secure and robust mobile offering for all of their financial needs."

RTN Federal CU selects Tyfone for m-banking
"RTN Federal Credit Union (RTN FCU), serving communities in suburban Boston, Massachusetts, will provide its members a comprehensive suite of mobile wallet services and mobile financial services powered by Tyfone's next generation mobile banking solution. Tyfone's mobile banking services will be integrated directly into RTN's Fiserv hosted XP2 core."

Cardlytics Presenting On The Impact of Rewards In A Mobile Banking Environment At BAI Payments Connect 2012
"Cardlytics, the pioneer of Transaction-Driven Marketing(TM), announced that Rod Witmond, senior vice president for product management and marketing, will join other industry executives today in the panel presentation, "Rewards in a Mobile Banking Environment," at BAI Payments Connect 2012 (3:30 p.m. at The Mirage hotel in Las Vegas)."

Truly Mobile Banking: Plastyc Launches Smartphone Apps for the Underbanked
"UPside Visa is Plastyc's award-winning prepaid program offering a premium suite of affordable banking services tailored for the up-and-coming youth and under-banked markets. What's unique about the UPside Visa mobile apps for Android and iPhone are how they meet a complete range of personal banking needs, activating a new account, signing up for direct deposit, redeeming cash back points, paying bills, transferring funds to friends, issuing paper checks and more -- using just a smartphone. Of course, the apps enable the basics, such as checking balances and reviewing transaction histories, as well."

VocaLink partners Clairmail for mobile banking
"The partnership will enable banks to use Clairmail's Smart Client technology to deliver new services to their customers, such as Person-to-Person Mobile Payments, enabled by VocaLink's real-time capabilities, such as Faster and Immediate Payments and multi-channel service options. Through this partnership, VocaLink and Clairmail will enable banks to provide a roadmap of innovative, real-time banking solutions through the mobile channel."

RDM Corporation Extends Mobile Deposit Services to Android Phones
"RDM Corporation, a leading developer of specialized software and hardware products for electronic payment processing, announced the support of Simply Deposit Mobile® for Android. This new application follows the previously released version for iPhone. Simply Deposit Mobile enables users to deposit checks with their Android phone from virtually anywhere. RDM has been an early leader and pioneer in mobile payments, offering mobile check capture services since 2009. "

Elephant Talk Banks on Mobile
"For investors seeking hyper growth, one of the ripest areas is mobile telecom.
The trends in the financial industry are especially favorable for one of my leading microcap companies -- Elephant Talk Communications (ETAK) and its security-focused ValidSoft subsidiary -- as they roll out their solutions in 2012 to counter electronic fraud relating to card, the internet, and telephone channels."

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 11

Mobile Banking: Is It Heating Up Or Mostly Hype?
"Banks have been rolling out mobile wallet apps at a furious pace in recent days. The big question is whether they'll ever convince skeptical consumers to begin to zapping money around."

Apple, Google, Facebook and Amazon to lead m-payments gold-rush?
"Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google - the 'gang of four' - have been driving forces behind a new technology cycle, dominated by the mobile phone and social media, which is merging the online and physical worlds, says Javelin. These huge companies are now seeking to use their strengths to crack a payments market currently led by financial institutions, card schemes and, increasingly, wireless carriers. In a bid to predict the potential success of the competing factions, Javelin polled 5878 Americans to gauge public opinion on what it claims are three crucial ingredients for success: trust, innovation and privacy."

Mobility Matters – Tracking the Mobile Banking Revolution: Online Only
"Mobile Everywhere. Ask Mark Sievewright, a senior executive at Fiserv, to pinpoint three big trends changing the credit union landscape and here is what he said in late February at the New Jersey Credit Union League’s “Reality Check” conference: “mobile, mobile, mobile.” Mobile is not just about a new channel – although it is that – it fundamentally is about changed relationships. And it is growing incredible fast. Another “Reality Check” speaker, CUNA Mutual’s John Lass, flashed a slide that showed mobile users eclipsing the number of online banking users within a few years."

Should Mitek Systems Acquire Top Image Systems?
"One of the discussion topics on Micro Cap Club, has been about the possibility of Mitek Systems (MITK) acquiring Top Image Systems (TISA). Both Mitek Systems and Top Image Systems have similar stories via a history of working with large banks and leveraging those relationships to market and launch mobile banking applications. Mitek Systems was incorporated in 1986 and went public in the early 1990's. The company historically provided financial institutions with advanced imaging and analytics software to authenticate and extract data from checks and other documents."

Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 30

Advancements in Mobile Banking Technologies Helping Make the Virtual Wallet a Reality
"The near insatiable demand for mobile connectivity along with recent advancements in near-field communication (NFC) and memory card technologies have helped expand the market for mobile banking exponentially in the last few years. In fact, Gartner (News - Alert) estimates that mobile payments will increase to more than $1.1 trillion by 2014, up seven fold from current numbers."

Banks Embrace the Tablet Revolution
"Most financial institutions dragged their feet moving from traditional banking to mobile banking, and from mobile banking to providing a richer experience on smartphone devices. Some banks have learned those lessons, though, and are trying to stay on the cutting edge by rolling out apps designed specifically for tablets."

Banking by smartphone catches on, will increase
"With telephones now serving as de facto personal computers for many, financial institutions are rapidly jumping on the mobile banking bandwagon. 'It’s exploding the way Internet banking exploded a few years ago,' said Debbie Jemison, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Bankers Association. A 2010 survey showed that, while just 27 percent of banks in Illinois offered mobile banking, 89 percent of the others were looking to add it in the near future."

U.S. Bank Unveils New Mobile Banking Strategy
"U.S. Bank has announced several upgrades to its mobile banking strategy, including the debut of a completely new application optimized for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry. 'Customers are blending all of their business into their smartphones, and in many cases, mobile devices are now the first point of entry for consumers,' noted U.S. Bank executive vice president Meheriar Hasan. 'With this new app, we have made banking even more convenient for our customers by delivering service right to the palms of their hands.'"

Mobile RDC product updated
"Mitek Systems, Inc. announced version 3.0 of its Mobile Deposit product that enables mobile-banking customers to make deposits simply by taking pictures of checks with their smartphone cameras. The new version improves the user experience and performance of Mitek’s mobile remote deposit capture product, which now runs on Windows Server 2008 R2. Six of the top ten retail banks in the United States and more than 80 financial institutions are using Mobile Deposit as their mobile RDC application of choice and a cornerstone of their mobile strategies."

Put the X factor back into generation Y banking
"In my previous blog, I discussed the current hype surrounding mobile banking and how a fundamental step change in consumer behaviour means that mobile financial services is undoubtedly more than just a fad. At the same time, there are also those consumers who have grown up with all things digital and don’t know any other way to behave. I’m referring to the growing breed of generation Y consumers and ‘digital natives’ such as those two year olds you see on the train navigating an iPad better than they can put pen to paper!"

Five things you need to know about mobile money
"1. What is mobile money?
The term refers to the ability to perform financial transactions on your cellphone. This includes accessing bank accounts, remitting money and taking payments of any amount without using a conventional bank. So, for instance, you can now pay for your latte with a swipe of your contactless-technology-enabled phone."

Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 3

Mitek Systems: My Favorite Way to Play the Mobile Banking Boom
"Back in January, I revealed that the mobile banking industry was in a period of rapid transformation. And yet, most investors were completely unaware. Fast-forward and not too much has changed. Sure, Google’s (Nasdaq: GOOG) launch of its highly anticipated near-field communications (NFC) application – Google Wallet – has people buzzing about the potential for mobile payments. But as my colleague, Justin Fritz, recently revealed, mass-market adoption for NFC isn’t happening as quickly as predicted."

Mobile Banking App Ideas Rewarded by Monster Offers in "Pitch That App!!!" Contest
"Monster Offers, a leading mobile banking solutions company and Daily Deal aggregator, announced today its sponsorship of the “Pitch That App!!!” contest hosted by Iconosys. Monster Offers in conjunction with ZalaPay™ will award a $500 pre-paid ZalaPay card to the person who showcases the best mobile application idea that integrates mobile payments and mobile banking solutions."

Killer App may not be an app after all
"Over the course of the past several months, we have written profusely about the adoption rates of mobile banking on mobile devices. These devices have been segmented into ‘feature phones’ (that is a fancy way of saying a non-smartphone), Smartphones, and tablets. Between 2009 and 2010, we saw a significant pause in the adoption of mobile banking and online commerce on both feature phones and it was effectively non-existent for tablets. However, in 2011, we saw a significant increase in the use of mobile banking as well as an astonishing penetration of tablets into the marketplace."

Secure Mobile Banking Technology Available for Sale at Upcoming ICAP Patent Brokerage Fall 2011 Live IP Auction November 17th in San Francisco
"ICAP Patent Brokerage, the global leader in intellectual property brokerage and a division of ICAP plc, the world's premier interdealer broker, and ICAP Ocean Tomo Auctions, are offering for sale technology related to secure mobile banking at its upcoming Summit on Patent Monetization and Live IP Auction November 16th & 17th in San Francisco. The Lot is owned by KeyZap Inc. and includes two US patents and six applications."

Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 15

PNC banks on digital age
"Skott Dickerson likes his bank to have a lot of branches. But what he really loves is for it to have a killer app for his banking needs. 'Branches are still important. But online banking and mobile banking are definitely a priority of mine,' said Dickerson, 35, of Irwin. A Pittsburgh-area native, he chose PNC Bank for that reason when he moved back in January from Indianapolis.

Dickerson is the kind of customer PNC Financial Services Group Inc. hopes to snare when it marches into the Southeast for the first time next year: Those willing to jump to a new bank with their smartphones and laptops — not necessarily with their feet — into a branch."

Barcode readers and mobile e-invoices
"During summer I was toying around idea how mobile payments could be combined with barcode readers. Some of my friends have with their iPhone online banking app. They can scan new paper payments with camera and barcode. When scanning picture they upload document info to banking app and pay. It seems to work fine with them.

For this idea, I started to make idea, where one phone app could generate barcodes, send message to email-address or as sms to phone. Receiving party would get message, open his app and read barcode. This message would be then read by own banking app on phone and payment would be executed by phone. "

More and more, banking goes mobile
"AlixPartners LLP, the global business-advisory firm based in New York, last month announced a deal to buy Boston-based Mercatus LLC, a consulting firm that advises banks and investment firms. Globe reporter Todd Wallack spoke with Mercatus founder and managing partner Robert Hedges about the deal and trends in the industry."

RBS teams up with Monitise to deliver broad range of mobile banking services
"Monitise has signed a new partnership agreement with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Technology Services to broaden mobile banking and payments services across its banking divisions.

Monitise has strengthened its existing relationship with RBS by entering a new five-year global strategic partnership. Under the terms of the new agreement, RBS will utilise Monitise’s industry leading and award-winning platform to provide innovative bank-grade and secure mobile apps and services to RBS customers."

Tyfone to Showcase Mobile Banking and Transaction Revenue Generating Mobile Wallet at Symitar Educational Conference
"Tyfone (www.tyfone.com), a mobile financial solutions provider, will be exhibiting at the Symitar Educational Conference (SEC) held in San Diego, Calif., September 20-22, 2011. Tyfone’s mobile banking solutions integrate seamlessly with the Symitar Episys core. Tyfone will be showcasing its secure mobile banking technology, its unique revenue generation Mobile Wallet Service called iCashé and introducing SideSafe – its Secure Mobile Authentication solution at the event."

Mitek Systems Brings Balance Transfer to Smartphones; Mobile Imaging Makes It As Easy As 'Point, Shoot and Transfer'
"Mitek Systems, Inc., the leader in mobile-imaging applications using smartphone cameras for check deposits, bill payments and ACH enrollments, today announced an innovative application for the financial services industry that enables consumers to switch bank credit card accounts as simply as 'Point, Shoot and Transfer."'

Mobile Banking Updates - Aug 4

Mitek enabling camera phone image input across dozens of mobile apps
"Mitek Systems’ mobile imaging service has become a big hit with the banks and their customers, allowing a depositor to snap a picture of a check with a camera phone and upload their deposit over the mobile Internet. But Mitek has bigger ambitions for its document image processing platform.

Today, Mitek announced that it was expanding from its mobile banking niche into the cloud, creating a developer program and set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that will allow any developer to build photo document processing into their apps. Mitek believes that the software has huge potential in a myriad of consumer and enterprise markets, handling everything from business card scanning and receipt tracking for business expenses to processing handwritten prescription at online pharmacies and invoicing claims from insurance field agents."

BankAtlantic introduces new app for Android phones
"BankAtlantic has introduced its mobile banking application, or app, for Android platform phones, powered by Intuit Financial Services. According to the company, the application will offer Android phone customers the same mobile banking medium as iPhone users with a suite of seamless features including: View account balances; View recent transactions and transaction history; Transfer funds between accounts; Get GPS guidance to locate the BankAtlantic branch or A location nearest you."

ANZ releases new version of goMoney
"Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has released new version of its iPhone mobile banking app goMoney. According to ANZ the new app version has been updated with BPAY functionality and enhanced features for people who are blind or have low vision. The new version of ANZ goMoney can be downloaded via the App Store."

Leading Mobile Banking Provider Clairmail® Selects Jigsaw Data Cloud to Drive Mobile Banking Success
"Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing (http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/) company, today announced that Clairmail has deployed the Jigsaw Data Cloud to accelerate its fast-growing mobile banking operations. Clairmail is the leading provider of mobile solutions for banking, with one-third of the top 50 banks in North America using Clairmail's on-demand mobile banking solution."

Technology Credit Union Launches Next Generation Mobile Banking
"Technology Credit Union announced today the launch of its next generation Mobile Banking, which includes native applications for the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices. These new applications make it easier than ever for Tech CU members to check account balances and track activity, transfer funds and pay bills, as well as find the nearest surcharge-free ATM or branch location -- all while on the go. The applications have already been downloaded more than 2,000 times, with the iPhone app scoring a 5-star rating and the Android scoring 4 stars. This next generation of Mobile Banking also includes a new and improved Mobile Browser (WAP) for compatibility with all other smartphones."

Manatee banking on the run
"Convenience, for banking customers, used to mean being able to make a phone call for your balance. About 15 years ago, it evolved to mean the ability to check your accounts on your home computer, 24 hours a day. Today, banking convenience has moved even farther up the continuum of “right here, right now.” Mobile banking, the blanket term for conducting bank inquiries and transactions by mobile phone, enables customers to monitor their money while watching TV, traveling, dining, watching a ball game, or even sitting in the hot tub."

Monitise brings mobile payments to Nigeria
"British technology company Monitise launched a pilot scheme in Nigeria in March this year – and has signed up more than 6,000 people. The scheme highlights the appetite for mobile banking and payments in Nigeria, particularly among the unbanked population and in rural areas where physical banking infrastructure is undeveloped.

There are 90 million adults in Nigeria. Only about 20 million have access to financial services but there are more than 100 million mobile phone subscribers."

Mobile Banking Vendor Updates

Fiserv Touts Doubling of Mobile Money Clients
"Fiserv Inc. said Monday that it now has more than 375 financial institutions committed to its Mobile Money solution. The company said that includes nearly 200 credit unions and banks that have gone live on the service, more than twice as many as a year earlier. End-user adoption, meanwhile, has grown more than 600% in the last six months, the Brookfield, Wis., company said."

Visa makes two moves into mobile banking
"Visa announced two moves into mobile banking Thursday, buying a company that makes software for mobile banking users in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and striking an agreement with another company that works with bank customers."

Clairmail Joins the RSA Secured® Partner Program to Provide Secure Access to Mobile Banking Offering
"The NetBank social media team on Twitter have been busy diverting bewildered customers to its mobile banking service and telephone call centres as the ongoing glitch continued overnight, disrupting the processing of transfers, bill payments and international money transfers from the bank's online site. The bank, which is in the middle of a $1.1 billion core banking system upgrade, has suffered numerous technical problems over the past year."

Mobile Check Deposit Cited as No. 1 Mobile Feature for Motivating Consumers to Switch Primary Banks, According to New Independent Research Study
"Mitek Systems, Inc. (OTC: MITK.OB; www.miteksystems.com), is citing new independent research reported by Mercatus LLC, a leading financial services strategy firm in Boston, that finds mobile check deposit ranks as the top mobile-banking feature that would prompt consumers to switch primary banks."

mFoundry Passes 400 Customer Milestone
"mFoundry, the fastest growing provider of SaaS-based mobile banking and payment solutions, today announced more than 400 U.S. financial institutions have selected mBanking, the company's flagship mobile banking and payments solution."

At Intuit, Mobile Account Access Gets a Push from Payments
"Intuit Inc. says momentum in mobile payments sparked by Google Inc. and the carrier venture Isis has boosted its own mobile banking business. The recent announcements from rivals have fueled "strong" interest in Intuit's latest mobile offerings, particularly demand for mobile account-management services among its core small and midsized bank customers, John Flora, Intuit Financial Services' group product manager, said in an interview."

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 14

Bank Online – Integration Of Mobile Deposit Into Mobile Banking Choices Launched
"Mitek Systems Inc. reported today that the company and its channel partners signed 26 new agreements with banks, credit unions and other financial institutions — including two more of the nation’s top 10 retail banks — to deploy its leading mobile remote deposit capture (RDC) application, Mobile Deposit®, during its second quarter, which ended March 31."

Dakota Territory FCU Goes Live With CO-OP Mobile
"Dakota Territory Federal Credit Union, based in Deadwood, S.D., is now offering CO-OP Mobile to its 3,400 members, providing them with mobile banking access, no matter what type of mobile device they own. 'We are already participating in CO-OP Shared Branching services, so this was the next logical step for us,' said Floyd Rummel, President/CEO, Dakota Territory FCU. 'The whole process of going on-line was very smooth, easy and painless.'"

Mobile Banking Vendor Updates - Mar 6

Fiserv Acquires M-Com to Enhance Mobile Banking and Payments Capabilities
"Fiserv, Inc., the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that it has acquired Mobile Commerce Ltd. (M-Com), an international mobile banking and payments provider, to enhance Fiserv's existing mobile channel capabilities. The two companies have been partners since 2008, developing and delivering Mobile Money™ from Fiserv to hundreds of financial institutions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed."

Texas banks launch mobile banking offering with First Data
"After a successful pilot period, two Texas banks have launched First Data’s Mobile Manager mobile banking service to offer customers greater flexibility and on-the-go access to their financial information. The service can be easily integrated into banks’ current online platforms, and provides an alternative to creating the mobile banking system in-house. It includes SMS, mobile Web and downloadable applications."

Mitek Systems Unveils Another New Consumer Application That Enhances Consumer Convenience in Mobile Payments
"Continuing to expand consumer options for convenience in mobile banking, Mitek Systems Inc. today rolled out another innovative application for mobile payments companies which offers consumers the most convenient way to enroll their checking accounts."

Sutherland and Tyfone Partner to Accelerate Adoption of Mobile Financial Services
"Sutherland Global Services (www.sutherlandglobal.com), a leading provider of technology-enabled Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services, announced a partnership with Tyfone (www.Tyfone.com), a global provider of unified mobile secure transaction infrastructure for mobile banking, mobile identity management and mobile contactless NFC payments."

Clickatell Engages Customers with SMS; Secures Funding for Mobile Banking
"From making donations to launching alerts about local emergencies, text messaging has far exceeded its original purpose of communicating with friends. Yet, harnessing the power of SMS technologies is not always easy or affordable for small businesses that may want to communicate en masse with its constituencies. Until now. Clickatell, a South African-based online SMS mobile messaging gateway provider, has launched a US small business SMS messaging package aimed at providing an accessible way to interact with and help customers via simple text messages."

CoCoNet unveils mobile banking app for corporate customers
"The new e-banking app is available for various smart phones and tablet PCs such as Apple iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and Android devices. The European multi-bank communications standard EBICS allows companies to connect to all their bank accounts at the highest level of service quality and security. Besides the well established channels through fat-clients and high sophisticated internet portals like MULTIVERSA IFP International Finance Portal users of corporate customers increasingly demand for mobile capabilities."