International Mobile Banking Updates - Aug 6

More payments via mobile devices in 2015: report
"Online payment transactions handled by Chinese mobile payment service providers will exceed 9 trillion yuan in 2015, according to an industry report published on Monday. In 2012, the country's mobile banking sector handled 800 billion yuan in online payment transactions, an increase of 265.3 percent from a year earlier, according to a report published by the Internet Society of China, Xinhua news agency reports."

VIPERA PLC : Vipera – KPMG Commercial Partnership Agreement
"Vipera announces today that it has concluded an agreement with KPMG Advisory Spa ("KPMG"), a leading consulting and IT services company in Italy. Under this agreement KPMG, who are looking to expand their business in the area of mobile services and mobile financial services, have become a commercial partner and system integrator of Vipera's mobile financial services and solutions based on Motif."

Knocking on the M-commerce Door
"The past few months have seen more telcos inserting themselves into the mobile money and mobile commerce value chains. In Spain, Telefónica SA announced partnerships with financial institutions CaixaBank and Santander to create a new business in mobile banking, including a mobile wallet. (See Telefónica Brokers Mobile Money Alliance.)"

Surprising FNB mobile device stats
"FNB recently revealed that 76% of their clients visiting their online banking services are using an iPhone or iPad – much higher than all other brands put together. FNB launched its new website on Sunday 14 July, aimed at creating a consistent experience across all devices. The focus on a mobile friendly experience is very evident in the new design. Around 10% of FNB’s banking clients are currently accessing the website via a mobile device – up from 4% a year ago."

Software quality problems show need to “shift left”
 "In the private sector, software errors are causing both financial and reputational damage. A study by software quality specialist SQS identified private sector businesses in the banking, retail and mobile sectors, more likely to suffer software malfunctions than public sector organisations."

Bank of Kigali launches mVISA-Rwanda
"The Bank of Kigali, in partnership with Visa, has launched a new mobile banking platform, mVISA, an interoperable mobile branchless banking solution. BK mVISA is a digital wallet that targets 55 per cent of the country’s population of 10.5 million that currently have mobile phones."

ANZ Extends Mobile Financial Services to Unbanked and Underbanked Consumers with Mobiliti Reach from Fiserv
"Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), a $642.12 billion asset banking group, has launched an extensive mobile banking and payment service in several nations in the Pacific."

Aussie Bank Crowdsources Product Ideas in Mobile App Challenge
"Westpac will invest $50,000 to develop two concept apps from the public. The bank already has an aggressive mobile strategy, and is threatening to shake things up further with more bold moves like this before year’s end."

Kenya: Press Releases: Barclays Bank Offers Bulk Mobile Payment Solution
"Barclays Bank has partnered with mobile telephony service provider Safaricom to offer a mobile banking service that enables corporate clients to disburse bulk payments such as salaries, dividend payments, per diem allowances and pension payments to various beneficiaries through their mobile phones."

Canadians growing increasingly comfortable with mobile payments
"Mobile payments have gone mainstream in Canada. According to a report a by Technology Strategies International, more than half of smartphone owners in the country have used their phones to make payments this year. The bad news, according to the report titled "Canadian Payments Forecast — 2013," is that most of these mobile payment transactions have been for e-commerce purchases or bill payments via mobile banking apps and mobile banking websites. In other words, they're not happening in brick-and-mortar stores."

Updated: Westpac Australia online, mobile banking services still down
"Westpac Australia has confirmed that its online and mobile banking services are experiencing intermittent issues today. Westpac said its services were restored at 7pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on Thursday night after being down for most of yesterday."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 5

Mobile banking market in China growing rapidly, report finds
"There are 150 million Chinese using mobile banking services, transacting more than US$550 billion a year through their mobile devices, according to a Celent report published yesterday. China thus accounts for 40% of mobile banking users worldwide. By 2014, the Mobile Banking Trends in China report estimates the number of users to reach nearly 500 million and transaction volume to exceed US$1.8 trillion."

Mobile banking sees a surge of new entrants
"During the quarter ending September 2012, the branchless banking segment saw more than 31.4 million transactions and Rs139 billion was managed through branchless banking channels, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. In an analysis of this fast growing segment, the SBP reports that branchless banking players registered a growth of 25% in mobile wallets; 7% in number of agents; 11% in number of transactions and 21% in value transacted during the July-September 2012 quarter."

Mobile banking rings up net victory
"THE number of Australians now using mobile banking has exceeded 6 million, with the pace of take-up coming at a faster rate than internet banking. While it took nearly four years for the 6 million figure to be reached for internet banking users, mobile banking hit this number in a little over three years, according to new figures released by financial services consultancy the Market Intelligence Strategy Centre."

Vipera in mobile banking project with Italian retail bank
"Vipera said it has been awarded a mobile banking project with an Italian retail bank, in conjunction with leading professional services firm. Vipera did not name the Italian retail bank, the company it has co-operated with to win the deal, or the value of the contract. The project would allow the bank to offer its customers full access to their bank account details enabling them to make credit card and utility bill payments and to instantly transfer funds anywhere in the world, it said."

QIB unveils its new look Mobile Banking application
"QIB - the leading Islamic bank in Qatar - has unveiled its new look Mobile Banking application which enables customers to access a wide range of services via their smartphones. QIB Mobile Banking is available on the iPhone, BlackBerry and smartphones using the 'Android' operating system. QIB Customers now have access to an extensive array of services that can be accessed anytime, anywhere."

Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 11th

Report: Smartphone Adoption Driving Growth of Mobile Banking
"Cell phones may have been invented as a means of carrying on voice conversations in an ultra-portable way, but today these devices have evolved into miniature computers of sorts, and are used for all kinds of fun and practical purposes, including playing games, listening to music, checking e-mail, sending text messages, and performing mobile banking tasks."

Mobile Insecurity: Reality or Just hype?
"The increasing functionality and numbers of mobile banking platforms, the growing sophistication of criminals, and the popularity of smart cell phones create the potential for mobile banking security issues, but industry watchers have widely divergent opinions about how serious the threat really is."

Go Mobile, Go Green
"According to a recent report by Javelin Strategy and Research, 75 percent of consumers still receive paper statements and about 34 percent pay by paper check. Thankfully, a new paperless method is available for reducing the amount of waste the average consumer generates: mobile banking."

Mashreq unveils mobile banking service
"In keeping with the fast-paced lifestyle of the region, Mashreq Mobile Banking will provide customers secure and fully transactional access to their bank accounts through their mobile phones 24/7, from any GPRS / 3G / wireless (Wi-Fi) network, anywhere in the world."