Chase Ahead of Mobile Marketing Curve

It's official - Chase has launched a revolutionary mobile marketing initiative. To view a copy of the full promotion email click here.


To learn more about the program, FAQs, or view participating merchants - click here.

Wow! I would love to learn more about this program. Could it be that Chase has actually figured out a way to boost their card purchase volume while simultaneously generating a new stream of revenue?

Mobile Payments & Mobile Banking

As we have all learned by now it is not easy to develop a business case for mobile banking. Predominantly, this is due to the fact that it’s not free to develop the service; yet, clients expect to receive it for free since they can access online banking via their personal computer at no charge.

The more you read the more you discover that many experts feel that the revenue potential exists within the realm of mobile payments. Therefore, I have begun to immerse myself in learning about the nuances of the space, and you will notice that I have begun to develop a more robust listing of the mobile payment vendors along the right-hand column.

Additionally, here are a few snippets of data that I have uncovered so far:
* Meijer reports a 44% monthly sales left for customers paying with contactless cards
* BP will start accepting PayPass at 3,000 U.S. locations
* USA Technologies is currently installing contactless payment on 7,500 additional vending machines for Coca Cola Enterprises.
* The total payments market in the U.S. is estimated to be over $7 trillion
* One forecast predicts that mobile phone-based contactless payments will account for over $36 billion of worldwide consumer spending by 2011
* The case for mobile transactions has been well proven by recent pilots. In a country such as Kenya there are 400 bank branches, 600 ATMs and 10 million mobile phones.
* In heavily wired Korea, 70% of all digital content -- valued at more than $1 billion last year -- is charged directly to cellphone bills instead of traditional credit cards, the company says.
* There are 6 million places where you can use your credit card, 45,000 (contactless acceptance locations)
* Pilots have been announced for:
Wells Fargo & Visa
Discover Financial & Motorola
Citi, Mastercard AT&T, and Nokia
Cellular South, Kyocera, and VIVOTech
Citi & Obopay
First Data & mFoundry
Verizon & Obopay

Mobile Banking and Sun Microsystems

Last week I had the pleasure of discussing the future of mobile banking with two executives from Sun Microsystems Carl Morath (Marketing Manager – Worldwide Financial Services) and Donna Rubin (Director of Marketing – Worldwide Financial Services).

Prior to the call I knew that Sun was the creator of Java technology; however, did you also know that the SIM chip in your cell phone is likely a Java Chip? In fact, an online search found that, “there are more than a billion Java-enabled phones in operation, and 70 percent to 80 percent of the GSM phones are also equipped with Java (February 2006).” – Blueboard.com

As we discussed the future of mobile banking Mr. Morath felt that the market would evolve in this fashion.
1. SMS - “It’s a given”
2. Browser - WAP 2.0 is better but not great. There will not be huge take-up.
3. Downloadable – More complex but there will be good take-up.

The most interesting aspect of the discussion though revolved around the projects that Sun has in development to improve the mobile banking experience. Sun has decided to focus their resources on two primary initiatives.

First, Sun does not feel that the OFX and ATM interfaces currently utilized by downloadable applications provide adequate support. To improve upon this model Sun is working to wrap a new interface around this existing technology. The new interface will build upon the bank’s existing transaction sets; yet, will create a new extensible web service. This basically means that we will have one interface that is able to incorporate and integrate all three mobile banking solutions (SMS, Browser, Downloadable).

Secondly, Sun is working to figure out how to provision a credit card in a cell phone. Understandably, this has been a challenge from a security aspect, because it requires a delicate balance of restricting bank information from carriers and carrier information from banks. Fortunately, Sun is well versed in dealing with both players. Over the years they have formed strong relationships with the carriers and as of 2004 provided internet banking technology to 85% of the banks in the market.

While Sun’s participation is not as transparent as the traditional mobile banking vendor they are a critical player, and will be instrumental in shaping the future of the mobile banking landscape.

To learn more about Sun’s success stories - click here.

To visit the blogs managed by Sun employees - click here.

IBC Bank and mFoundry - Mobile Banking

LAREDO, Texas & SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mobile banking leader mFoundry today announced the selection of mFoundry’s Spotlight financial platform by IBC Bank, the Laredo-based flagship bank of International Bancshares Corporation (NASDAQ: IBOC), one of the largest bank holding companies in Texas. IBC will leverage mFoundry’s Spotlight Mobile Banking solution to provide IBC’s customers with real-time, on-demand access to their IBC checking, savings and credit card accounts. Click to read the full press release.

Wells Fargo Launches Mobile Text Banking

First Major Financial Services Company to Offer Consumer and Small Business Customers Both Browser- and Text-Based Account Access via Mobile Devices

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) today announced another component of its Wells Fargo MobileSM service: text banking. This addition makes Wells Fargo the first major financial services company in the country to offer its consumer and small business customers both browser- and text-based account access via their mobile devices. Click to read the full press release.

Discussion about Mobile Banking Security at a Feverish Pitch

With the excitement surrounding mobile banking now in full swing it should come as no surprise that the topic of security is also reaching a feverish pitch. In fact, in the world of finance one of the early warming signs of a potentially successful service is regulatory involvement and mobile banking is no different.

I first wrote about security in an article titled “Mobile Banking & Security.” Later I followed up with an article titled Mobile Banking Security and AntiVirus Protection on the Mobile Money and Banking website.

However, within the last week the information has seemed to pick up dramatically. Here is a sampling of the highlights:
• Mobile Banking Security: The Black Cloud Attached to the Silver Lining
• Reserve Bank of India Studies Mobile Banking
• Financial Sector Technology Vision document (2008-2010)
• Mobile Banking. Mixing Ubiquity With Security.
• The greatest weakness of mobile banking security is the mobile banking users themselves?
• Panda Security launches antifraud service for mobile banking.
• Mobile-Banking Security Checklist Published by Green Armor Solutions.
• Mobile Banking Fraud!

Western Union and Mobile Transfers

Today there was an article by Paul Taylor on the MSNBC website titled "Western Union to Transfer Money by Cell."

The key take away is that Western Union will launch a mobile money transfer service in the second quarter of 2008. The article further explains that, "Once connected to the Western Union service, mobile operators will be able to use their own "mobile wallet"' software to enable person-to-person mobile money transfers over Western Union's cross-border remittance network."

Initially I began to think, "it will be a real challenge for Western Union to make the leap in to the mobile arena." However, the reality is that they already have the infrastructure in place and according to the article, "processed some 17 per cent of the world's remittance volume in 2006."

You'll notice that there was no mention of a financial institution, but the operators will still be forced to revenue share with Western Union.

This will be an interesting one to keep an eye on. Fortunately, the operators involved (MTN, Orange, Orascom, Smart, Telenor and VimpelCom) do not include any of the "Big 5" from the U.S.