NZ smartphone users ahead of Aussies in mobile banking uptake

"New Zealanders have been slower to take up smartphones than their Trans-Tasman counterparts-but once they get one, they are more likely to bank on them, the latest Digital Universe report from Roy Morgan Research shows. Just 38.6% of New Zealanders 14+ have a smartphone, compared with 59.7% of Australians 14+. But while Australia may be home to over eight times as many smartphone users overall, New Zealand's 1.4 million are more likely to use them for mobile banking activities.

In the first half of 2013, 33.5% of New Zealand's smartphone users did one or more banking and finance activity on their phone in an average four weeks, compared with 30.6% of Australian smartphone users." Continue Reading

Success of mobile payments dependent on significant infrastructure investment

"Financial services institutions must gain a better understanding of the mobile payments market, according to Ovum. New research from the global analysts indicates that there is still confusion about how to proceed in the rapidly shifting mobile payments space.

The research highlights that without a clear understanding of the relationship between mobile payments and the existing payments infrastructure, industry players will significantly miss out on the long-term potential of the market." Continue Reading

International Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 10

Leading lawyer on FCA interest in mobile banking
"The mobile banking market is expanding rapidly and Clive Anderson, Director of Supervision at the FCA, stated that it is right that the FCA now takes stock of recent developments and looks at how consumers can be ‘appropriately protected' in the future. Leon Deakin, senior associate at leading national law firm, Thomas Eggar LLP, comments: "Whilst these developments and the FCA's interest is welcome it does again demonstrate that the law and regulation so often lags behind technological developments. Indeed, this sort of technology and the ideas behind it are certainly not new so why has it taken so long to get to this point?"

RBC Mobile Banking app for BlackBerry 10 coming “by the end of September"
"RBC seems to be taking care of the thousands of BlackBerry 10 users in Canada. According to a reply on Twitter the financial institution will be making their mobile banking app available to BB10 users ‘by the end of September.”

BB issues instructions to stop breach of guidelines
"The Bangladesh Bank (BB) Sunday issued fresh instructions on mobile financial services, imposing some restrictions on money transactions to check irregularities and use of the service by non-account holders. The central bank asked all banks to strictly follow its instructions regarding use of know-your-customer (KYC) form in opening mobile accounts. No transaction can be made before the bank concerned scrutinises and approves application of the client/form."

Africa will Rule the World in Mobile Money, Expert Predicts
"African countries like Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania have been predicted to rule the world in mobile money transactions, which include mobile banking and mobile wallet, in the next few years, going by the continent’s population and zeal for technology advancement. Head, Marketing and Strategy at Ericsson, Mr. Shiletsi Makhofane, who made the prediction in Sweden, while unveiling the company’s Digital Agenda for Africa, advised banks and tele-communications operators in Africa to see the opportunities and take advantage of them to boost African technology development."

Latin America Experiments with Mobile Banking
"Latin America has surpassed 100% mobile phone penetration, according to the latest data from World Bank. In reality, about 30% of the population still doesn’t have a phone. (Urbanites with more than one phone inflate the number.) Still, adoption is strong and growing. It follows that banks in Latin America have been embracing mobility: releasing feature-rich mobile apps primarily, and also updating online banking offerings and targeting the unbanked and underbanked."

Kenya: Are Bitcoins the Future of Mobile Money?
"Want to go to the market, pay for a taxi or send money back home? In Kenya, all you need is your mobile phone. Ever since Safaricom, Kenya's largest mobile-network operator, launched the mobile-payment system M-Pesa in 2007, some two-thirds of Kenya's adult population have subscribed, and an astonishing 31% of the country's GDP is now spent through mobile phones."

Western Union Expands Mobile Money Transfer Service to Nepal
"The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU), a leader in global payment services, today announced the launch of a new mobile money transfer service that enables consumers to send money into a mobile wallet in Nepal. The new mobile money transfer service to Nepal integrates directly with eSewa, one of the leading digital wallet platforms in Nepal with more than 200,000 registered users. The functionality was developed through the collaborative efforts of Western Union, its Agent Nabil Bank Limited, and FonePay Pvt. Ltd., the owner of eSewa."

Jaiz Bank Partners Teasy Mobile Money To Provide Mobile Banking
"Jaiz Bank, a Sharia-complaint Nigerian financial institution, has partnered Teasy Mobile Money to allow customers access to financial services using their mobile devices. According to Hassan Usman, the bank’s acting MD, the partnership with the mobile service company will extend its reach to citizens, who lack conventional banking services due to its high cost, thus increasing financial inclusions in West Africa’s largest economy."

Mobile credit card 'Swosti' launched
"A mobile credit card named 'Swosti' was launched Wednesday in the country for the first time to facilitate loans for the marginal people who are mainly involved with the non-government organisations (NGOs). Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman inaugurated the new service as the chief guest at a city hotel."

Monitise loss widens as operating costs double
"Mobile banking technology company Monitise Plc reported a wider loss as operating costs doubled due to investments in technology and services and the company's recent acquisition. Shares in the company fell as much as 9 percent to 48.75 pence on the London Stock Exchange, making it one of the top percentage losers in early trade. The stock touched a life high on Wednesday after the company announced two new contracts and Goldman Sachs raised its price target on the stock."

99wuxian joins China’s lucrative mobile market
"Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with 99wuxian Limited (ASX:NNW) Chairman, Ross Benson"

Banking on the value of USSD
"The most obvious option available to banks trying to roll out mobile financial services in emerging markets is to set up services directly with a mobile operator. Indeed, many banks in emerging markets have a mobile banking platform from one of the vendors present in the market. However, they still face the challenge of capturing the hearts and minds of consumers, as many potential customers do not see how mobile banking will affect their lives."

Australians Increasingly Using Tablets And Smartphones For Banking
"Over the next half decade, Australians will increasingly prefer to do online banking using their tablets and smartphones as opposed to the traditional PC says Jason Yetton wh runs retail and business banking for Westpac. Recently the lender revealed it had processed $3 billion of transactions made by its 270,000 iPad app users since the lender rolled out the app less than a year ago. Mr. Yetton added that the desktop computer still dominates followed by the smartphone, the number of tablet transactions is catching up."

Bank Audi awards multi-year service contract to Capital Banking Solutions
"Bank Audi sal - Audi Saradar Group (Bank Audi) has inked a 5-year agreement with Capital Banking Solutions, to deliver software programs to support the bank's complete range of products and services. The lender has been provided with an enterprise license agreement to use Capital Banking Solutions product portfolio for core banking, business intelligence, compliance, customer relationship management, portfolio management, and multi-channel support including internet and mobile banking. Based on the terms of the agreement, the financial technology company will also act as the outsourced technology partner for the lender."

International Mobile Banking Updates - July 30

Fostering Financial Inclusion with Mobile Banking
"The annual growth rates of mobile phone penetration in the developing world have ranged between 30% and 50% or higher, and penetration has been rapidly increasing. In Africa, mobile phone penetration has exploded during the last ten years. Between 1998 and 2009, Africa witnessed an increase from 0.53 per 100 people to 42.82 per 100 people. At the same time, the average price of a 2G handset decreased from USD 150 in 2003 to USD 75 in 2008. Africa is now considered to be the fastest emergent continent for ICT sector growth."

Mobiles becoming dominant for banks
"The growing love affair smartphone-toting Kiwis have with mobile banking is starting to push the desktop PC into second place. ASB is the first bank to reach a "tipping point" where more than half of all customers' online sessions are now taking place on mobile devices. Head of digital experience and commerce Michael Ramsay said the behavioural shift was one of the biggest and fastest the bank had observed in its 160-year history."

CBN to review mobile banking framework to accommodate telcos
"The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said there may be need to review the mobile banking framework in order to accommodate the telecommunication operators. This is in response to analysts question over non inclusion of telecommunication companies in the mobile banking operational plan by the CBN. Kola Adeyemo, assistant director, payment system policy and oversight division - banking and payment system department, CBN, who said this at the BusinessDay Mobile Money Roundtable in Lagos, also said there was need for these telcos to register subsidiary companies, which would be regulated by the CBN."

M-commerce boom in Zimbabwe
"Online and mobile transactions have for the first time surpassed card payments in Zimbabwe after recording 28,3% growth in the month of May. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s May 2013 monthly economic review, the value of mobile and Internet-based transactions rose from US$283,6m in April to $364m in May, while the total value of card-based transactions rose by 1,3% from $328,2m to $332,6m."

ACI Worldwide to power DBS’ IDEAL mobile banking platform in Asia
"Payment and banking system provider ACI Worldwide announced on Tuesday a partnership with DBS to deliver the IDEAL 3.0 regional internet and mobile banking platform to corporate customers in Asia."

IBM Extends Its Banking Tech Expertise Into Emerging Markets
"IBM is extending its expertise in laying the foundation for banking beyond the established world and into emerging countries. A modern, reliable, secure banking system is a basic requirement for economic growth. For emerging economies, developing such a banking system is both a challenge and opportunity; large portions of their populations may not have bank accounts or use banks regularly, creating an impediment to growth and development."

Online banking brings more customers to StanChart
"Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia experienced a tangible growth in the number of its active customers by over 700,000 over the last 12 months through its new digital strategy of online banking. According to its country head of Consumer Banking Sonia Wedrychowicz-Horbatowska, the growth is important for the bank to stay competitive."

Rise in mobile banking predicted
"Experts predict that mobile banking in the Middle East and Africa will jump from 19.8 million users 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, said a statement from Gemalto, a leader in digital security."

Westpac soliciting new ideas for mobile banking apps through a competition
"Westpac is spreading its net wide in the search for fresh mobile banking apps by soliciting ideas from outside the bank through a competition. The bank says it will "crowdsource" ideas for mobile banking apps from New Zealand developers and designers. In return they're being offered the carrots of cash and the chance to "take their app to the world." Westpac says the objective of "the Westpac App Challenge" is for developers and designers to use their experience as bank customers, alongside their professional skills, to make a process or service faster and easier via a mobile app."

Swedes snap up mobile banking
"'The number of people who download the mobile app is increasing and they are using it also once its installed. The app is very user friendly,' Handelsbanken press officer Henrik Westman told the TT news agency. With smartphones now the norm major Swedish banks like SEB, Handelsbanken, Nordea and Swedbank have reported that the number of mobile logins is more than online banking via a computer."

International Mobile Banking Updates - June 11

ING Direct Canada Tests Low- and High-Tech Touches
"ING Direct Canada is testing an onboarding process that will reduce by 80% the number of questions that new customers have to answer. Charaka Kithulegoda, chief information officer of ING Direct Canada, said during his keynote address at the Mobile Banking and Commerce Summit that the bank aims to halve what has been a five-minute process. ING Direct is also running authentication pilot programs of voice and facial recognition biometrics with an aim to enhance security and customer trust. It plans to start offering mobile remote deposit capture to its customers this month."

NEW PARTNERSHIP IN SPAIN MAY BOOST MOBILE COMMERCE
"Telefonica, a leading Spanish telecommunications company, has announced a new partnership with CaixaBank and Santander in order to create a joint venture that aims to develop a new mobile banking solution that include launching a mobile wallet service for consumers. Mobile commerce has been showing strong growth throughout Europe, leading many telecommunications companies to make their way into this space in order to meet the changing needs of consumers. Banks have also been taking note of this trend and have been following in the footsteps of telecommunications companies."

NerdWallet: Will Mobile Banking Change The Way We Bank?
"In the past year, banks and credit unions across the country have rolled out mobile banking services for smartphones and tablets to meet a rapidly rising demand. The ease and efficiency of mobile banking is its greatest advantage, allowing consumers to make payments, check balances, transfer funds, speak with bank or credit union representatives, and quite often, deposit checks, without ever entering a branch."

Banks battle mobile networks for hidden cash in townships
"Standard Bank Group (JSE:SBK) hired Itumeleng Heymann to persuade her neighbors that for about $6 a month, their cash would be better off with Africa’s largest lender than in its current hiding place: under the bed. For millions of Africans, a simple Nokia mobile phone acts as a bank account, allowing them to transfer funds with services like M-Pesa, run by Vodacom Group (JSE:VOD) and Safaricom. Now Standard Bank is turning to an army of 1,000 township residents such as Heymann as it tries to block Vodacom, South Africa’s largest wireless operator, and companies like it from muscling in on the nation’s expanding banking market as they have in Kenya, Tanzania and elsewhere. So far, the banks are winning."

Mobile Security: Lessons from Asia
"When it comes to mobile banking and payments, security risks are similar globally. But Western institutions can learn from innovative solutions now offered in the East, says fraud expert Tom Wills. Wills says banking institutions in some of Asia's most developed markets, including Singapore, are more willing than their U.S. counterparts to involve consumers in security measures. 'I've found that financial institutions here are very willing to embrace security and to get their consumers involved in securing their own financial assets,' he says during an interview with Information Security Media Group."

Diamond Bank to power branchless banking with new technology
"IN recognition of the huge role technology plays in service delivery, Diamond Bank is to deploy BankOne mobile application to boost its branchless banking strategy in the country. BankOne, a mobile banking application, allows instant account opening and registration. The application is designed and developed by AppZone, a fast-growing technology company. The integration of the branchless banking on the BankOne platform will allow Diamond Bank acquire and easily migrate all mass market accounts and ensure customers get quality service."

Tech-no thanks: Payment phobia more common than fear of spiders
"Fear of mobile banking and contactless cards affects 26% of us – that’s more than the number who are scared of spiders at 25%, according to PayYourWay.org.uk the Payment Council's education campaign. This phobia is costing us time and money as more than a fifth have wasted time queuing to check a bank balance and one in seven has incurred a late fee because they missed a payment. It is the risk of thieves gaining access to bank accounts and personal information that holds many of us back. The Payments Council says there is no need for these fears because the latest ways to pay are safe and easy to use and banks have ­measures to protect customers such as encrypted websites, security software, deactivation of login details if a number of incorrect attempts are made and varying types of authentication processes."

Comparing American and British Consumer Mobile Banking Habits
"In late May, United Kingdom payment-network operator VocaLink released survey results from British consumers about mobile banking and payments use. The results reinforced the trend mobile payments are gaining traction with consumers as 50 percent of respondents stated they are either already or interested in using mobile payments in the near future."

Banks need to improve their digital offerings
"Banks can enhance customer experience and enable sales at the same time by creating more personal interactions through their mobile offerings. The latest World Retail Banking Report by Capgemini and Efma showed that the quality of a bank’s mobile service can significantly influence a young customer’s decision to choose or switch banks. Older customers, in contrast, tend to rely more on traditional banking channels. 'As early and adept users of mobile, young customers are more likely to choose or leave a bank because of the quality of mobile services it offers,' the report said."

Online banking: "Act quickly after transfer mistakes"
"People who enter incorrect bank details when transferring money online are being urged to act quickly after making a mistake. The Financial Ombudsman Service says the money is easier to get back if an early warning flag is raised. But delays or grey areas of the law can make retrieving the money awkward over time. And those who are credited with the money by accident are being encouraged to own up."

Consumers slow to embrace mobile banking
"Mobile banking still accounts for less than 10 per cent of the value of digital transactions, despite the rapid growth in customers managing their finances on the go. As consumers embrace smart phones, the number of Australians with mobile banking has rapidly increased. The number of mobile banking customers surged to 6 million earlier this year, and is tipped by banks to overtake banking through traditional websites in years to come."

International Mobile Banking Updates - April 16

MoneyGram and First National Bank launch mobile banking in South Africa
"MoneyGram and First National Bank (FNB) of South Africa have launched their first mobile money transfer service in Africa. The new mobile banking service enables FNB customers throughout South Africa provinces to send and receive international money transfers using their mobile devices. The service features data encryption system that protects account holder information. Transactions sent from a mobile device are available for collection within 10 minutes, subject to an agent’s hours of operation and local laws and regulations."

Australian banks need to embrace mobile application users: Study
"By the end of 2013, more Australians are predicted to be using their mobile phones to do banking than their desktop computers, but research released this week shows they are increasingly dissatisfied with the offerings from financial institutions. Mobile marketing firm BanterMob analysed ratings and reviews of Australian banking apps, and found nine of the 13 banks reviewed rated average or below average, and almost three-quarters of user app reviews were negative."

Buggy apps hurt customer experience in mobile banking
"Banks aren’t using online banking properly, Australian mobile marketing firm, BanterMob, has claimed. The group studied 42,000 ratings and about 2000 reviews of Australian banking applications available in the four major app stores. BanterMob director, Kelly Slessor, says the results show high levels of negativity and sub-optimal customer experience."

ABSA launch their mobile and tablet banking App
"ABSA proudly, if a little belatedly, revealed their on-line Banking App for Android and Apple iPhone devices today in Johannesburg. ABSA is the last of the South African big banks to launch their mobile App. The ABSA App will be of huge benefit to all the ABSA customers with smart devices. ABSA said the App would be the first real, native financial services App for smartphones and tablets in South Africa available for both retail and business customers."

ING Direct Canada Looks Forward On Mobile
"ING Direct Canada foresees a world where the mobile channel dominates consumers' interactions with their financial institution, and is preparing accordingly. The bank has been working with Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM on several mobile banking services using IBM's MobileFirst suite of solutions. 'People are using these devices for managing almost every part of their lives,' says ING Direct Canada's CIO Charaka Kithulegoda. 'The movement into managing the financial part of their lives has been a bit slower compared to retail, for example, but now they're starting to do it more and more in financial services as well.'"

Barclays Zimbabwe to launch mobile banking service, Hello Money (updated)
"Barclays will be launching its mobile banking application Hello Money, in Zimbabwe this month. The announcement was made as part of the launch of new ATMs by the company a few days ago. Hello Money will allow Barclays account holders to transfer money to a Barclays account or to an account at another banking institution, airtime top up, mini statements and balance enquiries."

Mobile banking transactions double, payments rise threefold
"Mobile banking seems to be gaining popularity among Indians with increasing number of people using this platform to buy tickets, pay bills, shop online, and transfer funds. The opportunity to expand reach, grow revenues and gain operating efficiencies have persuaded several banks to encourage their customers in using mobile banking. Consider this: The number of mobile banking transactions doubled to 5.6 million in January 2013 from 2.8 million a year ago. The value of these transactions increased threefold to Rs 625 crore during the month from Rs 191 crore in January 2012."

Stanbic IBTC Launches Mobile Money Application
"Stanbic IBTC Bank Limited has announced the introduction of the ‘Stanbic IBTC MobileMoney’ application for smart phones. The product is expected to run on blackberry and android operating systems. Stanbic IBTC’s Executive Director for Personal and Business Banking, Mr. Obinna Abajue, was quoted in a statement as saying that the move underscored the bank’s commitment to provide Nigerians with value-added products and services that suit their lifestyles, while giving them access to basic financial options via a secure mobile application wherever and whenever they want."

Banks in product development race
"AS competitive pressures mount in the banking sector, banks have to devise various safety valves, knowing that there is no single silver bullet for achieving sustainable competitiveness. Apart from diversifying sources of funding, enhancing liquidity profiles, fortifying balance sheets, growing deposit bases and enhancing access to lined of credit, banks are also actively pursuing a product and channel expansion strategy, if the recently released 2012 financial results are anything to go by. Most banks were unequivocal about their growth strategies and clearly articulated them in statements accompanying the results while others offered no clues. During the period under review, Agribank rolled out its first phase of e-Banking products; notably Internet and mobile banking, SMS alerts as well as e-statements. The bank also entered into a strategic partnership with EcoCash to facilitate roll out of mobile money transfer services. Going forward, Agribank intends to strengthen strategic alliances that grow non-funded income.

SA mobile banking fraud on the rise
"The Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS) has noted an increase in complaints as mobile and internet banking fraud increased, according to its 2012 annual report on banking services. In the report, advocate John Myburgh, chairman of the board of the Ombudsman for Banking Services (OBS), said that the growing mobile customer base has spurred banks to launch ever-more innovative mobile payment options. With an estimated 13-million unbanked South Africans, the potential for such products is immense, he said."

Indian uptake of mobile FS on rise as banks launch more m-payment options
"Mobile banking is gaining popularity in India, with the number of mobile banking transactions doubling to 5.6 million in January 2013 from 2.8 million a year ago. The value of transactions increased tripled to rupees (INR) 625 from INR 191 in January 2012. CICI Bank, which has the largest share of mobile banking payments in India, makes periodic offers to its customers to encourage them to use mobile banking services. The bank produced these figures and has partnered with several service providers to offer customers discounts on their products and services, as well as entered partnerships to allow them to make utility bill payments via mobiles."

Mobile-banking with 1.4 million accounts shows remarkable surge
"Mobile banking in Pakistan has witnessed a reasonable growth as the number of such accounts (M-Wallets) has reached 1.4 million by 2012, showing an increase of 156 % as compared to previous years. The current number of m-banking accounts is seven times higher than the numbers at the end of September 2010. Of the total 1.4 million m-banking accounts, 66 % are active accounts and the ratio of active accounts has increased from 54 % as of end December 2011. The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in its report has revealed that this increase in the active accounts is mainly due to increase in the small transaction m-banking accounts by UBL Omni, facilitated by regulatory flexibility in account opening by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)."

Internet Banking to Grow 65% a Year in Latin America
"The number of Latin Americans who have access to their bank with mobile divices will grow by 65% annually in the coming years and reach 140 million people by 2015, according to a Deloitte report released by the Latin American Federation of Banks ( Felaban). The study indicates that the concept of “mobile money” will transform Latin America in the coming decades and remember that in some rural areas access to traditional banking services is still limited because of the high costs involved."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 6

ACLEDA Bank Earns Celent Model Bank Status for its Fiserv-Powered Mobile Banking Initiative
"Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that its client, ACLEDA Bank, PLC., was named a Celent Model Bank for 2013. Celent selected ACLEDA, headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, based on its successful initiative to bring mobile financial services to consumers without banking relationships, which the bank accomplished using Mobiliti Reach™ from Fiserv."

Mobile banking passes 6 million . . . fast
"Using a mobile phone for banking passed through 6 million users in Australia in the September quarter 2012, which was six months faster to that mark than Internet banking a white paper has revealed. While Internet banking took 15 quarters (3.75 years) to be adopted by 6 million users in Australia, mobile banking took only 13 quarters (3.25 years) to reach the same mark."

Banks moving towards mobile banking
"Bankers and software designers are meeting in Singapore to discuss how to take advantage of smartphones and tablets to expand their business. Banks are shifting investment, from brick and mortar branches packed with staff to slick IT solutions. Singapore software company Tagit is tailoring solutions differently for emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, and banks with established networks in developed countries like Japan and Australia."

New Research Reveals China’s Potential for a Mobile Banking Revolution
"Researcher Patrick Ainslie calls it ‘handshakes over hetongs’ (the Mandarin word for ‘contract’). It’s an opportunity, an open challenge even, to reach 250 million people in China and potentially transform their lives. Ainslie is part of a team of researchers at New York-based social enterprise Reboot, which recently published a study, based on extensive field interviews, on designing financial services for China’s marginalized groups."

 The Moving Target of Mobile Banking Service
"When my colleagues and I talk about mobile banking, we are struck by how many banks operating in mature markets could learn from Africa. Despite the infrastructure challenges – and in some ways because of them – many African banks display a real commitment to innovation in service. Standard Bank of South Africa, for example, is working to provide “inclusive banking” – banking services for the previously unbanked. These customers may not own smartphones, but they can now deposit money and pay for utilities using the phones they have."

Mozido Appeals To Politicos For Action On Mobile Banking
"Gregory Corona, president and chief executive officer of Mozido LLC, has reached out to two top administration officials to run interference for his company with the Bank of Jamaica over a mobile banking deal with the credit union league that has been stalled by regulatory review. Texas-based Mozido operates a local subsidiary, Mozido Jamaica, managed by Kavin Hewitt."

Only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference
"With only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference 2013, we invite all financial, retail and IT professionals dealing with mobile banking and mobile payments to secure their seats at this high powered event. Registrations are filling up and the conference once again promises to be a full-house."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 13

Mobile banking helps to empower Tanzanian women
"The ability to exchange money and make payments with smartphones is placing power in the hands of women. The GSMA mWomen Programme is working in combination with Bankable Frontier Associates (BFA) and Visa Inc. in five different countries in order to help to better use mobile banking to reach women who are underserved and whose needs can be directly met by this technology and its associated products."

Aircel, ICICI Bank launch mobile banking service
"Aircel and ICICI Bank have jointly launched a mobile banking service. Called Mobile Money, the service will be run on Visa’s mobile managed service. Mobile Money has been launched with a range of financial services on a mobile phone such as cash deposits, cash withdrawals and money transfer to third parties."

Leverage on developments in mobile banking — Gono
"THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono has urged the banking sector to leverage on the current developments in mobile banking as an effective distribution network for financial products to various segments of society. Mobile banking is a system that allows customers of a financial institution to conduct a number of transactions through a mobile device such as a mobile phone or personal digital assistant."

Rakbank launches new services on Mobile Banking platform
"Rakbank, the leading retail and small business bank in the UAE, announced the launch of new services on its Mobile Banking platform that allow customers to conduct a wider range of banking transactions on the go via their handset. By introducing added services on its Mobile Banking Application and Service, customers can now use their mobile phones to order new cheque books, transfer balances, apply for supplementary cards, and even report a lost or stolen credit card. Rakbank Mobile Banking saves time when seeking investment details and when applying for an advance against salary."

HSBC enhances its mobile banking offering in its continued commitment
"HSBC has enhanced its mobile banking offering in its continued commitment to helping businesses streamline their banking needs. The new offering will allow customers to initiate payments to existing beneficiaries across the world. The facility adds to the extended suite of mobile solutions the Bank already offers its customers."

Standard Chartered kicks off 2013 Mobile Ventures Fellowship programme
"Standard Chartered Bank today signaled its ongoing commitment to talent development in financial services technology by announcing the 2013 Mobile Ventures Fellowship (MoVe) programme. Now in its second year, the MoVe programme was initiated as a part of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore's (IDA) Company-Led Training Programme (CLT). It aims to train new infocomm graduates and professionals in emerging and critical technologies. In calling for new applicants today, Standard Chartered announced another 10 traineeships for young Singaporean technopreneurs (MoVeRs) in mobile banking technology."

Aussie smartphone owners gravitating toward mobile banking
"An Australian study has found that the proportion of that nation's smartphone users who conduct banking transactions on their phones is now greater than 20 percent. Meanwhile, the percentage of smartphone users who bank online has dropped: Fewer than half of smartphone owners now use a computer for banking transactions, said the study from Roy Morgan Research."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Dec 4

Indian banks flip the switch on unified mobile banking platform
"India's push to provide access to financial services through mobile means took another step forward when Shri P. Chidambaram, India's Finance Minister, recently announced the launch of a National Unified USSD Platform by India's National Payment Corporation. The NUUP allows the millions of Indians who lack access to physical banking locations use a single SMS texting number to access services across all banks, regardless of wireless service provider, mobile handset maker or region."

Safaricom opens M-Pesa mobile banking service
"Safaricom is to begin offering M-Pesa customers a new mobile banking service, offering interest-bearing deposit accounts and loans. The telco has partnered with Kenay's largest commercial bank, CBA, to create the account, dubbed M-Shwari, which can be activated on deposits as low as one shilling. Safaricom CEO Bob Colllymore says M-Shwari will have no ledger fees, no limits on the frequency of withdrawals, no minimum operating balance and no charges on deposits for M-Pesa to M-Shwari accounts."

CBA responds to mobile banking demand
"In response to customer demand for a simple, personalised and mobile banking experience, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) will be launching Kaching for Facebook, a redesigned Kaching for Android App and new sharing and tagging capability in NetBank. For the first time in Australia, CommBank will launch SmartSign technology that will allow Asset Finance customers to execute loan documents electronically from anywhere in the world."

Mobile banking in South Africa: Can MTN crack the market second time around?
"The network has partnered with the South African Bank of Athens as well as retailers Pick n Pay and Boxer Stores to introduce Mobile Money, it announced last week. Mobile Money is operated by TYME, a distribution channel of the South African Bank of Athens. The service allows customers to make payments from their mobile phones, including person-to-person money transfers as well as purchase prepaid electricity and airtime vouchers."

Banking services in your palm, just dial *99# from any handset
"Checking your bank balances or placing a request for a cheque book has been made as simple and hassle-free as dialling *99# from your mobile. Just dial *99# from your mobile of any make, every banking service, be it fund transfer or checking balances, comes at platter. Formally rolled out by Finance Minister P Chidambaram last Saturday at the national banking conference in Pune, as part of the government's financial inclusion programme, the service, one of the unique empowerment initiatives, is being facilitated by National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI)."

Mobile Banking SA Conference to address untapped opportunities outside the formal banking sector
"Developing simple, user-friendly mobile banking services with low-technology orientated solutions opens a world of opportunities for financial institutions who swiftly role out mobile banking offerings to the informal banking sector. The Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference to take place on the 13 & 14 March 2013, at the Emperors Palace, Johannesburg, will focus on why financial institutions cannot afford to lag behind with development of mobile banking products that service over 27% of South Africans that are unbanked and the 10% that are under-banked."

Mobile banking trend sparks fear of new fees
"Small businesses are worried that so-called mobile wallets will give banks and credit card companies a new way to gouge them and consumers both. A task force recommended nearly a year ago that Ottawa introduce legislation to give Canadians and businesses better tools to make payments digitally. But a committee set up by the Finance Department to further study the issue has been told businesses worry they’ll be hit with new fees as consumers adopt payment systems designed for their mobile devices."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Oct 23

Aussies way ahead in mobile banking
"Latest research from Google shows Australians are 65 per cent more likely than the British to do banking via their smartphone and 14 per cent more likely than Americans. St George Bank has more than 390,000 mobile banking customers and growing fast, especially in the demographic of those aged up to 35, who make up 75 per cent of the users.St George Banking Group's head of eChannels, Travis Tyler, says the explosion of consumers who have turned to phone apps to do their banking is continuing to skyrocket."

Namibia: Bank Launches Mobile Banking
"In its continuous efforts to improve the service offering to its customers Standard Bank Namibia (SBN) has announced the launch of Mobile Banking to the Namibian market. The service will be available to customers on Friday 12 October 2012. Mobile Banking offers a more flexible way of banking anytime, anywhere. It involves the access to and provision of banking and financial services through mobile devices."

Carfinance247.co.uk reveals how 86% of Brits shun mobile devices when applying for finance
"While mobile banking and contactless payments are hot topics now, surprising data from car finance and dealer specialist carfinance247.co.uk reveals that only 14% of people would actually feel comfortable applying for finance via a mobile device. An independent study asked: 'Would you feel comfortable applying for guaranteed car finance via a mobile device such as an iPad, mobile phone etc?'"

RHB Bank expects 1.5m internet, mobile banking clients by 2013
"RHB Bank Bhd expects to garner 1.5 million internet and mobile banking customers by next year, said its retail banking director Vince Au Yoong. The bank currently has 850,000 customers who use its online and mobile banking services, almost double the 450,000 users last year."

Mobile Phone & Smart Card banking accounts surge
"The Deputy Governor, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Kazi Abdul Muktadir, has disclosed that Mobile Phone and Smart Card banking accounts have surged to nearly 1.45 million in the country, which indicates that Pakistan's financial sector is now going through a dynamic transition led by the latest technology solutions. Speaking at the launching ceremony of a new product, `Easy Paisa Khushaal' of Tameer Microfinance Bank (TMFB) and Telenor at a local hotel on Tuesday, he said: `The existing active players- the Tameer Microfinance Bank (Easypaisa) and UBL (Omni), have so far registered more than 1,447,381 mobile wallet accounts (mWallet accounts) of un-banked and under-banked population of the country."

Say goodbye to the branch — the future for banking is upwardly mobile
"In developed countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, mobile banking — describing the use of mobile phones to make financial transactions — is transforming banking from a physical (requiring visits to a bank branch) to non-physical activity. Visits to banks to deposit cheques, and cheques more generally, appear to be disappearing. A recent report from The Economist cited a finding from JP Morgan that over the past year in the United States, customers deposited 10 million cheques by taking pictures of them rather than visiting a branch. In the Netherlands, only half of all bank customers have stepped inside a branch in the past year."

10-month-old bank launches mobile services
"Customers of the first Tanzania’s fully Sharia compliant bank, Amana Bank, will now be able to use modern technology to access the bank’s products after it launched internet and mobile banking services. Amana Bank’s head of Business, Mr Sudi Marungu, said they have decided to introduce the services to enable their clients to experience maximum enjoyment as they access the bank’s services from wherever they are and in convenience all the time."

Digitization: Banking won’t change until banks do
"Across Asia consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable with technology, with growing numbers using smartphones and tablets to bank on the go. Channels have multiplied, giving customers more choice than ever before. However, for all the innovation in banking in recent years, the drop in loyalty rates across Asia suggests banks are failing to get closer to their customers, or provide them with sufficiently useful and convenient products and services."

Wincor Nixdorf: Cross-Channel Integration Brings Mobile Banking to Customers
"To meet the fast-paced lifestyle of their consumers, banks are increasingly networking their services between the branch, Internet, mobile banking and self-service delivery channels so that customers can manage their transactions on the go. To help financial service providers meet their customer’s needs and be competitive in the marketplace, Wincor Nixdorf showcased its PC/EMobile Cash application as part of Wincor World, Oct. 16 in Germany."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Oct 2

MOBILE BANKING (First of two parts)
"THE popularity of cell phones in the Philippines is undeniable and palpable. Ask any person on the street if he has a cell phone, and 7 out of 10 would probably say yes. Sadly, while access to mobile phone services has rocketed in recent years, access to financial services remains a major barrier to economic growth. If only banks here were as easily accessible as cell phones, particularly in the rural areas!"

Anytime-anywhere banking, courtesy RBI
"Customers can now pay for their taxi rides, pizzas, kirana store purchases anytime, anywhere with their mobile phones, reports CNBC-TV18's Gopika Gopakumar. Have you run out of cash while shopping? Don't worry! You can pay anyone including your neighbourhood kirana store with your mobile phone. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the organisation set up by the RBI for all retail payments, has now launched the inter-bank mobile payment service for all merchants. This will allow customers to pay their bills for as little as 25 paise for each transaction."

Mobile banking expands in rural areas 
"In 2011, Philippine rural banks processed over P4.9 billion (roughly $116 million) worth of banking transactions which were enabled by mobile banking. In fact, the former head of the Microentrepreneurs Access to Banking Services (MABS) program John V. Owens said a 58-percent increase in the volume of transactions through mobile banking has been noted in the first four months of 2012. Since mobile banking or access to banking services through the mobile phone technology was introduced in 2006, a total of P16 billion (approximately $363 million) had been processed."

KBank boosts mobile and cyber-banking services
"Art Wichiencharoen, first senior vice president of Kasikornbank, said that the company usually invests about Bt100 million to keep the bank's technologies up to date in order to provide a wide new range of secure cyber-banking and mobile-banking services. Currently, the bank has more than 1.4 million users of its cyber-banking services, with 400,000 active users per month. Meanwhile, it has more than 1.2 million registered users of its mobile-banking service, with about 500,000 active users per month."

SBI, ICICI lead the pack as m-banking gains currency
"Mumbai: Anand Chaturvedi, a 27-year-old analyst with a brokerage firm in Mumbai, started using his mobile phone for banking about six months back “because it is easy to use and accessible from anywhere”. When in office, he does Internet banking, but uses the mobile banking (m-banking) services of ICICI Bank Ltd and HDFC Bank Ltd when travelling. Vinaya Venugopalan, a 26-year-old information technology (IT) manager with an Indian bank, started using m-banking in May. He is comfortable with the service, but limits it mostly to checking his bank balance."

Australians slow to embrace mobile banking
"A cashless future where the bulk of consumers rely on mobile phones for their banking needs may be further away than many in the financial services industry claim. That's because consumers in Australia have not shown wide acceptance of mobile banking at a time when technical barriers persist and the challenge of an ageing demographic looms."

Way to beat a cash economy
"In a predominantly cash-run economy, electronic payment methods that provide convenience to users while lowering the transaction cost of banks make immense sense. Mobile banking, or m-banking, that started with small SMS transactions, is one such mechanism. Today, with more than 900 million cellphone subscribers in the country and hundreds of tablet PCs, there should ideally be many takers. According to a August Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, in fiscal 2012, however, only 13 million people across 49 banks used m-banking services, and made 25.6 million transactions valued at Rs.1,820 crore."

Capitec mobile banking hits 2 million clients
"South African commercial bank Capitec Bank Holdings reported on Wednesday (26 September), that it had signed up more than two million clients to its mobile banking service. 'Capitec promotes the use of mobile banking, and at the end of August 2012, in excess of 2.0 million clients were registered for this service.'"

Mobile tellers take banking by storm
"Since taking the reins as chief information officer for Westpac, Clive Whincup has presided over the launch of the bank’s first iPad application; a trial to turn Android smartphones into contactless payment devices; the introduction of an iPad app to replace printed board papers; a 1000 iPad pilot for bank executives; and a St George innovation that allows payments to be made from a smartphone using only the recipient’s mobile number."

Mobile devices change the face of banking
"How about taking a picture of a cheque with your smartphone to deposit it? What about getting online advice about your investments when you're on your tablet? And then there's paying for small purchases with smartphones. The use of smartphones and tablets in consumers' everyday lives is helping push changes in how they bank, pay for bills and even how they can get investment advice, say experts."

The rise of mobile money is driven by the poor 
"As Google, Apple, Paypal, Mastercard and the entire banking community fights over mobile money, we decided to look to the power users to find out what the near future of monetary exchange might look like. The World Bank’s treasure trove of open data on mobile banking is a well stocked pantry for the data hungry. Welcome to our first data snack and enjoy the graph we created below."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Aug 23

Banking and mobile money - a powerful convergence
"THE power and versatility of the mobile phone to enable financial transactions is quickly being taken up by financial institutions as they strive to deepen their presence. Mobile money is only about four years old but has attracted close to five million users while less than 15% of the Ugandan population use formal banking services in over 100 years of banking. But the recent decision by dfcu Bank and other institutions to connect their services and clients to the mobile phone will kickstart deeper financial penetration and allow access to more financial services by the backward linkage between the phone and the bank, according to observers."

  Phones ring in banks' future
"THE battle for technology supremacy between Australian banks is accelerating, with the industry preparing for an era in which cash matters less and transactions occur in real time anywhere. Banks are launching smartphone apps aimed at connected customers and retailers, trying to get an advantage over rivals."

ING Direct Mobile App Encourages Savings Through Small Sacrifices
"ING Direct Canada has rolled out a new addition to its existing mobile banking app called Small Sacrifices. The tool helps customers visualize how cutting out everyday indulgences can lead to big savings over the long term. The Small Sacrifices tool is pretty simple. First, users choose what small sacrifice they can make, like passing on a daily coffee purchase. Then users decide which goal to redirect the money to, like their retirement fund or savings account."

The Secret of Africa’s Banking Boom: Mobility
"While U.S. and European banks suffer hangovers from the Great Recession and continued shock waves inside the eurozone, Africa’s top lenders have never looked stronger or been more ambitious. Why is a continent better known for political instability and foreign aid riding a banking boom characterized by aggressive pan-African expansion and swelling balance sheets?"

International Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 6

FNB integrates mobile banking with Facebook
"FNB today announced that its customers can now buy FNB Vouchers using Cellphone Banking and send to friends on Facebook. FNB Vouchers on Facebook is another first by a bank in South Africa. FNB Vouchers are targeted at Facebook users in South Africa. This innovative product enables FNB customers registered for Cellphone Banking to send gifts to their Facebook friends — the recipient of the FNB Voucher can redeem it as Prepaid Airtime or convert it to cash by using the bank’s eWallet service."

Reaching the Poor: Mobile Banking and Financial Inclusion
"In a recent Slate article, Jamie Zimmerman and Sascha Meinrath lament the exclusion of the poor from Kenya’s much-touted expansion of mobile money, exemplified by the growth of M-PESA. Citing our early empirical analysis of the adoption of M-PESA, the authors correctly note that in 2008, many of the poor did not use the service. Zimmerman and Meinrath infer from this pattern of adoption that poor households are made worse off by M-PESA’s success."

Mobile banking’s Sh1.5tr boost to formal economy
"Mobile banking has succeeded in bringing about Sh1.5 trillion into the formal economy, indicating the potential of mobile phone-based financial transactions to bridge the gap left by the mainstream banking system. Tanzania has about Sh2.3 trillion in circulation at any given time, the formal banking and financial system holds about Sh13 trillion, but experts say most of the liquidity is in the informal circulation."

Mobile Banking in Australia
"M-banking involves conducting account balance and transaction history inquiries, fundstransfers, billpayments, stocktrades, portfolio management, as well as insurance ordering, via a mobile device."

International Mobile Banking Updates

Zimbabwe: Local Mobile Banking Rises
"THE use of advanced electronic transaction processes has grown significantly in this country, reflecting rising confidence in the banking sector by the transacting public. According to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono, during the period January to August this year, the financial sector recorded electronic transactions worth a cumulative US$21 billion. This represents a 62 percent increase from the US$13 billion recorded during the same period last year."

Aussie Mobile Apps Growing Popularity in Global Wealth Management
"Global cell phone users are making mobile banking and wealth management applications one of the hottest items in an otherwise soft world economy. The growth in usage is enormous. The number of people using mobile financial apps to check their bank accounts and credit cards grew almost 50% in the first 6 months of this year.

A recent study by comScore, a leading US company keeping track of activity in the digital world, showed credit card users making bank visits via the mobile app overwhelm people using a computer almost two to one. This mirrors a recent statement from Facebook regarding mobile users demonstrating the pervasiveness of mobile app usage."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Oct 16

Future lies in mobile banking, says SBI
"Every banker dreams of being able to introduce an initiative that no one has done before, when he or she gets to the helm. What is your dream?

I am too much of a practical person, so I look at it from what can be done. But having said that, I feel we need to do something more in the space of mobile banking. We need to make it much more popular than it is right now because that is the banking of the future. Mobile banking might have failed to take off and this is not because of lack of systems and procedures. Those things are in place. It is just that the general public is not very convinced about mobile banking. Bankers have to play a major role in popularising this. Otherwise, the future of banking will bypass India. I think, going forward, mobile banking will be more preferred than internet banking."

Mobile Banking Services Launch Chart a New Era
"THE launch last week of mobile banking services by Econet Wireless Zimbabwe and Telecel Zimbabwe has charted a new era in delivery of banking products to the public, analysts have observed. Zimbabwe, which has for long lagged behind in terms of ICT development, seems to have turned a new corner, with new forms of banking anticipated to foster financial inclusion of the unbanked population."

FNB rises to dominant position in mobile banking for Southern Africa
"As local and international banks roll out technology to provide efficient and remote banking services in Africa, South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) has managed to dominate the Southern African region. Outside of South Africa itself, First National Bank (FNB) has expanded the eWallet mobile banking service to Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland and Zambia, with plans under way to expand the service to more countries in the region."

Mobile Banking Zooming In Australia: In 10 Years will it be Ubiquitous?
"Is it possible that within 10 years, mobile banking and mobile payments will be entirely ubiquitous? Careful with those “In 10 years...” predictions. This reporter has heard that in 10 years, America will be on the metric system, cars won’t run on gasoline and the Minnesota Vikings will win the Super Bowl. However, George Lawson, head of merchant acquiring for Westpac, believes that in 10 years mobile banking will have made quite a dent."

CUA to overhaul online, mobile banking
"Indian-based IT services company Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has expanded its scope of work with CUA, taking out the contract for the new online banking system. TCS also won a contract with CUA this year to replace the credit union's home-grown core banking system with the BaNCS platform. CUA chief Chris Whitehead said that the selection of TCS for the online revamp made sense given its existing work on the core banking system."

Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) Makes Mobile Banking Deal
"Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) has entered into a joint venture with the telecommunications provider America Movil to provide Latin Americans with mobile banking services. The alliance named Transfer will involve an investment of $50 million, and will begin in Mexico by the first quarter of next year."

International Mobile Banking Updates - May 25

AusCERT 2011: Mobile banking malware on the rise
"Chief technology officer of Trusteer, Amit Klein, has spoken about the trends of mobile malware, citing mobile banking as the next big threat to the industry. In the keynote session of the second day at the AusCERT conference on the Gold Coast, Klein said the financial and mobile malware began to increase during 2006, and has only become more prevalent in recent years."

Mobile money hits the UK like it means business
"This is probably the most significant week the UK has ever seen for mobile money. Two of the biggest operators in the country have announced mobile money implementations – Orange is going for a straightforward NFC-based payments model, whereas O2 looks like it wants the whole mobile banking hog."

SA clicks on to mobile banking
"SOUTH African consumers want greater access to financial services using cellphones, according to the results of a global survey on the growth of mobile money, released on Friday. The survey, by the international research firm TNS, said the growth of mobile banking in SA joined a growing global trend where new technology and mobile banking were driving usage globally."

Iraq to bring banks to the masses – by mobile
"Just a fifth of Iraqis have bank accounts, but 70 percent have mobile phones, so Baghdad is hoping to close the gap by getting people to open accounts, make payments and transfer cash – all via mobile. In a country that is one of the most corrupt and violent in the world, the initiative is aimed at securing Iraqis' funds, and strengthening the banking sector as higher revenues resulting from a greater number of transactions boost profits."