International Mobile Banking Updates - July 9

Nigeria: CBN Explains Restriction of Telcos From Mobile Banking Services
"The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday gave reasons for the restriction of telecommunication companies from offering mobile banking services in the country. The Director, Banking and Payment System Department, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, stated that telcos were not given the opportunity to provide mobile payment services because the central bank did not have direct control over them."

CBN Blames Failure Of Telecoms Synergy On Mobile Payment Hassles
"The CBN says its inability to regulate operation of the telecoms is responsible for their exclusion in the mobile banking system, an approach which is being criticised by analysts. CBN’s Director, Banking and Payments system department, Mr Titus Fatokun, however, says that despite this development, mobile money transfer has recorded N9.2 billion in value and 275,558 in volume as at May 2013."

ING GROEP : European consumers empowered by mobile banking
"More than a third (37%) of almost 12,000 internet users surveyed in 12 European countries are already using mobile banking - and many credit the technology with providing more control over their money. While being able to bank on the go is very popular, cash is still favoured for ultimate control of budgeting and spending. Social media is booming and is mostly used to get better insight into money matters and is set to grow as many young people expect to be able to make payments via social media, according to the ING report entitled Financial Empowerment in the Digital Age."

Monitise and Telefonica Enter Mobile Money Partnership
"Monitise plc UK:MONI -1.38% announces it has become the preferred Mobile Money technology partner for Telefonica Digital to develop and manage new and existing mobile payment and commerce services for its customers."

HSBC Bank Oman launches secure key for internet banking and upgrades mobile banking app
"Having been the first bank to provide Internet Banking in the Sultanate, it is now one of the first banks in Oman to offer this service. Secure Key provides customers with an extra layer of security when they access their accounts online, bringing the best of HSBC's global capabilities and technical expertise to customers across the Sultanate in a simple, secure and efficient way. The bank has also upgraded its mobile banking app which is available for Android powered devices. With its new look and feel and simplified navigation, the new app allows customers' funds transfer facilities between their HSBC accounts, in addition to a better user experience."

Standard Bank closes WAP mobile banking
"Standard Bank is set to discontinue its Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) cellphone banking service from 8 July 2013. The bank notes that this service makes up only a fraction of its total mobile banking registered customer base, saying further that its app service has achieved 170,000 unique registered users since it launched a year ago. As at 31 December 2012, the bank claimed to have 11 million retail and business customers in South Africa."

Product review: Barclays’ CashSend, Hello Money
"The single biggest weapon in the mobile money transfer services (MMT) arsenal — EcoCash — is, however, effectively in the hands of a non-bank player and it has made significant inroads into traditional banking territory. While banks are expected to wage a sustained battle for a piece of the unbanked pie, it would be unwise for them to concentrate only — or mainly — on that without also coming up with strategies for protecting their existing customers from the onslaught of game-changing MMT products such as EcoCash. In their quest to craft appropriate strategic responses, banks have responded in basically two ways."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Sept 11

European Mobile Banking Users Get Smarter
"In the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) 30 million people accessed a bank accounts via their smartphone in July 2012, an increase of 85 percent compared to a year ago. The UK had the largest user base with 7.3 million smartphone owners accessing bank accounts in the month, nearly twice as many as just one year ago. Spain showed an even stronger increase with 113 percent more users making use of service compared to last year."

RBI cold to mobile wallet
"Reserve Bank of India deputy governor H R Khan on Wednesday said mobile telephone operators cannot be permitted to provide a cash-out facility from virtual wallets to customers, as such an activity would amount to ‘bypass banking’. However, they could do so if they acted as a business correspondent (BC) to a bank, he added. Recently, Airtel had launched m-wallet services that enable a customer to make utility payments and transfer money from one user to another. By the norms, mobile transactions are permitted only if attached to a specific use, such as paying electricity bills or shopping at retail establishments that accept mobile payments."

Getting mobile banking right
"M-PESA, Kenya’s popular mobile money transfer system via mobile phones, has inspired several similar models all over the world. Kenya’s mobile penetration plus the simplicity and effectiveness of M-PESA are reasons for its popularity – 68 percent of Kenyans use their mobile phones to transfer money. Soon, remittances from the UK to a dozen African countries should be possible via Barclays Bank’s pingit, a money transfer app. First made for BlackBerrys and Barclays’ customers, the app can now be downloaded by non-customers of Barclays with smartphones to send and receive money. UK residents will be able to beam money first to Kenya, then Botswana, South Africa, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Seychelles and Mauritius."

Keeping mobile banking secure in an unsecure world
"MOBILE phones today are multipurpose, so it is no surprise that the number of mobile banking users has doubled over the past three years. Most banks have worked to make it easy by optimising their websites for mobile devices, allowing you to check your account and make payments and transfers on the go. But while a number of mobile users find this incredibly convenient, they are still in the minority, representing about 12% of online adults."

Absa mobile banking a hit
"Banking group Absa says it has 3.6 million customers registered for mobile banking. The group says that growth patterns in the use of its mobile website have exceeded expectations seeing over 1.3 million page views each month. The bank has also seen year-on-year growth of 450% in mobile traffic, largely due to the portal’s redefined user experience, optimised for mobile visitors, it said."

USAID-backed mobile banking project to be launched in PH
"An officer of the United States Agency for International Development (US AID) will be in the country to launch a mobile banking project aimed at expanding Filipinos’ access to financial services. In a statement, the US Embassy in Manila said that USAID Chief Innovation Officer and Senior Counselor to the Administrator Maura O’Neill would be in the Philippines from September 9 to 12. 'O’Neill will lead the launch of USAID’s Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money (SIMM) project, which aims to give Filipinos easier and more efficient access to banking and payment services through mobile phones,' it said."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Feb 1

Mobile Banking Takes Off In Nigeria
"When he graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business with an MBA in 2005, Nigerian-born Tayo Oviosu said advice from the business world in his home country was loud and clear—'don't come back.' At that time, he explained, 'Nigeria was still about who you knew, and people did not yet properly value experience from abroad.'"

Cellulant to run Barclays M-Banking services
"Cellulant Kenya has sealed a deal to provide mobile banking services for Barclays Africa across its markets in the continent. In a venture dubbed, ‘One Africa’ Barclays Bank has entered into a deal with Cellulant to offer satisfying customer digital experience."

Emerging Markets Set Stage for Mobile Wallet Shopping
"Increased use of mobile money in Kenya has created a ripe environment for the use of near field communication (NFC) technology and other forms of mobile wallets which could be more widely accepted as payment systems compared to traditional ones such as credit cards. Adoption of the alternative payment systems could not only further slow the growth of the use of credit cards but could also see the creation of a new market for NFC-enabled devices including point of sale terminals and mobile phones in the country."

Is mobile banking demand on the climb?
"Canadians are increasingly embracing mobile computing but are we keeners to access our bank accounts from smartphones or tablets? The answer to that question depends on whom you talk to. From the customer's perspective, mobile banking is about convenience. For the banks, mobile banking is about providing self-service options and increasing the number of transactions per customer. Thus more transactions will take place but at a lower cost-per-transaction."

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Obopay, Warid Telecom Partner to Launch Warid Pesa Mobile Banking and Payment Service in Uganda
"Obopay, a mobile payments company headquartered in the US state of California, has partnered with Warid Telecom, a Pakistan-based postpaid cellular phone service provider, to launch a mobile banking and payment service in Uganda called Warid Pesa. Warid Pesa allows customers to transfer money to other people and merchants, request money, obtain statements, obtain account balances, change personal identity numbers and top up prepaid phones for themselves or others."

Citi Hungary mobile app with GPS puts branches/ATMs on the map
"Batara Sianturi, Citi Country Officer for Hungary, said, 'Citibank Mobile Banking allows customers to enjoy a superior, secure and smart banking experience anytime and anywhere in the world, including transactions on their Citibank accounts. With this new application, we have made another significant step in reaching our goal to become the world's and Hungary's leading digital bank.'"

New considerations for mobile banking strategies in Europe
"comScore and Telefónica Germany announced the results of "Connected Europe" Study which highlights how smartphones and tablets are shifting media consumption in Europe. With regards to mobile banking, the study shows that over 20% of smartphone users in Europe accessed their bank accounts with their mobile devices and 12% used electronic payment services to pay for goods from their mobile phone."

Mobile Banking 2012 to reach new heights
"Trade Conferences International is proud to bring you the second annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa conference and exhibition. It will be held at the Indaba Hotel, Fourways, from 13 to 15 March and promises to be all that the 2011 event was, and more."

International Mobile Banking Updates

Half of UK consumers to use mobile banking in three years
"Mobile banking has "come of age" and a majority of Britons will make it part of their everyday lives within three years, according to new research published today.

The study of 1,000 adults showed that the number of Britons who manage their money on their mobile phone has doubled in two years to almost 10% of the population today. This number will exceed 50% in the next few years as banks and retailers take advantage of the widespread adoption of smartphones, apps and 3G phone networks to deliver new services, the researchers found."

Report: 33% of mobile phone users have a smartphone
"The '2011 Cell Phone Consumer Attitudes Study' was released today and it was completed by Quorus Consulting and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association (CWTA). Over 2,400 Canadians were polled between March 14th and 27th, 2011 and reveals information on mobile phone usage, mobile banking and mobile giving. Here are a bunch of mobile stats for you:"

Mobile banking use creeps up in Europe driven by smartphones – comScore
"Mobile banking use is seeing steady growth in the EU's five largest economies (EU5), according to comScore, which on Friday revealed that the number of users across the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Italy who accessed their bank accounts via their handset reached 20 million in March.

The market research firm said that since it began measuring mobile banking last August it has seen a 15.4% rise in the number of users. Smartphone owners accounted for 70% of the mobile banking user base in March 2011, despite accounting for just 35% of total mobile handsets."

Mobile Banking Updates International - Feb 27

World Bank selects Michael Joseph to expand m-banking
"The former CEO of Kenya’s Safaricom, Michael Joseph, has been appointed as the advisor for World Bank on mobile payment services. Safaricom effectively created the market for mobile banking services when it launched the hugely successful M-PESA platform, which has been imitated in many other countries since then. Michael Joseph is joining the bank under its new fellowship program, which was set up to tap new expertise into its development work and strengthens its knowledge network."

European Treasurers Demand Mobile Banking Services, If Banks Can Find a Way
"Mobile banking has a strong adoption rate among European treasurers and there is a clear demand for wider access according to Treasury Strategies, Inc. In a report issued this week, the treasury consulting firm indicated there is a clear vision for the capabilities and functionality demanded by European treasurers, however, mobile services are not widely available.
Treasury Strategies surveyed 160 treasury organisations across Europe and learned that 19 percent of them are using mobile offerings."

Technology boosts bill payment
"THE use of technology in settling utility bills is taking root, saving consumers time and money. The latest application is the partnership between utility operator, the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) and uganda telecom in which consumers will directly pay for their bills using utl’s M-Sente mobile money platform or instruct their banks to remit money to the NWSC accounts. The service also offered by MTN mobile money and Airtel’s cash is used for pay TV subscription and shopping in selected in retail stores."

Coming Soon to a Branch Near You
"Remember a few years back when they said that the bank branch was dead? Well, it turns out they were wide of the mark. Internet and mobile banking may have grown and evolved, but the branch is holding its own in the multichannel mix, though its role is changing rapidly. Unlike yesteryear, customers don’t need to come to the bank for routine transactions. Internet, mobile, ATMs and phone banking can take care of most basic banking needs. This has allowed bank branches to focus more on giving customer advice and selling a wider range of products."

Barclaycard launches new mobile Web banking service
"The service, available across hundreds of handset models, means Barclaycard customers can access their accounts, check their balance and view payment or transaction history at any time by simply accessing the site through their mobile browser. In addition, the site integrates with the Barclaycard Freedom loyalty scheme to provide access to the latest offers from nearby retailers, using the latest geo-location technology."

Govt to table bill on mobile banking regulations
"A new law to regulate mobile banking in Tanzania is in the pipeline as part of efforts by the government to enhance compliance in the business. Since the introduction of the mobile banking services in 2008 in the country there was no proper law to guide and regulate the m-banking despite its tremendous growth and dynamism. And analysts are questioning the strictness of the existing laws and regulations to prevent any possible illicit activity such as money laundering and terrorism financing that might engulf the mushrooming mobile phone-based transactions."

Nuru Int’l, M-PESA to promote Microfinance Mobile Banking in rural Kenya
"Microfinance Focus, February 25, 2011: US based social venture firm, Nuru International, is promoting innovative new technologies for mobile banking to increase access of basic financial services for rural households living in extreme poverty in Kuria, Kenya. The organization will work with Mifos cloud-based MIS and M-PESA mobile money transfer services to create a viable solution to some of the issues that persist in providing financial services in rural areas."