Mobile Banking Updates International - Jan 18

Mobile Technology Creates New Opportunities In Post-Earthquake Haiti
"The one year anniversary of the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake has come and gone. While the efficiency of Haiti's relief and rebuilding efforts have been criticized by politicians and citizens alike, there is a powerful tool that has brought much assistance to the Haitian people and whose market for change continues to expand: the cellular phone."

SBI-Airtel form JV for mobile banking
"SBI and Airtel have joined hands to form a new company that will offer mobile banking services. The initiative is aimed at financial inclusion of the un-banked population in the country. Under the new initiative Airtel outlets and retailers will serve as business correspondents (BC) of SBI (State Bank of India) and the bank's customers will be able to deposit and withdraw money from their accounts at Airtel outlets. They will also be able to transfer this money to others electronically as well from Airtel and SBI outlets. Services in the near future will include loans, insurance, credit cards and purchase transactions."

Deepak Chandnani promoted as Obopay global CEO
"Obopay, a leading mobile banking and payment provider, today announced the promotion of its President, Deepak Chandnani as CEO of Obopay, Inc. Founder and CEO, Carol Realini will assume the new role of Executive Chairman. In his new role, Chandnani will focus on the company’s significant growth in size and geographic scope, while Realini will continue her focus on corporate strategy as well as furthering Obopay’s corporate vision: evangelizing the need for mobile money and building its widespread adoption throughout the world."

Half of Tanzania’s population on phone
"A research team at the University of Dar es Salaam says half the Tanzanian population is currently hooked to mobile phones, and that it takes just a handset to run a business in the country. Led by Prof Ophelia Mascarenhas of the university, there is no need for offices, visiting cards or huge capital investments."

Gates Foundation, USAID Give Prize for Haiti Help
"A $2.5 million prize to get Haitians buying, selling and banking with their mobile phones didn't push the winner into the mobile banking business, but the Gates Foundation's incentive did make the company move much faster. 'It was a real gruesome race,' Digicel CEO Maarten Boute after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Monday that his company had won the money for being first to establish cell phone banking in Haiti in less than six months."

Mobile Banking Updates - Jun 13

Why Android Is Attractive for Alt-Payment Companies
"A growing number of mobile payments companies are promoting systems that charge purchases to users' phone bills rather than credit or debit cards. Since Apple Inc.'s tight control of the iPhone precludes this approach, the payments firms are gravitating to Google Inc.'s Android — which itself is emerging as the handset of choice for the consumers most likely to use their phones for banking and financial activities.

On Wednesday, Zong Inc. and Boku Inc. each introduced tools that let software developers weave their payments systems into applications for Android phones. These systems could be used, for example, by a video game developer to sell additional levels to someone who has downloaded a game that was given away for free."

Is mobile banking growing or not? The answer is yes.
"For statisticians (or accountants) that like to manipulate numbers, the mixed success of mobile banking is a field of dreams. If I want the appear to be rosy Javelin has many fresh quantitative stats to pull from:

* Rising m-banking use among advanced platforms (Android and iPhone!)
* Strong ROI metrics such as impact on new-customer turnover and fraud
* High interest among desirable or emerging demographic populations"

Sybase 365 Expands Global Mobile Banking Portfolio With Ixe Bank Partnership
"Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc., the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce services, today announced its partnership with Ixe Bank, one of Mexico's leading financial institutions, to launch 'Ixe Net Movil', the Bank's new multi-channel mBanking service.

'In working with Sybase 365, Ixe Bank can now enable a wide range of SMS, mobile browser and rich client banking applications, allowing our customers to decide when and where they want to bank,' said Enrique Perezalonso, Director of Marketing and New Product Development for Ixe Bank. 'Offering our customers outstanding service is a core part of our mission, and with Sybase 365 as a trusted partner we are now able to take our banking service directly to our customers.'"

Gates backs cell phone banking for Haiti
"The massive earthquake in Haiti in January destroyed a third or more of the country's banks and ATMs, but even before the quake fewer than 1 in 10 Haitians had ever used a traditional bank.
Aiming to broaden access to financial institutions and aid in the recovery, the Gates Foundation and the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Tuesday a plan to back up to $10 million in funding to spur the use of cell phone banking, an approach that has worked elsewhere to bring financing to the poor."

Mobile Banking Updates - Oct 30

Motorola's Razr Rules the Mobile Web
"Apple's iPhone is currently the biggest of big deals. The No. 1 phone, right? Think again. Know which well-known phone outsells the iPhone in the U.S.? I'll give you a big hint: This "other" phone has been around for some time, and more people use it to access the mobile Web than any other handset around. Give up? Say hello again to Motorola's Razr phone."

MasterCard Mobile Provides Over-the-Air Provisioning for Mobile
"MasterCard has announced the launch of a MasterCard Over-the-Air Provisioning Service, calling it "the first program of its kind that enables issuers to perform over-the-air personalization of their cardholders' mobile devices in an easy, one-step process."

Mobile Banking Developer Gets Development Funding
"­PlaNet Finance has received a US$1.7 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support a Mobile Banking Project to provide microfinance clients with enhanced access to banking services. The project was co-developed with mobile operator, Orange."

Prepaid Will Rely On Mobile Banking For Info
"Person-to-person funds transfers and mobile payments at the point of sale are still a ways off in the United States. But mobile banking has a role to play for consumers, according to speakers at SourceMedia’s ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Chandler, Ariz. (SourceMedia publishes Prepaid Trends.)"

SK Telecom's Mobile Finance Technology Goes Global
"SK Telecom has launched the first commercial mobile financial services with Citibank Hong Kong through Mobile Money Ventures, its joint venture with Citi. Buoyed by the growing market of mobile bankers' support from telco operators and handset manufacturers, the company expects its mobile finance technology to take off in the global market."