Mobile Payments - June 3

CR Money Minute: A better mobile wallet?
"More than 18 months ago, Google Wallet was launched on the Sprint cellular network amid hoopla that payment-by-smart-phone technology at cashiers nationwide would replace your plastic debit and credit cards. Since then, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless have begun testing their own Isis Mobile Wallet, and other companies have also jumped on the bandwagon."

Mobile Payments: Is Your Bank Putting Its Best Foot Forward?
"As mobile communication becomes more and more affordable and user-friendly, mobile banking is gaining increasing acceptance globally. With innovations such as Near Field Communications (NFC), mobile wallets, virtual personal financial assistants and a slew of new and customized applications being developed and adopted, the mobile banking landscape is undergoing a rapid and irreversible transformation, to an extent that monetary transactions are no longer restricted to banks and traditional financial institutions."

Opportunity as mobile payments show huge growth
"IT research company Gartner projects that global mobile transaction growth will average 42 per cent per year between 2011 and 2016, with the market estimated to be worth $617bn (£404.8bn), with 448m users, by 2016. There is a plethora of different technologies and standards used in a globally fragmented market, with big regional differences. Probably the biggest difference is between developed and emerging markets. For developed markets, the benefits are based around convenience, with customers able to make faster transactions, together with reduced transaction costs for retailers – mobile payments are generally cheaper than existing chip-and-pin transactions."

Malauzai: Picture Pay Besting Mobile Bill Pay
"The big news in the latest mobile banking usage data dump from Austin, Texas, apps developer Malauzai is that mobile picture pay – paying bills by snapping a photo – is on the rise, even surpassing usage of mobile bill pay in some institutions. Robb Gaynor, chief technology officer at Malauzai, said in an interview that 5% of its active end-users give picture pay a try within 90 days of a financial institution’s launch of the service. The technology is catching on."

Brits trust banks to be mobile payment providers
"Consumers have a love-hate relationship with their banks. However, new research from UK-based payment systems firm VocaLink, suggests that when it comes to mobile payments, it's the banks to whom consumers look to provide the service."

U.S. Bank releases iPhone mobile payment case in Minnesota
"Minnesota U.S. Bank customers can now get an iPhone case that turns the smartphone into a touch-free, mobile payment device. U.S. Bancorp tested the Go Mobile device earlier this year in Salt Lake City and Portland, Ore. Now it's available in Minnesota and other major U.S. Bank markets like Ohio, U.S. Bank Payment Services Chief Innovation Officer Dominic Venturo told the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal in an interview."

What do consumers really want from mobile payments asks VocaLink
"New research from international payments provider VocaLink reveals that growing smartphone ownership is driving the mobile payments revolution in the UK. 60% of UK consumers now own a smartphone and are using them as payment devices on the move. Whilst the appetite for mobile banking and payments in the UK is growing with half the population either already using mobile payments (20%) or interested in doing so (30%), uptake is rapidly gaining momentum amongst the future generation."

Mobile Banking Security - Nov 20

Smart Phone Malware Risk Rises
"Mobile malware is exploding at a time when financial institutions are increasing their mobile banking offerings and consumers are making broader use of smart phones and tablets. A recent study from software and security firm Trend Micro finds that mobile malware attacks hit record numbers in the third quarter, with Android devices as the primary targets."

The Dangers of Mobile Banking
"Advertising for mobile banking has become as popular as traditional banking commercials. Customers like local makeup artist Alisha Cooper are increasingly going mobile these days and for good reasons. 'I travel as a licensed makeup artist and so I do work in North Carolina sometimes in Arizona, Atlanta different places, so for me not carrying a machine, I have to have my cell phone,' says Cooper."

BBB's 6 Tips For Safe Mobile Banking
"Banks have been promoting the use of mobile phones and other devices for banking for several years now, but what happens if you lose your phone? Can a thief empty your bank account by tapping a smartphone against yours? With mobile banking one of the fastest-growing trends in the financial sector, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises consumers to take precautions to keep their money safe, including installing antivirus software on phones. Users should take many of the same precautions they would when banking online with a personal computer."

Mobile Security Revenue for Banks?
"Increased interest in mobile wallets and growing smart phone use are paving the way for more mobile payments, and now is the time for banking institutions to identify what role they'll play in this emerging space. Javelin analyst Alphonse Pascual, who focuses on financial fraud and security, says institutions can't ignore mobile payments, despite the somewhat peripheral role they play. Banks and credit unions that sit by the sidelines will miss out on revenue-generating opportunities, he says."

How Secure Is Mobile Banking?
"Whether you’re paying for that latte with Google Wallet or simply checking your balances, mobile banking is the wave of the future. And with an estimated 30 million people using some form of mobile banking, it’s very much the present, too. With advantages like being able to check balances, depositing checks via text message, monitoring investments, paying for goods and much more — all whenever you like, wherever you are and on a diversity of platforms — this shouldn’t really come as a surprise."

Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 18

A revolution coming in corporate mobile banking
"The corporate mobile banking market has matured quite a bit, and a slew of new devices, cheaper data plans, and faster networks are upon us. Business mobile users have the opportunity to take advantage of rich and powerful mobile banking services, provided their bank has an offering, according to a recent report from Celent. Key findings of the report include:"

Emerging Markets Mobile Banking Runs Ahead Of Google Wallet
"Mobile phones have changed banking faster in emerging markets than in developed countries, so they may provide an indication of where hot tech like the Google Wallet might go if it ever catches up with South Africa, Kenya or Bangladesh. Banks in emerging markets are using mobile phones to extend their services to existing customers and to provide banking connectivity to individuals with no previous banking relationship."

Challenges for lenders with mobile banking
"Banks must keep up with technological developments to make it easier for their customers to use mobile banking, while regulators have to overcome concerns about privacy and security, says professional services firm KPMG. In a new report that has implications for SA’s banks, KPMG said last week that the rapid adoption of mobile banking was changing relationships among banks, retailers and telecoms providers."

IBC BANK ENHANCES ITS MOBILE BANKING OFFERINGS
"IBC Bank has expanded its mobile banking program by adding Bill Pay functionality to IBC Mobile. The service is accessible via www.ibc.mobi from any device that can connect to the Web -- including all Androids, Blackberries, and iPhones. The added technology launched this week and is a convenient alternative to the downloadable apps currently available that are uniquely designed for the operating systems of specific mobile devices."

Mobile banking expands to making deposits by smartphone
"He doesn't have a jet pack, but Julian Figgins does have technology that was only dreamed of a few years ago, and it helps him do his chores faster. When Figgins has a check to deposit, the West Sacramento resident doesn't lumber to the nearest bank. Instead, he snaps a picture of the check with his smartphone, taps the screen a few times, and the check is deposited to his account."

BISP disburses Rs 1.16b through mobile banking
"Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) has disbursed an amount of Rs 1.16 billion through Mobile Phone Banking, ensuring faster and more reliable cash transfer to its beneficiaries. Mobile Phone Banking introduced for the first time in the history of the country was initially launched in the districts including Larkana, Battagram, Layyah, Rawalpindi and Islamabad."