Do-it-yourself becomes new banking norm

"Your bank at your home at the click of a button. High speed internet, easy-touse smartphone apps and secure usage tools have made this possible, making more people shift to alternative channels of banking. For instance, in ING Vysya Bank, 80% of demand draft volumes now come through RTGS (real time gross settlement) and NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer). For HDFC Bank, 82% of all transactions originate through non-bank channels , with net banking and mobile banking accounting for 44% of all transactions." Continue Reading

Mobile Banking Updates - July 14

Allied Payment Network and Malauzai Software Expand Picture PayTM Solution as a Stand-Alone Mobile Bill Payment Application
"Allied Payment Network, a provider of online bill payment services to the financial industry, and Malauzai Software Inc., a provider of mobile banking SmartApps for community financial institutions, announced that Picture PayTM is now available to any financial institution as a stand-alone mobile bill payment solution, even those that use a different mobile banking provider. Picture Pay can now be implemented by any bank or credit union as a separate mobile application. The stand-alone Picture Pay solution is compatible with any core banking system or mobile platform and no technology integrations are required. The app can be live and in use by customers and members within 60 days of the project start date."

Yet another bank fee could be a pain in the app
"Al Falussy is on the go. A sales executive at lighting company Stan Deutsch Associates, the Long Island, N.Y., resident is a frequent user of his mobile banking app to get balance alerts, send money to employees and family, and deposit money from places where no branches are nearby. But if Falussy's bank of choice — JP Morgan Chase — started charging to use the app? He'd switch banks."

Why Mobile Banking Needs an Upgrade
"Mobile is often touted as banking's most efficient delivery channel. But gaps and glitches suggest that banks' mobile apps sometimes fail to deliver."

The mobile m-banking revolution is being led by consumers and reaching collections
"Bankers will undoubtedly take the credit for the advances in mobile banking, but should they? Who is really leading the mobile banking and collections revolution, asks Daniel Melo, a banking analytics consultant for Fico in Europe, Middle-east and Africa (EMEA). In my opinion the answer is consumers. It is the consumerisation of IT trend that is pushing banks to do more with the mobile channel. Consumers are rewarding tech savvy banks by paying overdue debts faster, accessing self-service options, and responding quickly to fraud alerts he says in this debt collection focused article."

5 Cool Tech Tools to Boost Efficiency, Service, Membership
"To enhance customer service, improve operational efficiency and entice new members, especially younger ones, credit unions of all sizes are tapping into new technology such as social media and rolling out cool tech tools such as mobile apps and video tellers. Yet, credit unions face challenges selecting from the plethora of products and providers entering the market. Tighter IT budgets make it imperative to find cost-effective solutions that engage members across multiple channels."

Consumer Reports: Save time, money with these bank perks
"Paying your bills and taking care of other banking chores is a pain. Even more painful: the fees you'll face if you don't do them when you need to. But here's good news from ShopSmart, the shopping magazine from the publisher of Consumer Reports: Banks have introduced five services that make those tasks easier and more rewarding."

Interview: Ian Bright of ING on the 2013 edition of the Mobile Banking & Social Media Survey
"The lead author of the ING International Surveys, ING senior economist Ian Bright, talks through some of the highlights of a major, new survey of 12,000 people on mobile banking and social media; A very revealing and quite enlightening piece that's worth sharing (and "Twitting" and "Facebooking")."

Banking goes mobile (with a few hitches)
"Dan Brower fished a much-awaited check from his mailbox but didn't have time to swing by his bank's branch. So the Kansas City resident fired up his 2-week-old iPhone, and with just a flick of his finger — disappointment. Commerce Bank's mobile banking application doesn't accept deposits."

Generations Bank Deploys First Mobile App
"Generations Bank ($264 million assets) has launched its first mobile app, mygenmobile.The app is powered by the partnership between Banno and ProfitStars®, a division of Jack Henry & Associates Inc.®. Seneca Falls, N.Y.-based Generations Bank launched mygenmobile in February and customer adoption is growing twice as fast as what the bank projected. Furthermore, usage is strong; in one month, half of the app's subscribers accessed it more than 10 times. The top 10 percent entered mygenmobile at least 45 times, the top 5 percent at least 60 times, and the top 1 percent at least 95 times."

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 - 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?"

Mobile Banking Updates - Mar 28

Mobile Banking Products Today: A Look at the Top 30 Banking Institutions
"For years, the promise of mobile banking had been ahead of the reality of the technology, but this has changed with the adoption of Web-enabled mobile phones, specifically smartphones. Mobile banking is now a high priority for the top U.S financial institutions, and investment in new mobile products and capabilities continues to grow at a rapid pace."

Hispanics Adopt Mobile Banking, Payments at Higher Rate
"Non-Hispanic black and Hispanic users represent a disproportionately high rate of adoption of mobile banking, finds a [pdf] March 2012 report from the Federal Reserve. While the former group makes up only 10.9% of mobile phone users, they account for 16.2% of mobile banking users. Similarly, Hispanic users, who make up 12.8% of all mobile phone users, represent 17.1% share of those using mobile banking."

30pc of mobile banking apps offer strong security: study
"Although mobile banking continues to gain traction with consumers, a large chunk of the world’s top banks have not equipped their applications with substantial security, according to a report from MyPrivateBanking. In the “Mobile apps in banking” MyPrivateBanking report, the researcher looked at how mobile banking apps are stacking up at a global level for financial institutions. Although the need is there, some financial institutions are not making the cut with their mobile efforts."

Leak in ING Mobile Banking app
"Dutch security researcher has found a communication error between Android smartphones and the bank was poorly protected The Mobile Banking app of the ING bank has been for months vulnerable to abuse. Bart Jacobs, professor of Computer Security at the Radboud University, was surprised. "It's a disgrace that this error was made. This is a very basic security which is not thought of. This is why the ING in security circles laughed hard."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 28

African Lessons in Mobile Commerce
"There is a frequent assumption that, with technology, Africa always has to learn from more developed countries. But what if it is actually leading the way? Perhaps it has lessons to give rather than to receive. Two newly-published reports on electronic cash, one from Forrester sponsored by PayPal, and another from A.B.I. are outlined in The Register. While in developed countries companies continue to debate when or whether people will use cellphones instead of cash for everyday transactions, in Africa it is already happening. How are they making it work?"

Mobile banking fraudster held; police unearth loopholes
"In a breakthrough related to mobile banking fraud case, Kohima police arrested one person who allegedly managed to squeeze out few lakhs of rupees through fraudulent means (via mobile banking service). Police, who cracked the case last week, arrested Mhao Yanthan (27) a college drop out, resident of Bayavu following a complaint from a prominent Kohima businessman. The victim said an amount of Rs 1.5 lakh was withdrawn from his SBI account by some person(s) without his knowledge."

Mexico dials up new market for cell phone banking
"As if wireless connections, global positioning systems and apps for everything under the sun weren’t enough, cell phones in Mexico are adding another trick to the trade: cellular banking. A new law permitting mobile banking services by cell phone went into effect here in August, swinging open the door to a massive new market for the banking and communications industries."

BPI unveils first mobile banking platform for businesses
"Businesses today need efficient cash management solutions that allow businessmen to dispose of financial bottlenecks by viewing and approving financial transactions on the go. This was the principle that gave birth to the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI) latest innovation for businesses which it officially unveiled recently—the BPI ExpressLink Mobile."

French bank and carrier team up to bring mobile payments to market
"French banking group BNP Paribas has launched BNP Paribas Mobile, a suite of mobile banking and payments services. BNP Paribas Mobile is the result of a strategic partnership set up in July between the banking group and mobile network operator Orange. The new service includes:"

Smarter than a smartphone?
"Communicating through radio link has come a long way since World War II. With voice calls, text messages, mobile internet access and built-in cameras, today’s smartphone is already a remarkable all-in-one handheld computer — but its potential could be even greater in the developing world. This is particularly true in banking. Asia’s fragmented payments infrastructure and large unbanked population mean that millions lack even limited access to branch-based banking, but rising mobile penetration is creating new options for person-to-person payments."

Mobile banking rises among youth
"Nearly half of Canadian smartphone users, or 49 per cent, are expected to do banking from their devices in the next year or two, a new survey from ING Direct says. In a release, ING said the number reaches 64 per cent when looking at smartphone users between 18 and 34 years old."

Visa is Tapping Huge Growth in Mobile Banking Volumes in Africa
"Earlier this year, Visa (NYSE:V) acquired Fundamo, a leading provider of mobile services for financial institutions and mobile network providers in developing countries mostly in Africa and the Middle East (See Visa Furthers Mobile Banking Push by Acquiring Fundamo). Leveraging its investment in Fundamo, Visa is creating prepaid accounts linked to mobile phones across Africa and the Middle East as the company aims to capture transactions from a majority of people in these regions who are still unbanked or under-banked."

Comparison: Zimbabwe’s mobile banking services transacting fees
"In Zimbabwe, those in tech (and banking) will remember 2011 as the year of mobile banking. Not in the sense of the use of mobile banking services by Zimbabweans, but more that it’s the year almost every financial institution and all mobile operators launched. One of the issues that have slowed adoption (or at least that discouraged some of us) is the cost of transacting. Last month for example, we compared the transacting costs of EcoCash to Safaricom’s M-PESA in Kenya and the conclusions we drew were that EcoCash was priced quite high."

International Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 21

Visa, Fundamo unveil emerging markets MCommerce product
"Visa, the world’s largest credit and debit card network, has unveiled a new product that allows people to access a prepaid account through their mobile phone. The product, which appears to be nameless, was developed in conjunction with Fundamo, a leading South African mobile money platform bought out by Visa for $110m earlier this year."

Global Banks Offer Surprisingly Few Good Mobile Apps
"The mobile applications of Deutsche Bank and the French bank Caisse d'Epargne come out as winners in a benchmarking of a total of almost 200 mobile apps, offered by the world´s top 50 banks (see table below). In the MyPrivateBanking survey Deutsche Bank’s apps scored especially well for the comprehensive content and the integration with other online media like Facebook, Twitter and the bank’s own website."

Mobile banking on the rise among young Canadians
"Nearly half of Canadian smartphone users, or 49 per cent, are expected to do banking from their devices in the next year or two, a new survey from ING Direct says. In a release, ING said that number reaches 64 per cent when looking at smartphone users between 18 and 34 years old."

Rural Women Banking By Mobile Phone
"Collecting the monthly subscriptions for her co-operative has always been a headache for Thelma Nare, 41. This is because Nare lives in Tshitshi, Plumtree in rural Zimbabwe, about 60 kilometres away from the humdrum of the nearest town centre where banks are located."

Bank Lets Customers Pay Friends By Bumping iPhones

"ING Direct customers can now transfer payments to friends with the bump of a cellphone — no account numbers needed.

The bank released an updated version of its iPhone app [iTunes link] on Wednesday morning that integrates an API from Bump Technologies, a startup that makes it easy to transfer information between phones by tapping them together.

Previously Bump’s technology has been used to exchange contact information, photos and music between users. This is the first time that a bank has leveraged it for person-to-person payments." >> Read More

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 28

30 Most Popular iPad Apps from U.S. Banks and Other Financial Services Companies
"Apple tweaked its propriety algorithm that ranks apps in terms of popularity (Cnet article). Evidently the changes impacted overall ranks, but had little or no impact on intra-category ranks.

That holds true with my casual observations within the Finance category. Regardless, it seemed like a good time to visit the App Store and document which financial iPad apps are currently most popular (see Table below)."

Multiple mobile payments models evolving, making an impact: panel
"A CTIA panel that included executives from JPMorgan Chase and Visa Inc. outlined various evolving mobile payments mechanisms that are having an impact, from SMS and applications to carrier billing and near field communication."

ING DIRECT launches mobile banking App on the new BlackBerry PlayBook
"ING DIRECT Canada has once again made it easier for clients to save anytime, anywhere, with the addition of a BlackBerry PlayBook App to its suite of mobile banking applications. ING DIRECT was the first bank in Canada to offer a BlackBerry App, iPhone App and mobile website simultaneously last year, and has since added iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7 Apps."

The 5 Most Popular Banking Apps for Your Phone
"What a difference a few years can make. Before the iPhone's ubiquitous 2007 launch, the hottest trend in banking was online bill pay. Few people (and fewer banks) had even heard of banking by phone. But as smartphones become a greater part of our daily life -- and as our daily life demands even greater efficiency -- mobile banking is prepping for its moment in the spotlight."

Monster Offers to Unveil Daily Deal Industry’s First End-to-End Mobile Banking Solution
"Monster Offers, a leading Mobile Banking solutions provider and Daily Deal aggregator, announced its strategic vision to help local consumers find relevant daily deals, make those deals extremely easy-to-buy, and provide accurate and detailed data analytics to the Daily Deal industry.

Leveraging its recent exclusive worldwide agreement with Zala, Monster Offers will deploy a series of consumer and business banking solutions under a newly formed subsidiary this quarter. These solutions will be available on more than 150 approved handsets including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Nokia. Users will also be issued a Visa or MasterCard integrated with their deal redemption account."

Mobile Banking Updates - Jan 4

Banks Rolling Out Mobile Apps For Small Business Users
"A growing number of Connecticut banks are adopting mobile banking applications as they compete for younger depositors and customers — especially small business owners — who demand more ease of service on their hand-held devices. Citizens Bank, for example, just launched one of the first mobile banking applications in the Northeast targeted specifically at small business owners. It allows users to manage their cash and payments, approve pending transactions, view account history and transaction details, and receive alerts and bank mail."

Mobile-banking, a springboard for new heights
"K Mahmood Sattar, chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB) said the new year will see lot of positive changes in the country's banking sector with launching of mobile-based banking. 'I hope, country's banking sector will be benefitted to a large extent in the new year with our strong efforts on fortification of the theme 'financial inclusion' covering the teeming millions through mobile phones.'"

BBVA Compass Launches Native iPad Application
"BBVA Compass today announced the launch of a native iPad™ application that marks the first U.S. mobile banking application that visually goes beyond the traditional on-line banking interface of the few other iPad banking applications. The BBVA Compass Mobile Banking (PD) was released on Dec. 23, just in time for the Christmas holiday shopping season. In addition to the new iPad application, BBVA Compass also offers native mobile banking applications for Android™, BlackBerry® and iPhone™ users. Each of the applications for these mobile devices was built in house to provide greater flexibility and functionality."

RBC introduces a very robust mobile banking app for multiple platforms
"I had the opportunity to chat today with James McGuire and the folks at RBC today about their new mobile app. I had already picked up the iphone version when it was launched Friday, and today James, Eddy and Jill took us through the Blackberry version."

ING Direct's mobile banking apps help keep bank online-only
"ING Direct's mobile banking and investing system went live in July on the iPhone and other devices, and its early success has helped to reaffirm the bank's decision not to build physical banks, its CIO said recently. 'We will never build physical banks,' said ING Direct CIO Rudy Wolfs in an interview. 'Our cost advantage [without buildings] is great. We have great rates and virtually no fees.'"

Alpine Bank Deploys Diebold Mobile Banking
"Alpine Bank of Grand Junction, Colo., ($2.7 billion in assets) has deployed Diebold's MobiTransact hosted mobile banking platform. The bank says it selected the service to remain competitive with larger financial institutions and because of its flexibility, for instance in including bill payment. MobiTransact provides text and browser support to a variety of mobile devices, rivaling Alpine's competitors whose offerings are Web-only versions of mobile banking, which require an online account. With MobiTransact, Alpine Bank can provide its customers immediate access to their accounts without requiring an online banking account."

Mobile Remote Deposit Tools Set to Capture a Wider Market
"For all the hullabaloo that mobile remote deposit capture generated this year, the availability of the service has been limited to a few banks' customers. But that is expected to change in 2011 as banks seek to further differentiate their mobile and online services. In pushing mobile, banks are challenged to come up with uses that show their customers how such services are unique and whether they are safe, said Mark Schwanhausser, a senior analyst at Javelin Strategy and Research in Pleasanton, Calif."

Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 10

Smartphone apps popular but vulnerable
"Interest rates aside, the new battleground for Australia’s banks is mobile banking, with financial institutions falling over one another in the race to deliver new apps for different mobile computer platforms such as the iPad and smartphones. Speakers at the 5th Future of Banking and Financial Services conference, held in Sydney last week, repeatedly stressed the growing importance of mobile banking."

Citizens Financial Group Announces Launch of accessMOBILE, Landmark Mobile Banking Application for Business Customers
"Citizens Financial Group, Inc. today announced that it is launching accessMOBILE, a mobile banking application that for the first time empowers Citizens Bank and Charter One business customers to manage their cash and payments from a mobile device."

Redstone Federal Credit Union rolls out mobile banking service
"Redstone Federal Credit Union has rolled out their new “Mobile Banking” service. This is an SMS Text messaging service that will allow you to do things like check your balance and get previous transaction amounts. The only drawback to the previous transactions command is that it only lists dates and amounts, no point of sale description or information."

ING finds mobile branch-in-pocket builds brand engagement, customer loyalty
"An executive of banking giant ING Direct USA said that mobile helps its customers interact with the brand while on the go and supports its overall mission of saving consumers time and money. This summer ING Direct and its brokerage subsidiary ING ShareBuilder launched mobile applications available on various device platforms, including Google’s Android, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone, iPod touch and iPad."

Mobile Banking and ING on YouTube

Mobile Banking Updates - Jun 5

Dark Side Arises for Phone Apps
"As smartphones and the applications that run on them take off, businesses and consumers are beginning to confront a budding dark side of the wireless Web. Online stores run by Apple Inc., Google Inc. and others now offer more than 250,000 applications such as games and financial tools. The apps have been a key selling point for devices like Apple's iPhone. But concerns are growing among security researchers and government officials that efforts to keep out malicious software aren't keeping up with the apps craze.

In one incident, Google pulled dozens of unauthorized mobile-banking apps from its Android Market in December. The apps, priced at $1.50, were made by a developer named "09Droid" and claimed to offer access to accounts at many of the world's banks. Google said it pulled the apps because they violated its trademark policy."

Western Union reveals international mobile strategy
"Money-transfer giant Western Union discussed its mobile strategy and the hottest trends in the mobile financial services ecosystem in an exclusive interview. Earlier this year, Western Union extended the reach and accessibility of its money-transfer services with mobile finance initiatives in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia (see story). Last year, the company tapped Sybase 365 to launch initiatives to interact with and engage its consumers with SMS-based notifications and mobile marketing campaigns (see story)."

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."

More Consumers Embracing Online Banking, Bill Pay
"Fiserv’s survey also looked at the growth in such new areas as mobile banking and person-to-person payments. This year, 30% of respondents with mobile phones conducted one or more banking services using their phones, up from 23% who did in 2008. The percentage of mobile-banking users who receive or pay bills using their phones jumped to 30% this year from 18% in 2008, primarily because more consumers have smartphones, Fiserv says."

Monitise Americas Offers Enhanced Mobile Banking to Financial Institutions Across the US
"Monitise Americas, the leading mobile banking and technology company, is delighted PyraMax Bank has launched an iPhone app powered by its technology. The release heralds a turning point in the mobile banking industry. Until now, bank-branded iPhone applications have been the privilege only of big-spending, large banks. However, thanks to its world-class technology, Monitise Americas can now build iPhone apps quickly and cost effectively, enabling mobile banking for many more financial institutions than previously possible."

US mobile payments adoption at tipping point: new Obopay president
"Mobile payments have reached a tipping point in terms of consumer adoption in the United States, according to mobile banking and payments provider Obopay Inc.’s newly appointed president. Last week Obopay announced the appointment of Deepak Chandnani as Mumbai, India-based president of Obopay, which is a newly created position. In this new role, Mr. Chandnani will lead global operations for Obopay across all markets and geographies and continue to report to Carol Realini, founder/CEO of the company."

ING Mobile Banking Promo
"We recently introduced a mobile banking application for the BlackBerry and iPhone. It’s a simple, relevant & innovative way to put banking in your pocket. We think we can leverage this cool new app to reiterate that ING DIRECT is an unconventional-but-relevant, hip, witty and innovative brand.

The task: To create a :30 online video that introduces, with pizzazz, our Mobile Banking application—and shows that ING DIRECT has once again revolutionized banking."

U.S. Banks are Losing The Tech Creativity War
"Brett King is a Hong Kong-based financial services technology consultant, president of his own firm User Strategy, and a firm believer that American banks are behind the eight-ball when it comes to the innovation imperative.

You're going to start to see this payments space quickly morph around the mobile device. The banks really just have to get on board with this, and give incentives and encourage customers to use this. They say, 'Well, we're worried about security and all those sorts of things.'

The reality is this is going to happen with or without them, so it's better to think about how to get this stuff done rather than say, 'We prefer to stick with checks because that's what we're comfortable with.'"

Reaching for Apps Beyond Banking
"They're one of the last top 10 North American banks to launch mobile banking, but TD Bank is hoping to leapfrog the competition somewhat with plans to offer not just mobile banking capabilities but also a range of other ancillary services via the smartphone platform.

Joan Dal Bianco, vp of the online channel at TD, sees a revolution in the potential of smart phones to change how consumers access banking-particularly when banks are able to look beyond providing only traditional financial services. 'Mobile will do more than the Internet did, and do it more rapidly,' says Dal Bianco. 'It took the Web a decade to take hold. Mobile will take just another year or two.'"

The Bank of Santa Barbara Selects Premier(R) from Fiserv
"Fiserv, Inc., the leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that The Bank of Santa Barbara, a full-service commercial bank focused on serving professionals, non-profit organizations and small- to medium-sized businesses, has selected the Premier(R) bank platform from Fiserv to provide an enterprise-wide technology solution. The bank's new partnership with Fiserv will deliver comprehensive integrated solutions, including account processing, electronic banking and bill pay."

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 4

ING Direct launches BlackBerry, iPhone app
"ING Direct has launched a free mobile-banking application for the BlackBerry and iPhone, the direct bank announced Wednesday. The app will allow users to check their account balances and transfer funds on the go using wireless 3G technology. 'Offering our clients the option of saving anywhere is an exciting frontier,' ING Direct Canada President and CEO Peter Aceto said in a statement. IDC Canada senior analyst Rob Burbach recently told QMI that mobile banking would be a natural progression for a company like ING since they have no retail branches and account holders are already accustomed to moving their money online."

The Keynote Benchmark
"Benchmark is an online publication from Keynote Systems. Designed for every executive and manager who is involved in online strategy and execution, Benchmark, features articles and interviews that help executives stay abreast of trends impacting the online customer experience today."

PayFlex® Announces First Mobile Application for HSAs and FSAs
"PayFlex Systems USA, Inc. (“PayFlex”), a leading administrator for employee benefit programs, today announced the launch of its broad mobile application platform, PayFlex Mobile, introducing the first of several mobile-specific offerings planned by PayFlex. This initial application will allow consumers to access and act on all elements of their personalized healthcare financial benefits including Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), Flexible Spending Accounts, (FSAs), and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs) from anywhere and at anytime. The application will initially be piloted at several large PayFlex customers and is expected to be generally available in the early summer of 2010."

Jack Henry & Associates Announces 250th Mobile Banking Customer
"Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq: JKHY), a leading provider of integrated technology solutions and data processing services for financial institutions, today announced that goDough, its state-of-the-art mobile banking solution, has been selected by 250 of its core financial institution clients. goDough was introduced in November 2007 and now supports more than 63,000 subscribers of 63 mobile service carriers.

goDough, the browser-based solution developed internally by Jack Henry & Associates, is compatible with any Web-enabled mobile device regardless of make or model and all mobile phone carriers. This proprietary solution enables bank customers and credit union members to conduct traditional in-branch and online transactions such as balance inquiries, funds transfers between accounts, and transaction viewing; and supports all account types, including checking, certificates-of-deposit, money markets, loans, and lines-of-credit. goDough also enables users to receive designated alerts and make mobile payments to entities other than the offering financial institution."