Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 29

Qualcomm’s Mobile Payment Strategy: Fix the “Costanza Wallet”
"While Qualcomm for many is synonymous with wireless, the company acquired Atlanta-based mobile banking startup Firethorn two years ago with an eye to also becoming a major player in the mobile payment space. More importantly, it acquired Firethorn founder Tripp Rackley — the man it hopes will make Qualcomm the Western Union of mobile."

MasterCard Canada Brings PayPass to BlackBerry Smartphones
"In partnership with BMO Bank of Montreal and Research In Motion, MasterCard Canada has announced that it is bringing mobile payments to BlackBerry smartphones through its MasterCard PayPass 'tap and go' contactless payment technology. MasterCard is beginning a four-month trial in which participants will use PayPass Mobile Tag-equipped BlackBerry smartphones to make purchases at any of the 8,500 merchant locations in Canada that accept MasterCard PayPass. As announced, the trial is contactless sticker-based and doesn't appear to include any application integration with the Blackberry handsets."

Banks Cooperate for Smart Phone Banking
"Local banks are working together to develop a standard system for smart phone-based mobile banking services prior to the upcoming debut here of Apple's iPhone, which continues to lead the global smart phone market.

According to industry sources, the Mobile Financial Council (MFC) plans to introduce a standard system for mobile banking services for smart phones late this month. The MFC is a joint council formed by 17 banks and other financial services providers, and the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC)."

Money transfer to be No. 1 phone app in 2012
"We’ve talked before about how mobile banking is not only becoming more popular, but easier than ever. More and more people are putting aside their fears about transferring personal financial information via mobile networks in favor of convenience. Banks are responding by creating mobile applications that do everything from allowing members to check balances, transfer money between accounts, and even deposit checks. They’re also striving to make mobile banking as secure as possible. These advances, and probably to a larger degree, the fact that consumers use their cell phones nearly as much as their computers, have led information technology research company Gartner to predict that money transfer will be the most used type of phone application in 2012."

Digital Insight, MMV Partner on Mobile Banking
"Digital Insight has named Mobile Money Ventures, a joint technology launch by Citi and SK Telecom, as the online banker’s preferred mobile financial services provider."

Mobile Banking Updates - Nov 22

Mobile Money Ventures and CPNI Partner to Provide Financial Institutions Innovative Mobile Payments
"Mobile Money Ventures (MMV) and CPNI Inc. (CPNI) today announced they will be working together to offer financial institutions a comprehensive solution that integrates CPNI's mobile commerce solutions into MMV's mobile financial services platform. The multifaceted relationship will combine CPNI's PATsend(TM) remote mobile payment technology into MMV's next generation mobile platform, with the opportunity to integrate PATbuy(TM) mobile purchases in the next phase.

A leading global solutions provider, MMV's current offering enables consumers to handle all of their financial activities-banking, bill payments, stock trades, tracking and budgeting-on any mobile handset or wireless carrier. By incorporating PATsend, and in the subsequent stage PATbuy, into its existing platform, MMV will be able to provide turnkey solutions for financial institutions and increase the speed at which their customers can quickly begin making convenient remote mobile purchases and payments down the road."

Frost Unwraps Mobile Banking in Time for the Holidays
"Customers of Frost Bank will now be able to bank by mobile device through Frost Mobile, a new service unveiled just in time for the holidays. 'The best gift we can give our customers for the holidays is the convenience, ease and peace of mind of mobile banking,' said Bobby Berman, executive vice president. 'This will enable our customers to manage their finances anytime, anywhere, safely and securely.'"

Judge rejects AT&T's bid to pull Verizon ads
"A federal judge on Wednesday denied a request by AT&T to force competitor Verizon Wireless to pull its "There's a Map for That" commercials. But the judge scheduled a Dec. 16 hearing to give the AT&T attorneys another chance to make their case. AT&T filed the lawsuit in federal court in Atlanta earlier this month and asked for a temporary restraining order and a permanent injunction to stop the ads. It contends they are misleading and amount to deceptive trade practices."

MasterCard Connecting the Mobile Banking Dots
"In MasterCard Inc.'s vision of the future, mobile phones have become versatile financial tools that offer a broad range of payments capabilities. This week, the Purchase, N.Y., company took several steps that, together, demonstrate exactly how it plans to realize that vision. MasterCard announced initiatives that included payments projects in Norway and Brazil and plans to expand its existing person-to-person transfer service globally. Taken separately, they might look like incremental moves in discrete markets, but considered as a whole, they show how the company is starting to connect the dots required to make mobile financial services both widely available and easy to use."

Visa Mobile Banking App for Android Now Available For U.S. Bank Customers
"US Bank and Visa announced yesterday that the new Visa Mobile app for phones carrying the Google Android mobile operating system. Visa Mobile is the first mobile banking app to combine alerts, offers and a locator into one convenient app."

Make mobile banking pay its way - Clairmail Whitepaper

BAI Mobile Banking Announcements - Nov 4

ClairMail Signs Development and Deployment Agreement to Integrate Visa Mobile Services Into Its Mobile Banking Platform
"ClairMail, Inc., a leader in mobile banking and payment solutions, today announced that it has signed a development and deployment agreement with Visa Inc. (NYSE: V), the world's largest retail electronic payments network, that allows ClairMail to integrate Visa mobile services into the mobile banking and payments infrastructure that ClairMail provides to leading financial institutions.

ClairMail bank customers who are also Visa clients can take immediate advantage of Visa's mobile services by adding them to an existing mobile banking deployment and creating a more comprehensive mobile banking offering. Visa mobile services include applications that support mobile payments, tailored merchant offers, and near-real time transaction alerts and notifications."

Mobile Money Ventures to Help Digital Insight Deliver Next Generation Mobile Solutions
"Mobile Money Ventures (MMV), a leading global solutions provider of the next
generation of mobile financial services, announced today it is teaming up with
Digital Insight, the financial institutions division of Intuit Inc., to make
next generation mobile solutions more broadly available to financial
institutions. The agreement was announced today at the BAI Retail Delivery
conference in Boston.

'In today`s strained economy, Americans are looking to their bank or credit
union for help managing their finances,' said Albert Ko, senior vice president
of online financial management at Digital Insight. 'Working with MMV expands our
mobile capabilities to help financial institutions put more information in the
hands of end users, no matter where they are.'"

FIS Integrates PayPal for Global Person-to-Person Payments
"FIS has announced that it is integrating PayPal's person-to-person (P2P) payment system into the FIS online bill payment application for financial institutions. FIS says that 'by integrating paperless P2P functionality into its online bill payment application, FIS empowers banks and credit unions to simultaneously solve for a real consumer need and drive increased transaction activity at the online channel.

'Adding electronic person-to-person payments to our bill pay solution is the intersection of financial institutions` cost cutting objectives and consumers` desire to centralize their paperless transactions with their trusted bank or credit union,' said Frank D`Angelo, executive vice president, FIS Payment Solutions Group."

Fiserv Plans New Person-to-Person Payment Service
"Fiserv has announced plans for a new personal payments service that it says 'will enable individuals to quickly and easily send or receive money person-to-person using their existing online banking relationship. The service will be made available to the more than 3,100 financial institutions in the Fiserv online payment network, linking users with their friends, family, neighbors and colleagues.'

'Consumers are showing an increasing preference for managing their finances online, and it is natural for them to turn to their trusted financial institution for any payment service, whether it is a bill payment or a personal payment,' said Erich Litch, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Services, Fiserv. 'The personal payments service from Fiserv enables banks and credit unions to deliver an innovative online financial management tool, providing users with the convenient capability to pay anyone and deepening their relationship with the institution.'"

CU*Answers and Firethorn to Deliver Mobile Banking Services
"Firethorn Holdings, LLC, a Qualcomm company (Nasdaq: QCOM), and CU*Answers today announced that the credit union service organization has selected Firethorn's Mobile Banking application and SMS service for its more than 165 credit unions. CU*Answers represents more than 1.5 million members with more than $10 billion in credit union assets."

Mobile Money Ventures Collaborates with Citibank China

"Mobile Money Ventures, LLC (MMV), a leading global solutions provider of the next generation of mobile financial services, today announced it is continuing its string of successful deployments in the Asia Pacific region with the launch of a mobile banking solution in China with Citibank. Citi Mobile - the first offering of its kind in the country from a foreign financial institution - allows customers to access and manage their bank accounts using their phone's mobile browser.

'Citi Mobile is an extension of our commitment to bring our customers innovative services that truly enhance the banking experience,' said Anand Selva, Executive Vice President, Citibank (China) Co., Ltd. 'We're excited to work with MMV to give our customers the ability to securely manage their finances, regardless of time or location.'" >> Continue Reading

Small Business Mobile with MMV

I'm proud to announce that we have another FAAN Sponsor. Please check out the Mobile Money Ventures (MMV) ad on the right. On October 20th they're hosting a session on Small Business Mobile Banking in Chicago. >> Learn More

Summary of Interviews with Mobile Banking Vendors

It's official, I have now published the notes from all 8 of my mobile banking interviews. If you missed the beginning of the series and you're unsure what I'm referring to...please continue reading.

In July, to assist you with 2010 planning, I interviewed the CEO of nearly every mobile banking vendor in the U.S., and asked them a series of questions related to: pricing, ROI, security, adoption, the future of mobile banking and the iPhone. Then, during August and early September I began publishing the information.

CEOs of Mobile Banking

Scott Moeller (MShift)

Adam Clark (MCOM)

Pete Daffern (Clairmail)

Steve Kietz (MMV)

Tripp Rackley (Firethorn)

Lisa Stanton (Monitise)

Drew Sievers (mFoundry)

Cameron Franks (Sybase)

Interviews with Mobile Banking Vendors

I'm proud to announce that the Mobile Banking blog is now half way through the interviews with the top U.S. mobile banking vendors. Here's a recap in case you missed one of the articles:

Scott Moeller - MShift

Adam Clark - MCOM

Pete Daffern - Clairmail

Steve Kietz - Mobile Money Ventures (MMV)

And don't forget to check back over the next few weeks as the Mobile Banking blog will be publishing the interviews with Firethorn, Monitise, mFoundry and Sybase.

Mobile Banking Updates - Jun 28

Mobile Money Ventures Teams With Citibank To Launch First Browser-Based Mobile Banking Offering In The Philippines
"Mobile Money Ventures, LLC (MMV), a leading global solutions provider of the next generation of mobile financial services, today announced it has teamed up with Citibank to offer the first browser-based mobile banking solution of its kind in the Philippines. Citi Mobile Banking allows customers to securely manage their banking needs from their mobile handsets at any time and from any location."

AdMob Unveils New Research on Demographics and Behavioral Characteristics of iPhone and iPod touch Users
"AdMob, the world's largest and fastest growing mobile advertising platform, today released new research on the demographics and behavioral characteristics of iPhone and iPod touch users in the US. This research determined that while there are many similarities between users of the two devices, key differences in the demographic makeup of each group exist in areas such as age and household income."

A Financial Services Technology Group is Developing Standards for Mobile Payments

Mobile Banking Update: What's New from Bank of America?
"Bank of America was one of the first institutions to move toward mobile banking in a big way. Two years into the initiative, Doug Brown, SVPO of Mobile Product Development, discusses:
* Mobile trends at BoA;
* Security hurdles the institution has faced;
* Advice for other institutions now getting into mobile banking."

Japan's Influence on Mobile Banking in the U.S.?

In recent days, there have been numerous articles, references, and stories related to Japan and how they could influence the future of mobile banking and payments here in the U.S.

Specifically, here are a few of the ones that caught my attention:

Aug 8 - Many Inputs as Citi Thinks Mobile in the U.S. - American Banker
"In Japan, more people go on the Internet from mobile devices than from computers, Mr. Kietz said.

'The common wisdom is that what is happening in Japan today is going to be happening in the developed world two years from now,' he said. 'There are going to be more, cool phones available, and use of the mobile browser is going to increase substantially.'"

Aug 18 - Mitsubishi UFJ to buy California bank - International Herald Tribune
"Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of the largest banks in Japan, agreed Monday to buy the remaining part of UnionBanCal that it did not already own for about $3.5 billion.

The transaction values UnionBanCal, which owns Union Bank of California, one of the 25 largest banks in the United States, at about $10.1 billion.

Mitsubishi is trying to expand beyond its relatively stagnant home market as Japanese companies seek to broaden their presence overseas and take advantage of a weaker dollar."

Aug 19 - Japan's Mobile Tech Too Quirky To Succeed Overseas? - Washington Post
"For all of the cutting edge mobile technology that Japanese consumers have routine access to, surprisingly little of it has made its way outside of the country. Its government, however, wants to change this, and will begin an "aggressive push" to market the technology overseas, reports AP."

Personally, I agree with Mr. Kietz and I'm excited to see Mitsubishi acquire an institution in the U.S. Their resources, knowledge, and experience will lead to significant advancements in technology and could help expedite the development and adoption of NFC.