Mobile Congress 2009 Recap

I'd like to take a minute to thank Simon Conyers and Arena International for hosting Mobile Financial Services Congress 2009. The speakers were top-notch, the agenda was focused, and the location (Biltmore Hotel - Miami) was first class.

Everyone I met raved about the open dialogue with the speakers and the relationships they forged during the week. It was unique in that attendance exceeded expectations; yet, the venue was intimate enough to provide ample opportunities for meeting and speaking with other mobile professionals.

Here are a just a few nuggets of information that caught my attention:

* Robert Mark (ANZ) - 40% of ANZ's mobile banking users are "off-line" clients and mobile banking users are half as likely to churn

* Jeff Dennes (USAA) - USAA is witnessing over 1 million mobile banking contacts every week

* Armin Ajami (Wells Fargo) - Wells Fargo allows their clients to enroll for text banking through their mobile banking application. A simple...yet brilliant piece of functionality I have not seen to date.

* Juli Anne Callis (NIH FCU) - Juli Anne shared a great marketing campaign designed around the idea that customers should use mobile banking because they're "Too busy to waste time, and too smart to waste money."

* Doug Peacock (M&I) - Shared that 25% of their mobile clients use the product more than 10 times per month

* Andres Fontao (Bankiter) - 73% of the banks clients actively use SMS banking and 38% use mobile banking

* Ginger Schmeltzer (SunTrust) - Mobile banking clients are 27% more profitable than regular online bankers

And these notes are just a fraction of the 21 pages I brought home to absorb. If you weren't able to attend this year...be sure to pencil this one in for 2010.

What Questions to ask Mobile Congress Panelists?

Next week I'm moderating two panel discussions at Mobile Financial Services Congress, and I'd like your input. What questions would you like answered? Here are the topics and panelists.

1) Critical trends in technology that will determine the success of your mobile banking offering

Exploring the different channels and platforms:
* Which are most suitable for the banking product?
* Which do you have to incorporate to guarantee a successful product?
* How can you optimize user experience across multiple device types and operating systems?
* Assessing the impact of smart phones and the ‘application store’
* Which device manufacturers are doing the most to enable mobile banking and what more can be done to support this emerging technology?
* How can the banking industry encourage device manufacturers to do more to support mbanking?

Armin Ajami, VP - Sr. Product Manager Mobile Banking, Wells Fargo
Jeff Dennes, Executive Director, USAA
Richard Crone, Founder and CEO, Crone Consulting LLC
Toshihiro Uchida, Vice President, Fidelity Investments

2) Developing the platform in-house vs. buying a vendor solution

Evaluating the vendor market: Many banks just entering the mobile banking space will look to a vendor to speed their entrance to the market, whilst many of those that built platforms internally over the last few years are now looking to develop the next generation of mobile financial services, and may turn to vendors for these. This essential panel will pick apart the vendor market to make sense of the diverse range of solutions and help you determine which is best for your business.

* Evaluating the pros and cons of building in house vs. choosing a vendor solution to launch or upgrade your mobile platform
* Establishing the critical criteria for selecting a best-of-breed vendor solution
* Making sense of a crowded vendor market - finding the right vendor partner

Ginger Schmeltzer, Senior Vice President, Sun Trust Bank
Robert Rankin, Senior Vice President, Fifth Third Bank
Presented by Fiserv and M-Com

Reminder - Mobile Financial Services Congress

This is just a quick reminder to register for the Mobile Financial Services Congress. The conference opens next Tuesday (12/3) at the beautiful Biltmore Hotel in Miami, FL. I personally can't wait...the current weather conditions in Indianapolis are 46 degrees and rainy.

Click here - To Learn More and Register

Disclosure: I am the Chairman of the conference and the conference producers are covering a portion of my travel related expenses.

Mobile Financial Services Congress 2009

I'm proud to announce that I'll be participating in the Mobile Financial Services Congress. The event will be held in Miami, Florida on December 2nd-3rd.

Mobile Financial Services Congress 2009 will bring together the industry leaders and early adopters to share their experiences of developing mobile financial services platforms. Occurring at a critical time for the industry, as many institutions are poised to enter the market, and the industry as a whole prepares for a concerted push to further drive adoption. The Mobile Financial Services Congress offers essential insights on successful strategies for launching and developing a full service mobile offering. >>View the Mobile Congress Website

The speakers that have committed include:

Armin Ajami - Wells Fargo
Jeff Dennes - USAA
Rob Rankin - Fifth Third
Ginger Schmeltzer - SunTrust
Carl Synder - Zions Bank

Other links:
Learn about the Agenda
Register Now

FTC Disclosure: As an event speaker the conference has offered to cover a portion of my travel related expenses.