International Mobile Banking Updates

In South Africa, cardless ATM withdrawals via mobile phone
"The virtual ink had scarcely dried on our story about South Africa's upcoming Mahala Free Banking Platform last week when we received word of yet another mobile banking innovation in the country. Customers of Johannesburg-based First National Bank (FNB) can now make withdrawals from an ATM without a bank card using just their mobile phone."

Initial Details of Third Party Mobile Banking Unveiled
"We first heard of Third Party Solution for Mobile Banking in November 2009, when Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and State Bank of Pakistan jointly announced the proposed formation of unified regulatory framework for Third Party Solution Provider (TPSP) system for enhancing mobile banking in the country."

Rakbank launches Mobile Banking solutions
"A renowned market leader in customer service, Rakbank announced the launch of its Mobile Banking service, an alternative channel that provides customers with the opportunity of conducting banking transactions via their mobile phones. Rakbank's Mobile Banking is available on smart phones as well as conventional mobiles to ensure that all their customers can make use of this practical service."

OCBC banking app scans barcodes
"Mobile banking apps typically allow customers to view their account details and carry out transactions such as funds transfers. OCBC Bank's Android app, released last month, also offers users the ability to scan selected bill barcodes for easy payment. This video segment is part of ZDNet Asia's Financial Services special report."

Mobile banking via app has rewards, risks
"The days of restrictive banking hours have long since passed, and now you can add smartphone apps to a growing list of technologies that have made it easier to access your accounts -- any time, any place. The applications offered by several of Canada's big banks give users an ever-growing range of options including checking balances, transferring money between accounts and paying bills."

Obopay wins prestigious Asian Banker 'Technology Implementation' Award 2011
"Obopay Inc, one of the world’s leading mobile banking and payment providers, has been awarded this year’s ‘Asian Banker Technology Implementation Award’ for its work in India. Obopay, along with Yes Bank, was honored with the award under the ‘Best Multi-channel Capability Project’ category. The prestigious award, given annually in honor of organizations that have helped in successfully implementing banking projects/operations with technology as its backbone was accepted by Deepak Chandnani, CEO, Obopay during the award ceremony in Hong Kong. The winners were chosen from a strong list of contenders."

Mexico to introduce m-banking services by year-end
"Mexico is planning to launch mobile banking services by the end of this year. According to Guillermo Babatz, president of the Mexican Banking and Securities Commission (CNBV), m-banking service users will be able to make payments and money transfers directly from their mobile phones."

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 7

Sun National Plays Large in the Cloud
"Say 'cloud' and 'businesses uses' to a group of 12 bank IT execs, and you'll likely get a dozen different answers. But one common thread in the debate is the cloud's vast potential as a low-cost leveler-smaller institutions without big bank scale or stomach for unknown risk can tackle big projects. Sun National Bank, an institution with assets of about $3.4 billion and more than 60 offices, adopted a private cloud solution to roll out its new mobile banking service last year, and is currently evaluating cloud options for existing services, such as telephone banking."

The NFC-Based Mobile Wallet Isn't Science Fiction... Yet
"There's plenty of talk behind the concept of mobile NFC payments enabled through a smartphone-as-digital-wallet. The concept of the mobile wallet is linked to the future of mobile banking and payments in general.

But talk is cheap. The closest thing to widespread contactless payments still requires a physical card with MasterCard PayPass or Visa PayWave baked in. The Samsung Nexus S, running Google's Android OS, is one of the only mass market phones in the U.S. with an independent NFC chip built in. Apple said it won't include NFC in its next iPhone one day, while the next, a report said it will. Meanwhile carriers, vendors and payments providers are all racing to build their own widespread network of NFC payments.

China's Mobile Banking Penetration Reaches 52%
"According to the "2011 China Mobile Banking Industry User Survey" recently issued in Beijing by Chinese mobile internet portal 3G.cn, as of February 2011, mobile banking reached a penetration rate of 52.2% among Chinese mobile internet users, compared to 36.8% in July 2010. The report also shows that the industry is making inroads amongst the middle-age demographic, and users' personal monthly income level continues to rise."

Payment made easy with OCBC Android app
"OCBC Bank yesterday said that it has launched a mobile banking application, allowing its customers using Android phones to scan barcodes to obtain billing details and make payments from their OCBC Bank accounts. The bank said its customers have started downloading the application, OCBC Android Mobile Banking, from the Android Market since March 26."

FNB dominates cellphone banking
"First National Bank's {FNB's) cellphone banking offering has the biggest slice of the mobile banking market in SA, according to the latest Reserve Bank industry report. Every six months, the Reserve Bank releases a consolidated industry payment report, and the latest report indicates the bank is the market leader in the cellphone banking space."