Smartphones to drive European m-banking take-up - Forrester
"The survey of 14000 people in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK shows that mobile banking is still relatively little-used, with application-based systems particularly unpopular.
Just one per cent of European Net users with a mobile phone use banking applications, although this is partly because so few financial institutions offer customers the option. Mobile Internet systems are slightly more popular, with four per cent visiting bank Web sites through handsets. However, SMS-based systems continue to dominate, with 10% of European online mobile phone users signing up for one-way text message alerts from their banks."
Brett King: Banks are Losing the Customer and Innovation Battle
"For mobile internet banking, it is far worse. The iPhone has dominated global smart-phone sales over the last 3 years. In 2009, iPhone made up 72% of smart-phone sales in Japan, but less than 1% of banks in the U.S. have an iPhone app - best case of the largest banks, the percentages is closer to 10%. The excuse for this lag in innovation is undoubtedly that 2009 was a tough year to invest in technology. The problem is that banks should have already committed to this in 2007, when the iPhone was released, not be thinking about potentially launching in 2010/2011, five years after the customer has already adopted the technology. Given the expectations are for close to a billion mobile banking users by 2015, there are just no excuses for such a lag."
Analyst Labels M-Commerce Renaissance a Priority
"Banks making a concerted push to promote contactless payment technology are focusing on the wrong target and should switch their short-term focus to mobile commerce.
That's the main conclusion of a new report by independent technology analyst Ovum, which finds that m-commerce is set to experience a renaissance as industry players express renewed interest and mobile banking services take root."
Leveraging Mobile to Combat Fraud
"Join Javelin for a complimentary webinar presentation on using mobile to combat fraud. The mobile channel brings new ways to increase banking security in a time when fraud is on the rise. Mobile alerts and mobile banking bring more advanced capabilities to fight fraud through allowing consumers to have anytime, anywhere access to their finances. The growth of mobile banking offers consumers and FI’s a tool to help stop fraud as soon as it occurs. With the development of mobile banking and near real-time alerts, financial institutions can deputize consumers to help in the battle against fraud – for their own good as well as yours."
Bank of Hawaii - It's Banking on the Go
"If you have an e-Bankoh Online Banking account, you can access your account from your mobile phone. It's free and just takes seconds to setup."
FIS-Sponsored Survey Reveals Consumer Interest in Replacing Cash and Checks with P2P Money Movement
"Demand for electronic person-to-person (P2P) payments and transfers is growing rapidly and the interest of making these and other payment transactions through an ePayment Portal is strong as well. In fact, the study found that of those who were interested in the Portal concept, 70 percent would be likely to use P2P payment services within that Portal. This is according to research commissioned by FIS(TM) (FIS 25.04, -0.61, -2.38%) , one of the world's largest providers of banking and payments technology. The study was conducted by eCom Advisors, a provider of executive consulting and research services in the financial services industry."
ClairMail reaches agreement with CashEdge
"Mobile banking and payment service provider ClairMail has entered into an agreement with CashEdge, a provider of Intelligent Money Movement services, to provide financial institutions with connectivity to CashEdge's Popmoney through the ClairMail platform.
As a result of the relationship, ClairMail customers will have the ability to provide consumers with a secure mobile banking and P2P payments experience.
Through the integration with ClairMail's platform, the two companies will enable financial institutions (FIs) to offer their customers the ability to send payments by using the email address or mobile phone number of the recipient. Each FI can custom brand the Popmoney mobile experience, which provides consumers the security of using a service offered directly from their bank."
Sybase 365 and FirstCaribbean International Bank Bring Industry-Leading Mobile Banking Technology to the Caribbean
"Sybase 365, a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc., the global leader in mobile messaging and mobile commerce services, today announced a partnership with FirstCaribbean International Bank to provide customers with mobile banking services enabling them the flexibility and convenience of managing their finances over their mobile phones.
FirstCaribbean International Bank is the largest regionally-listed bank in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean with branches across 17 markets. The new service is of tremendous value to FirstCaribbean customers as it gives many of them a more convenient way to bank on the go, without needing to visit a branch -- something that is of particular importance to many without home Internet connections."
Showing posts with label mcommerce. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mcommerce. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, August 24, 2009
Tripp Rackley (Firethorn) on Mobile Banking and Mobile Commerce
Today I'm excited to publish the notes from my interview with Tripp Rackley, CEO - Firethorn. To learn more about Tripp visit the Firethorn website.
Q: What’s your differentiator? What sets your mobile banking solution apart from the competition?
A: A few years ago all mobile banking vendors were lumped into one category, but many of the companies that the industry would consider as Firethorn’s competitors have mobile platforms that can accommodate only account servicing (balances). Firethorn was not formed to service accounts – we are not trying to replicate internet banking on the phone. The focus needs to be on mcommerce and payments.
From a banking perspective it comes down to just 2 things:
1. Great distribution across ATT & Verizon, the two largest wireless carriers.
2. Scale to support all operating systems. Android doesn’t have mass adoption yet but Firethorn has already built the platform.
Q: Who are your key clients?
A: Synovus, BancorpSouth, Arvest, America First, USAA, CitiCards, SDCCU, BECU, Wachovia, SunTrust, Regions
Q: Who are your key partners?
A: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, CellularSouth, CheckFree, FundTech, FTPS (Fifth-Third Processing Solutions), Mastercard
Q: Budget season is just around the corner, and the #1 question bankers want to ask is – What’s it going to cost me?
A: The key to success is – don’t limit it to mobile banking. This is a path to mobile commerce until consumers can access all of the brands they want, with the phone they have, through the channel they prefer.
Mobile will not have the same ROI as online banking until there is scale, but this is coming. Initially, clients will use mobile in addition to the existing channels, but in time these will become “replacement transactions” that will extract expense from the system.
Understanding cost is important, but the real cost is in people and support. The ROI play today is to capture customers with mobile that did not adopt online banking. This is where handset enrollment comes into play and could be substantial for an FI.
Q: What components of your ROI model have begun to materialize?
A: There’s only ROI where you can change the consumer behavior – promote mobile over a more expensive channel.
All major brands need mobile. If you choose to ignore mobile it would be like saying, “we’re not going to embrace the internet,” or even worse because mobile is so much more prevalent.
Q: What do the demographics of your users look like?
A: Our users are more demographically focused than handset focused and match the general industry data of 18 to 35.
Q: What do the usage patterns look like? Balance, History, Transfers, BP, Locator?
A: Firethorn is very pleased with the usage trends.
• Avg. logins of 4-5/week
• Avg. 3 transfers/month
• Avg. 2 bill payments/month
Q: What security elements are incorporated into your application?
A: Security should be prevalent to the consumer but easy to use, and all heavy security should be hidden. It’s about the form factor. With an ATM the client uses a PIN. It would be inappropriate to ask for an online banking password at the ATM.
Yet, some FIs want the mobile banking password to match the online banking password. This is not appropriate – the form factor isn’t right. It’s wrong to approach mobile as an extension of the online banking.
Q: How likely are biometrics to become a component?
A: I spent time looking at biometics before starting Firethorn, but it was just too early. There’s a heavy fear of biometrics, and the domestic devices are not equipped with the necessary hardware.
Q: How has the iPhone changed your approach to the business?
A: The iPhone has had a major emotional impact on the industry and has brought about “freedom” for all smart devices. The iPhone is an exceptional device that is beautifully designed and very successful, but it doesn’t cover the mass market. Some institutions have reacted with just an iPhone application or just a Blackberry application, but you need to offer what the market demands. You must address them all. You can not pick just one.
Q: What has been your biggest surprise/lesson-learned over the last couple of years?
A: Going into 2010 mobility should not be a question – it’s a must have. You can not pick just one mobile channel as a strategy. You must address consumers the way they want to be addressed.
Q: What big industry development should we expect within the next 12 months?
A: NFC still has a long time to go. There will be implementations of NFC but still in trial environments. I’m “bullish” on mobile commerce.
Additionally, Firethorn has invested heavily in research to confirm what consumers really want and need; this helps shape our product and also helps our partners better market to their key audience with the right message.
Q: What can banks do a better job of to facilitate adoption?
A: You must get mobile in front of the customers. Incorporate mobile into all of your existing media: banner ads, radio, print.
This craze is similar to the beginning of the internet. This is the time to capture customers. There are people purchasing a device, walking out of the store, and then sitting down and looking for things to do with it. It’s phenomenal!
Q: What’s your differentiator? What sets your mobile banking solution apart from the competition?
A: A few years ago all mobile banking vendors were lumped into one category, but many of the companies that the industry would consider as Firethorn’s competitors have mobile platforms that can accommodate only account servicing (balances). Firethorn was not formed to service accounts – we are not trying to replicate internet banking on the phone. The focus needs to be on mcommerce and payments.
From a banking perspective it comes down to just 2 things:
1. Great distribution across ATT & Verizon, the two largest wireless carriers.
2. Scale to support all operating systems. Android doesn’t have mass adoption yet but Firethorn has already built the platform.
Q: Who are your key clients?
A: Synovus, BancorpSouth, Arvest, America First, USAA, CitiCards, SDCCU, BECU, Wachovia, SunTrust, Regions
Q: Who are your key partners?
A: AT&T, Verizon Wireless, CellularSouth, CheckFree, FundTech, FTPS (Fifth-Third Processing Solutions), Mastercard
Q: Budget season is just around the corner, and the #1 question bankers want to ask is – What’s it going to cost me?
A: The key to success is – don’t limit it to mobile banking. This is a path to mobile commerce until consumers can access all of the brands they want, with the phone they have, through the channel they prefer.
Mobile will not have the same ROI as online banking until there is scale, but this is coming. Initially, clients will use mobile in addition to the existing channels, but in time these will become “replacement transactions” that will extract expense from the system.
Understanding cost is important, but the real cost is in people and support. The ROI play today is to capture customers with mobile that did not adopt online banking. This is where handset enrollment comes into play and could be substantial for an FI.
Q: What components of your ROI model have begun to materialize?
A: There’s only ROI where you can change the consumer behavior – promote mobile over a more expensive channel.
All major brands need mobile. If you choose to ignore mobile it would be like saying, “we’re not going to embrace the internet,” or even worse because mobile is so much more prevalent.
Q: What do the demographics of your users look like?
A: Our users are more demographically focused than handset focused and match the general industry data of 18 to 35.
Q: What do the usage patterns look like? Balance, History, Transfers, BP, Locator?
A: Firethorn is very pleased with the usage trends.
• Avg. logins of 4-5/week
• Avg. 3 transfers/month
• Avg. 2 bill payments/month
Q: What security elements are incorporated into your application?
A: Security should be prevalent to the consumer but easy to use, and all heavy security should be hidden. It’s about the form factor. With an ATM the client uses a PIN. It would be inappropriate to ask for an online banking password at the ATM.
Yet, some FIs want the mobile banking password to match the online banking password. This is not appropriate – the form factor isn’t right. It’s wrong to approach mobile as an extension of the online banking.
Q: How likely are biometrics to become a component?
A: I spent time looking at biometics before starting Firethorn, but it was just too early. There’s a heavy fear of biometrics, and the domestic devices are not equipped with the necessary hardware.
Q: How has the iPhone changed your approach to the business?
A: The iPhone has had a major emotional impact on the industry and has brought about “freedom” for all smart devices. The iPhone is an exceptional device that is beautifully designed and very successful, but it doesn’t cover the mass market. Some institutions have reacted with just an iPhone application or just a Blackberry application, but you need to offer what the market demands. You must address them all. You can not pick just one.
Q: What has been your biggest surprise/lesson-learned over the last couple of years?
A: Going into 2010 mobility should not be a question – it’s a must have. You can not pick just one mobile channel as a strategy. You must address consumers the way they want to be addressed.
Q: What big industry development should we expect within the next 12 months?
A: NFC still has a long time to go. There will be implementations of NFC but still in trial environments. I’m “bullish” on mobile commerce.
Additionally, Firethorn has invested heavily in research to confirm what consumers really want and need; this helps shape our product and also helps our partners better market to their key audience with the right message.
Q: What can banks do a better job of to facilitate adoption?
A: You must get mobile in front of the customers. Incorporate mobile into all of your existing media: banner ads, radio, print.
This craze is similar to the beginning of the internet. This is the time to capture customers. There are people purchasing a device, walking out of the store, and then sitting down and looking for things to do with it. It’s phenomenal!
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