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 - Apr 26

Financial institutions must address security concerns in mobile banking and payments
"With smartphones and tablets becoming increasingly important to consumers, financial institutions must get serious about security as mobile banking and payments explode. Security factors that financial institutions must take into account include mobile malware, mobile software/app assurance, application and OS trust management, data protection, identity and access management, according to IDC Financial Insights. Tactics banks should consider include mutual authentication approaches that incorporate multi-factor, multi-layered security techniques, for example, online banking transaction confirmations via SMS or call back."

Heartland Bank's Mobile Banking NOW Available at The Market Place for Android!
"Heartland Bank is pleased to announce the Android App is now available in The Marketplace for Android users. Online banking customers can access their account information via SMS Texting, Web Browsing, or if you own an Android cell phone, you can visit the Android Market and search for "Heartland" or "Heartland Bank" to locate and install our mobile app. There is no charge for this application which is very similar to the iPhone app that was released a few months ago."

Mobile Banking Becoming an E-Commerce Staple
"Mobile banking, m-banking, or SMS banking refers to online banking that occurs via mobile phone or PDA rather than a PC. The earliest mobile banking services were offered over SMS, but with the introduction of smartphones and Apple iOS, mobile banking is being offered primarily through applications as opposed to text messages or a mobile browser."

Mobile banking thru Smart Money hits P13.5B in 2010
"Smart Money has facilitated P13.5 billion worth of transactions last year within remote communities that used to have limited or no access to financial services. It is an electronic money (e-money) platform utilizing mobile phone technology. It is a product of Smart Communications Inc. Smart Financial Services senior manager Maybelle Santos said Smart Money provides Filipinos anywhere in the archipelago with simple, secure, affordable and convenient means to send and receive cash, even without the presence of banks and ATMs in their communities."

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 24

B of A Looking to Trim Fat from Mobile Banking
"Many banks' mobile strategies have hinged on getting smartphone applications to market as fast as possible, but now the early adopters are moving on to the next step — making sure those apps live up to consumers' expectations. Bank of America Corp., for one, acknowledges room for improvement in its current round of apps for Apple Inc.'s iPhone, Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry and devices running on Google Inc.'s Android operating system."

comScore Report Indicates Mobile Banking is Gaining Popularity
"comScore has published its annual Online Credit Card Report, which delves into the US online credit card industry for the preceding year. The results show a swelling interest among mobile users to engage in online and mobile banking platforms. 20% of all mobile phone owning cardholders report using their handset to manage their bank accounts during the past twelve months."

Consumer 10 Report: Banking with smartphone calls for caution
"Remember when using your home computer to do your banking was a big innovation? That's so 2010. These days, the hot trend is "mobile banking" - that is, using smartphones and other Web-enabled devices to access accounts."

International Mobile Banking Updates

Banks warned to keep up with technology or lose customers
"Banks aiming to retain their customers must court the Middle East's young, technologically adept population with innovative payment methods or suffer dwindling profits, a top banker has warned.

Speaking at the Middle East Retail Banking Forum in Dubai, Sanjoy Sen, the regional head of consumer banking at Citibank, said banks should heed the growth of new card payment methods such as Visa payWave and mobile phone payment applications such as Square and Zong."

Standard Chartered Takes Banking Mobile with the Flash Platform
"Standard Chartered, a leading international bank with almost 150 years operating in markets such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East, realized that its customers wanted to bank anywhere, anytime in a simple, convenient and intuitive way. After all, well over half of its customers would be using mobile banking in 2011. Mobile banking, however, can be a Catch-22. The customer experience should be richly functional, versatile and engaging, but whatever Standard Chartered built had to present minimal development costs and a reduced time to market."

ANZ goMoney mobile banking app delivers new way to make payments
"ANZ New Zealand’s mobile banking application, ANZ goMoney is being launched today. The bank says it is the first convenient and simple way for customers to securely transfer money between friends, relatives and businesses using only mobile phone details. Currently available for use on an iPhone, ANZ goMoney is free and can be downloaded via iTunes. The application when launched in Australia by ANZ in August 2010 topped the iTunes charts as the most popular finance application only days after its launch. Currently 280,000 Australian iPhone owners use ANZ goMoney."

Mobile Banking and Payment Security - Apr 19

How safe is your mobile wallet?
"When you whip out your smartphone to transfer money, deposit a check, or “tap” it on an electric reader to buy milk at your local 7-Eleven, do you ever wonder how secure it is? The good news is, using your phone as a “mobile wallet” is largely considered safe. In fact, some experts argue the security of mobile payments is on par with online banking, with the added layer of password protection."

Atlanta Fed states mobile payments will be ‘safer than plastic cards’
"'The mobile phone will be a much more secure payment device than the plastic cards we use today.' That is the view of the assistant director of the Retail Payments Risk Forum, in a blog post published this week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In 'Dispelling the myths about mobile banking and payments', Cindy Merritt says the mobile phone should be seen as a normal method of payment, and one that should be encouraged thanks to its superior security features when compared with magnetic stripe cards."

Mobile Banking Updates - Apr 18

Developers, not phones, driving mobile banking apps
"While the Android OS may be leading the smartphone pack in sales, it's not the phone for which banks are writing applications. That would the No. 3 iPhone instead. Banks are writing applications for mobile services such as account access and online bill pay for the iPhone because that's the phone for which most other industry developers are creating applications, says TowerGroup."

The spinning compass of mobile banking
"At the Asian Banker Summit in Hong Kong last week, the passion that the banking community displayed to be a leader in innovation and customer experience was very apparent. For the East, the fast adoption of mobile technology is already becoming a game-changing trend and the financial services, especially retail banking, sector has a focus on mobile banking."

Where once it grew, now Bank of America shutters branches
"Long known for expanding nationwide through blockbuster deals, Bank of America Corp. is now whittling away at its domain, branch by branch. The Charlotte-based bank closed 43 branches in the first quarter of this year and has filed notices to close 68 more, according to a McClatchy Newspapers analysis of federal filings. The data shows the bank closing the most branches in slower-growing states such as Michigan and New Jersey."

Fundtech on corporate mobile banking
"More than half the respondents said that developing their mobile corporate banking services is a top or very important priority, while 42 per cent rated their customer’s interest as either extremely or very high. It was not all good news, as while 31 per cent believe corporate mobile banking will become a competitive differentiator for their bank, 38 per cent see it becoming just another service delivery channel."

Mobile Payments - Apr 17

US financial institutions wary of investing in mobile payments
"Most American financial institutions have clear-cut strategies for mobile banking but say the market will need to mature further before they make any sizeable investments to support mobile payments, research from financial services technology provider Fiserv reveals."

Banks May Find Holding Back On Mobile Payments Costly
"Financial institutions that are taking a “wait-and-see” approach to mobile payments risk falling behind early investors as the market begins to take shape, concludes a whitepaper from Fiserv Inc. For its research, the Brookfield, Wis.-based technology company commissioned independent research firm Forrester Research Inc. to survey by phone 15 executives from major U.S. banks and credit unions in October."