Mobile News

Mobile banking, together with telephone banking, fixed internet banking and TV banking, equates to remote customer access. The latest addition to banks’ delivery channels, it is viewed as both an extension of a bank’s web presence and a unique value proposition in its own right due to the convergence of mobile communications and the internet.

Key drivers for mobile banking are:

Ubiquity/localization

Time-sensitivity

Personalization

Internet access.

The interplay of ubiquity and internet access means mobile banking capitalizes on the personalization of the device and transaction-enabling ubiquity that the internet enhances. As a basic m-commerce application, mobile banking must both heed the level of e-commerce maturity while also acknowledging mobile end user demographics. The contrast between the fixed and mobile internet channels regarding usage patterns is one that will be emphasized by the predicted upsurge in mobile use.

Mobile commerce will drive new levels of intense competition within the financial services industry. Industry estimates suggest that there will be around 85 million users of mobile financial services in Europe by the end of 2004, plus another 57 million in Asia Pacific. In sharp contrast it is estimated that only 5% of North Americans will use the mobile channel, equivalent to just 13.5 million end users. Mobile banking is generally regarded as one of the key applications for mobile commerce: the following survey represents a sample of 155 people selected as they purchased a new mobile phone subscription. This breakdown of service interest is derived from the 86.8% of the sample who professed at least some interest in value-added services:

Demand for value-added services

Rank Service Interest (%)

1 Banking 86.4

2 Phone book 81.5

3 E-mail 80.0

4 City navigation 73.8

5 Remote control 72.7

6 Ringing tones 72.3

7 Dictionary 71.2

8 Weather 67.7

9 Pizza order 59.1

10 News items 55.4

Financial institutions are embracing the opportunity to offer a range of services including retail banking, retail broking, investment banking, mobile payments and other financial services (e.g. insurance, loans and financial advising).