Here Comes Mobile Banking

Recently, we provided a prospective client with research on the current state of mobile banking. A few things stood out:

• Big banks are leading the way. Bank of America acquired 500,000 active m-banking customers within 6 months of the launch of its free mobile service. With 23 million active online users, however, Bank of America still has room for growth.
  

• Citibank, Wachovia, SunTrust and BancorpSouth launched their m-banking programs later in 2007, offering account balances, funds transfer and bill-pay services.

• Community banks and credit unions are jumping in too: BankAtlantic in Florida, American Bank of Texas, N.A., Patelco Credit Union in California and Amplify Credit Union in Texas are just a few m-banking leaders.
  

• Sophisticated new mobile devices like the iPhone and the Blackberry are enabling a positive user experience.
  

• A 2007 Forrester Research study estimated that 10% of US mobile users were prepared to adopt mobile banking, compared to the 35% adoption rate of online banking in the US.
  

• New 2008 research from Harris Interactive indicates that 16% of mobile phone subscribers already use mobile banking services, with 60% of this group using the services at least once a week.

• The US is behind the adoption curve. South Korea made m-banking services available several years ago and currently has over 5 million users. Japan and Europe are three years ahead of the US in launching mobile banking services.
  

What does it all mean? If history is any guide, mobile banking is here to stay. And think of the possibilities - a low-cost branch in your customer's hip pocket...