Mobile Banking Archives - Page 12 of 20

Banking Apps in the Google Android Market vs. Apple iPhone App Store

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 24, 2009
Categories: Android, Apple, Bank of America, Google, iPhone, Mobile Banking

A few weeks ago, we noted a milestone at Apple’s iPhone App Store, 1000 apps available in the finance category (U.S. store). I was been curious how that compared to Google’s Android Market so today I did a quick comparison.

The Android market now has a respectable 211 apps in the finance category. However, few financial institutions have staked a claim. Only, Bank of America and Alliant Credit Union, had branded apps (see note 1, 2).

In comparison, the iTunes App Store has 11 U.S. banking apps and 3 from U.S. credit unions. That’s up from 6 banks and no credit unions when we published our most recent report on the subject (see note 3). See the the following table for details. Did I miss any? Let me know in comments or email jim@netbanker.com

	Google Android (Rank)	Apple App Store (Rank)
Number of finance apps	211	1,089
Number of U.S. bank-branded apps (note 1) (number shown is rank in the finance category)	#2 Bank of America	#1 Bank of America #2 USAA #3 Chase #4 Wells Fargo #10 E*Trade #13 Citibank #28 & 32 PNC Bank #43 BBVA Compass #156 IBC #409 1st Mariner Bank ATM/Branch locator #962 Plaza Bank Mtg Calc
Number of CU-branded apps	#30 Alliant CU — ATM Locator	#185 Tech CU #327 CUloc8 (TDECU) #411 iDeposit (WV United FCU)

Source: Online Banking Report tally, 24 Aug 2009

1. In addition, Qualcomm’s Firethorn unit has an app that works with several dozen banks and card issuers including Citi, Chase, Wachovia, SunTrust and USAA. It’s ranked tenth in the Android Market and 15th in the iPhone App Store. Also, in the Android Market, Visa has a beta app that works with Chase cards ranked #77. However, according to commenters, that test is ending in September.
2. There are another 15-20 international banks listed in the iPhone App Store.
3. Our Online Banking Report on iPhone Mobile Banking was published March 11, 2009.

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USAA Hits 1 Million Mobile Users; Grabs Great Press Coverage with Remote Deposit Feature

By Jim Bruene Posted on August 10, 2009
Categories: iPhone, Mobile Banking, Public Relations, USAA

The New York Times ran a positive piece on USAA’s mobile efforts today, leading with the bank’s innovative mobile remote check deposit service. A feature the bank announced in June and is rolling out this week.

USAA is the first major financial institution to use the iPhone’s camera to allow customers to upload paper checks for automatic deposit. However, it was beaten to market by tiny WV United FCU, which launched a cruder version two weeks ago (previous post).

The San Antonio-based bank with 7.2 million customers, now has one million mobile users, a 14% penetration rate, up from 11% in May. It’s the second U.S. financial institution (after Bank of America with more than 3 million; see note 1) to officially hit the million mark, though Chase/WaMu and Wells/Wachovia are believed to have passed that milestone last year.

Financial institution lesson: Mobile banking, and the iPhone specifically, still make a great story for the press (and customers). If you’re first in your market with an iPhone app, or some other mobile milestone, let the media know.

Live demo of USAA’s Deposit@Home iPhone app
Starts at 1-minute mark

Note:
1. 43% of BofA’s mobile customers access via iPhone or iPod Touch. The bank does not yet support text-banking, so it’s user base is skewed towards smartphone users.
2. For more info, see our Online Banking Report on iPhone Mobile Banking.

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1,000th iPhone Finance Application Added to Apple App Store Today

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 30, 2009
Categories: Apple, iPhone, Mobile Banking

Today marked an Apple App Store milestone of sorts, the 1000th application available in the Finance category (USA store). Finance is less than 2% of the total store, which now stands at 63,300, according to AppShopper.com.

Lucky number 1000 was Easy Mortgage (iTunes link), a $0.99 mortgage calculator from Italian developer Nexus (screenshot below).

Four other new Finance apps debuted today, just missing the 1000 mark:

#997 MLM: A multi-level marketing guide from PTAJ Marketing for $2.99
#998 Renting: A guide to renting a house or apartment from also from PJAT Marketing for $2.99
#999 Forex: A guide to foreign exchange trading again from PJAT Marketing
#1001 TaxTax: A $1.99 sales tax calculator from Canbuffi Web Development

Bottom line: These thousand apps are just the tip of the iceberg for the Finance category. It will likely grow to well over 10,000 during the next few years as most major banks and credit unions add their own apps to the mix.

Currently, there are fewer than 50 financial institutions with their own dedicated app, including eight of the top 15 (most popular based on recent download volume): 1st (Bank of America), 2nd (Chase), 3rd (Wells Fargo), 4th (PayPal), 8th (E*Trade), 12th (Citibank), 13th (USAA) and 14th (multiple banks via Firethorn).

For more info on the features and benefits of a good financial institution iPhone app, see our recent Online Banking Report: Mobile Banking via iPhone (March 2009).

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Bank of America Implies that Branch Network Could Shrink 10% in Next Three Years

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 29, 2009
Categories: ATMs, Bank of America, Branch Banking, Metrics & Market Research, Mobile Banking

In what will surely be the first in a long string of similar headlines, the top of yesterday’s Wall Street Journal Money & Investing section declared:

BofA Plans to Cut 10% of Branches

The article, which has been picked up by nearly 100 news sites in the past 24 hours, reported that Bank of America was planning on reducing the size of its 6,000-branch network. There were no details on timing or whether the bank was retreating from certain markets or was simply pruning overlapping branches broadly.

But in later interviews with bank execs, it sounded like Bank of America was merely predicting a gradual shrinkage in its branch network over the next three years, and had no firm plans for specific closures. Here’s a followup quote from president Liam McGee as reported by Charlotte NPR station WFAE:

“I think <CEO Lewis> was asked a question, ‘Boy, could there be x-percentage less branches in the next few years?’ And he was just saying, ‘Yeah, could be, and if there was it would be in magnitude of this as opposed to a much higher number.'”

McGee says the bank is going through a 3-year evaluation process that could result in fewer branches, but that no particular number is targeted. He says customers’ changing habits are driving the process.

What I found more interesting in the debate were some of the numbers the bank tossed out showing the growth of it’s non-branch delivery:

Nearly 50% of deposits are made in ATMs…up amazingly from 33% six months ago. The bank didn’t say whether this was NUMBER of deposits or VALUE of deposits, but it’s likely the former. Also, it’s unclear if remote deposits made via scanner are included in the total. That new technology is making a significant dent in branch-based deposits at many financial institutions.
2.8 million customers are now using the mobile channel which was introduced in mid-2007. That’s an average of about 120,000 new customer per month. However, growth appears to have accelerated slightly this year. In early Feb, the bank said it had 2 million mobile banking customers; so in the past 5.5 month, growth has been just under 150,000 new users per month.
The bank has a 60% market share in online bill payment; an amazing penetration for a bank with 12% of the country’s deposits.

Note:
1. See our Online Banking Report: The Demise of the Branch (April 2006), for more on the long-term trends in the mix of branch and alternative delivery.

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Addison Avenue Credit Union Provides Secure VIP Access Powered by VeriSign

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 21, 2009
Categories: Mobile Banking, Remote Deposit Capture, Security & Privacy, VeriSign

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to tour the British Museum’s exhibit on the history of money. And one thing that remains the same throughout the millennia, a concern about the security and authenticity of the various objects used to convey wealth.

It’s no surprise that security is the number-one online banking concern of today’s consumer. Had there been market research three thousand years ago, I’m sure security would have been at the top of the list of fears of the Chinese rich enough to hold a cache of cowrie shells (inset).

So, until we figure out a way to eradicate crime, financial institutions need to address security concerns head-on and provide tools for consumers to take more control (note 1).

That’s what I love about Addison Avenue FCU’s launch of VeriSign’s Identity Protection (VIP) security tokens. Addison Avenue members now have the tools to make their online banking extremely secure, should they desire to. And with set-up charges of $30 to $48 (waived for mobile) and an annual fee of $10 (waived the first year), the program is relatively self-funding (screenshots below).

As an added bonus, the “VIP Access” theme, even though it’s powered by a security vendor, provides a nice boost to member relations. It also gives the CU an iPhone (link to app) and Blackberry presence it wouldn’t otherwise have.

Addison Avenue e2: The VeriSign program is one leg of a three-part effort dubbed E2, that the credit union launched today (press release; see third and fourth screenshots below).

The three core features:

VIP security: as outlined above (link)
E-deposit: remote check deposit via basic in-home scanner (link)
Mobile banking: mobile web-based (link)

Addison Avenue security key landing page (link, 21 July 2009)
A short informational video brings the service to life.

VIP token options shown on VeriSign’s website

Addison’s three-part “e2” effort is highlighted on its homepage

E2 landing page (from homepage)

Notes:
1. Granted, most customers are not willing to spend the extra effort to bulletproof their accounts. So extreme security measures such as this should be optional and carry a nominal extra fee.
2. For more info on addressing security concerns, see our Online Banking Report on Security Marketing (published in 2005) and our more recent Online Banking Report on New Security Techniques published nine months ago.

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WV United Federal Credit Union is First with iPhone-based Remote Check Scan & Deposit

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 12, 2009
Categories: Best of the Web, Deposits, Checking, Savings, CDs, iPhone, Mobile Banking, Remote Deposit Capture

In June, we reported on USAA’s upcoming iPhone app that will support remote check deposits. But it looks like they were beaten to market by tiny WV United FCU headquartered in Charleston, WV. Haven’t heard of WV United? They have just six employees, $11 million in assets, and 3,000 members.

But somehow they were able to pull off something that no other financial institution has yet to accomplish, accepting paper check deposits via a native iPhone application (iTunes link, see note 1 and 2). The application was added to the iPhone App Store on July 4, and the CU wasted no time in heralding the innovation with a homepage banner (see screenshot below).

The application could not be simpler. Users take a picture by pressing the button on the left (see inset), verifying that the image is readable, then uploading with the button on the right. WV United uses the member’s mobile phone number to apply it to the correct account. The latest iPhone OS 3.0 is required.

The credit union also accepts deposits via in-home scanners using secure file transfers powered by LeapFile (co-branded site here).

It appears both services simply send images to the credit union where an employee manually converts them to ACH items. According to the E-Deposit customer agreement, the first 10 items each month are free; a $1 fee per item for the remainder of the month is charged. This allows for collection of a bit of fee revenue from small business members, while enabling most consumers to use it free of charge.

Certainly, fraud possibilities exist. But the CU’s normal deposit-processing controls should mitigate most of the risk (see E-Deposit funds availability policy here).

Mitek Systems introduced a mobile remote-deposit system last year (post here), but it’s not yet in production at any financial institutions.

Analysis: Although not a feature that will see widespread usage, mobile check deposits will prove convenient for certain customers, especially mobile small businesses. More importantly, it helps differentiate between online and mobile services.

So, for raising the bar in mobile banking, we are awarding WV United with our first OBR Best of the Web award for 2009 (note 3). In the 12 years we’ve given the award, WV United is by far the smallest financial institution to win.

WV United FCU homepage with iPhone banner (11 July 2009)

iPhone app landing page (link)

Notes:
1. Sometimes it’s nice to be small. WV United has six employees total, according to NCUA data. Most large banks would have a project team larger than that just to do the feasibility study on mobile remote-deposit capture.
2. For more info on the importance of iPhone applications for financial services, see our recent full report: Online Banking Report: Mobile Banking via the iPhone.
3. OBR Best of the Web awards are given periodically to companies that pioneer new online and mobile banking features. It is not an endorsement of the company or product, just recognition for what we believe is an important development. WV United is the 74th recipient of the designation since we began awarding it in 1997.

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Mobile Banking Forecasts (U.S.): TowerGroup vs. Online Banking Report

By Jim Bruene Posted on July 3, 2009
Categories: Metrics & Market Research, Mobile Banking

TowerGroup has just released a new research note discussing the growing adoption of mobile banking in the United States. The research unit of MasterCard is predicting a five-fold increase in active users (note 1) between year-end 2009 and year-end 2013.

In comparison, we (note 2) are projecting a four-fold increase. But either way, it’s a phenomenal growth curve reflecting a market that financial institutions must pay attention to.

Following are the numbers Tower released; more details are contained in the full report (purchase here). I also compared to those that we projected in our Jan 17 Online Banking Report.

Please note: TowerGroup forecasts active USERS; we forecast active HOUSEHOLDS. There are about 1.9 adults (18+) per household in the United States, but often, not all of the adults in the household are active banking users, so it’s a bit hard to compare the two figures. But if you assume 1.2 to 1.4 mobile banking users per household (note 3), we are pretty close this year, but TowerGroup is a bit more bullish five years out.

	TowerGroup (May 2009)	Online Banking Report (Jan 2009)	Online Banking Report (Jan 2009)
Basis	Active U.S. users	Active U.S. Households (HH)	Active U.S. users assuming 1.2/HH now, 1.4/HH in 2013
2008	4.6 mil	3.5 mil	4.2 mil
2009	10 mil	7.5 mil	9.0 mil
2013	53 mil	30 mil	42 mil
CAGR (08 vs 13)	63%	54%	58%

Sources: Online Banking Report, Jan 2009; TowerGroup, May 2009

Notes:
1. Active mobile users have used the service within the past 90 days.
2. See our Online Banking Report: Mobile and Online Banking Forecast or the Online Banking Report: Banking on the iPhone for complete details.
3. We assume the number of mobile users per household will grow over time starting with 1.2 per household in 2009 to 1.4 per household in 2013.

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Why Mobile Banking/Payments will be Highly Profitable

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 18, 2009
Categories: Mobile Banking, Mobile Payments, Security & Privacy, Wells Fargo

My credit card number was stolen again. It’s the third or fourth time since the Internet came along. It’s annoying, and a little disconcerting, but not a major problem, thanks to efficient card issuers who take the info, credit my account, and send me a new card. On a ten-point “hassle scale,” where 10 is having your hard drive crash, it’s only a 2 or 3.

And my previous stolen cards resulted in little financial loss to the issuer, other than the cost to process the chargeback and reissue the plastic. In those cases, either the issuer caught the fraud before anything was shipped, or the items purchased were digital (online subscriptions) and didn’t result in any lost inventory.

But this time was different. Someone used my card number to buy a PS3 gaming console and three games at a Best Buy in the Bronx. Assuming Best Buy follows proper procedures, Wells Fargo will be out more than $600 just for the merchandise. All told, with the cost of the investigation and processing, it’s probably an $800 to $900 loss to the bank and merchant.

Wells Fargo is generally very good about suspicious charges and usually calls us. I’ve had the card for almost two decades, and it’s been othe primary card for both my wife and me for much of that time. WF knows our purchasing habits better than we do.

Yes, we get to NYC at least once a year, but our charges are usually travel- and tourist-related ones in Manhattan. And we probably visit Best Buy in Seattle a couple times a year (we have teenage boys), so the gaming system charge is understandable. But it’s highly unlikely we’d buy a system while visiting NYC, and we’ve never visited the Bronx, so the authorization request likely triggered flags.

But unless there was inside theft, the bank’s authorization system evidently decided the $10 in interchange was worth the risk. Bad call this time, but probably right 99%+ of the time; otherwise, they’d be out of the card business.

What’s mobile have to do with it?
But if Wells Fargo had a real-time connection to me via mobile phone, they could have texted me for an OK (similar to the screenshot above, which is a text-based activity request to Wells Fargo). If it really had been I who stood at Best Buy’s register, it would have taken a second to reply “yes,” and the transaction would have gone through.

Of course, in this case, I would have said ‘no, I’m in San Francisco right now.’ Or even better, in the not-so-distant-future, if I’d allowed the bank to track me via GPS, they would have known, without even contacting me, that I was 3,000 miles away from that store. Either way, the bank saves nearly a grand from that single text message. Multiply that by the millions of fraud purchases every year and you have serious money, billions by most estimates.

So yes, mobile banking (really mobile payments) does have a robust and tangible business case from fraud reduction and customer service savings. The technology is in the hands of the users now, and most know how to use it. So, let’s get moving.

Note: For more information see our Online Banking Report on iPhone Mobile Banking.

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Notes from the Mobile Commerce Summit (day 2)

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 5, 2009
Categories: Blackberry, Conferences, Mobile Banking, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Payments, Wells Fargo

Day two of the Mobile Commerce Summit ran just for the morning (see Day 1 highlights), but anyone who overslept missed the highlight of the conference: the much-too-short panel discussion on revenue opportunities that started at 8:15 AM and ended at 9:00 (note 1).

Panel: Mobile revenue opportunities

Drew Sievers, founder & CEO, mFoundry
Joe Salesky, chairman & chief strategy officer, ClairMail
Cameron Franks, director, Mobile Commerce Americas, Sybase 365
Jayatsu Bhattacharya, SVP business development, Mobile Money Ventures (Citigroup & SK Telecom joint venture)
Mustafa Patni, former director of mobile banking, WaMu

Observations from the panel:

POS payment services: NFC at point of sale
Value-added services
Fees for mobile banking services: transaction, monthly, or annual
Premium accounts with a rich mobile feature set
Stock/investment trading (Citi Hong Kong is able to charge a premium for mobile trading)
Bill pay: expedited payments
Person-to-person (P2P) payments
Much of the revenues will be indirect, from deepening and improving customer relationship
Remote deposit capture for businesses
Merchant advertising: offers to customers as they shop
Loyalty programs: driving customers to certain merchants with alerts, offers, and discounts
Lots of cost-saving opportunities: self-service customer service, moving bill payments to on-us transactions, loyalty program management, security, fulfillment, marketing, call deflection

Panel: Smartphone impact on the customer experience

Armin Ajami, VP retail Mobile channel, Wells Fargo

Almost half of smartphone users use the mobile Web daily (source: ABI research, Feb. 2009)
18% of U.S. consumers have smartphones
263,000 apps now available for smartphones, predicted to grow to about 700,000 by 2013
There are 27 different app stores today
Mobile-optimized website <wf.com> launched in July 2007, text banking launched Oct. 2007, native iPhone app launched May 2009
Funds transfer on mobile-optimized websites takes 2 minutes with 5 clicks, no zooming or scrolling vs. 10 minutes via iPhone mobile browser with 7 clicks, 5 zooms, 7 scrolls and 10 minutes

Alain DeSouza, sr. mgr., market development solutions marketing, Research in Motion

Globally, 12% to 14% of mobile phones sold now are smartphones; in North America, it’s now above 20% (22% to 26%)
Blackberry app store officially launched April 1, 2009
Not excited about putting NFC chips into handsets (adds cost); will do it when it makes business sense (last year it was a top-5 opportunity, this year more of a top-20)
P2P transfer is not a killer app, but could be important for adoption
Be careful not to waste bandwidth in your app development

Note:
1. Note to conference organizers: Never start a session at 8:15 AM after a Thursday night in Las Vegas.

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Notes from the Mobile Commerce Summit (Day 1)

By Jim Bruene Posted on June 4, 2009
Categories: Conferences, Mobile Banking, Mobile Commerce, Mobile Payments, USAA

About 100+ folks gathered in the brand new M Resort near Las Vegas for the third annual Mobile Commerce Summit by SourceMedia. Jeff Dennes from USAA and Jim Simpson from City Bank of Texas, both provided an extraordinary amount of metrics on their mobile rollouts (details below).

The biggest innovation of the day was iPhone-enabled remote check-deposit capture soon to be available from USAA (official launch June 25; see picture below).

Session highlights
Jeff Dennes, executive director, mobile money & movement, USAA:

7.9 million logins so far this year vs. about 7 million in all of 2008
Highest week to date, 476,000
4.8 million USAA members own mobile; 1.5 mil use it to access Internet
20% say mobile is primary channel
11.4% of members using USAA mobile
Why so much usage: no branches, members trust USAA, extremely mobile military-oriented customer base, more technically capable than average
Have SMS, Firethorn downloadable app, WAP <mobile.usaa.com>, native iPhone app
Native iPhone app released 2 weeks ago: Went to number 1 in first week with 55,000 downloads; 45,000 logins in first week, 93,000 in second week
iPhone app built in-house and has patents filed
Will be launching first iPhone remote deposit-capture app on June 25 (see photo above); tune in to the bank’s webcast at 7 PM Central time at <budurl.com/usaaannouncement>
Current iPhone app has insurance functions: filing a claim, roadside assistance
Personal financial management functions coming soon
With mobile rollout, are seeing call volumes going down
35% of access to mobile site comes from iPhone, 35% from Blackberry
Will be building app for Blackberry; others as demand warrants (e.g., Pre)

Jim Simpson, VP IT, City Bank of Texas

Mobile banking is powered by ClairMail (use Jack Henry for core processing and online banking)
Launched 17 Oct 2008 with balance, history, funds transfers, “call me,” near-real-time alerts (not batch) including reward-checking status/summary (sent out 7 days before end of checking cycle telling users how they stand on meeting necessary activity levels
Have microsite: www.citybankmobile.com
Made a major cross-channel marketing effort at launch: TV, print, radio, in-branch, and so on; used it to differentiate themselves in competitive Lubbock market
10.2% online banking penetration
64% use weekly
Average age is 32
Average account balance on primary account is over $5,000
More than 3,000 active users
Limited use of mobile browser site, bnkngo.mobi; text-message banking is much more popular (also have gocitybank.mobi); get 5,000 balance requests via text messaging each week vs. 25 or 30 mobile Web logins
Real-time alerts (vs. batch) is one of the key benefits that users like; they often can text message a confirmation of the transaction while still standing at the checkout counter; not always that fast, sometimes can be a few minutes later
Coming: End-of-day, text-based account summary, “payit” loan payment via text (in response to text alert), iPhone/Blackberry apps
How to make money? Adding ad-supported links within text messages; e.g., link back to the restaurant where the transaction originated

Ginger Schmeltzer, SVP, SunTrust

Currently at 2.5% penetration of online banking users powered by Firethorn
33% access via iPhone; 33% via Blackberry
Have an RFP out now to find vendor(s) to increase functionality
See real benefits from using mobile channel to decrease fraud

Patrick Reetz, VP & director, online banking, M&I Bank

Rolled out mobile in Oct 2008 powered by MShift
Within 11 days, achieved one-year goal of 2% penetration of online banking users (longer term, their initial goal was 10% by YE 2010)
Currently have 7% penetration

Ellen Johnson, SVP retail online services, Huntington Bank

Have just under 25,000 users of mobile Web banking, launched in June 2008
Number of users of text banking surpassed mobile Web in April, launched 6 months ago
Mobile banking customers are 38% more profitable; text banking, 13% more profitable
Call center contacts per active user dropped 3.4% in first 6 months
Have a mobile microsite for marketing

Juli Anne Callis, president & CEO, National Institutes of Health Federal Credit Union (previously at Keypoint Credit Union)

At Keypoint Credit Union, even usage between iPhone and Blackberry access
Keypoint powered by mShift and will be using mShift at her new CU
Launched on Facebook Nov 2007 (OBR Best of Web winner)

Amy Johnson, channel manager — CEO Mobile, Wells Fargo

Launched 2 years ago (April 2007), and Wells Fargo remains the only major U.S. bank offering full corporate mobile banking
Mobile Web-based system
No charge except certain text messages (and those fees may go away)
No set-up process
— just log in at mobile site with existing online credentials
Will not disclose usage, but are targeting top-tier customers: top 10%-15%
Access: 30% iPhone, 50%+ BlackBerry
— no Android so far
$2.5 billion in wire approvals via CEO Mobile in 2008

Kevin Morrisson, AVP card products, H&R Block

Using text messages to defer calls to call center (currently receive 80 million annually), especially people checking to see if their refund has arrived.
Program was piloted this year and is expected to roll out nationwide later this year. Found dramatic decline in voice calls from test group.
Mobile program powered by Metavante/Monitise joint program.

Rebecca Mann, director of strategic alliances, Western Union

Using mobile to replace either the sending or receiving part of a money transfer
Partnering with US Bank for international remittances

Lisa Stanton, CEO, Monitise America

Can do more secure services within an app compared to mobile Web or SMS

Matt Krogstad, VP business development, M-Com

Critical for banks to be point of registration and source of funds
Should be able to register outside online banking
— via call center, ATM along with mobile phone
In Australia, mobile money transfers was slower to take off, approx. 18 months after adoption of mobile banking

Clint Heyworth, attorney, consumer finance group, Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel

One-to-one relationship with phone (e.g., you have it with you) makes it better for security compared to PC where others have access
Not a lot of legal differences between delivering banking services via mobile vs. online
Don’t expect to see specific regulation regarding the mobile channel; will likely be the same regulations as for online banking

Tom Wills, senior analyst, Javelin Strategy & Research

Security is single biggest factor inhibiting mass consumer uptake
Only 500 pieces of malware have been identified so far in mobile vs. thousands of new ones every day online
47% of respondents are uncomfortable with mobile security (Mar 2008 data)
Main concern is hackers, mentioned by 73% of those above
Expects anti-virus software makers to build mobile versions

Rebecca Sausner, editor, Bank Technology News

Total revenues for mobile banking vendors this year will be $26 million (source: Aite)

Sean Moshir, CEO, CellTrust (also mobile banking sub-committee co-chair of Mobile Marketing Association)

66% of consumers still not yet comfortable using mobile device for financial transactions (source: 2009 KPMG Global Consumer Survey)
7% said they would pay a nominal fee to access online banking services via mobile phones (source: 2009 KPMG Global Consumer Survey)

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Technology Credit Union and TDECU are first CUs with native iPhone Apps

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 22, 2009
Categories: Apple, Blogs, Firethorn, iPhone, Mobile Banking

More than 10 months after the iPhone App Store launched, two U.S. credit unions have joined the application marketplace, which numbers more than 40,000 in the U.S. store alone.

The first was Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU), whose ATM and shared-branch locator, Culoc8, launched on April 29, according to the company’s Twitter page (below, link).

The TDECU app (see inset) is unbranded and can be offered by other CUs to their members.

Eaton Family Credit Union is offering CuLoc8 to members on its website (see below).

————————————————————————————————

Yesterday, Tech CU, became the first credit union with a full-featured branded native iPhone app (App Store link, see note 1). The app (see below) includes full online banking functionality and an ATM/shared branch finder (second screenshot). The credit union also added something we haven’t seen yet, an iPhone optimized feed of its blog, Money Savvy (third screenshot). Nice touch.

Tech CU has offered a mobile website since Sept. 2007.

Note:
1. America First Credit Union was the first CU with native iPhone support via its participation in Firethorn’s shared mobile banking app which launched in Nov. 2008.

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Wells Fargo launches native iPhone app

By Jim Bruene Posted on May 18, 2009
Categories: Mobile Banking, Wells Fargo

Twelve hours ago, Wells Fargo became the last of the “big four” banks to release a native iPhone app in the Apple App Store (see screenshot below; note 1). The bank, which has long been a pioneer online, let Bank of America reap much of the branding benefits of their association with iPhone banking for the past two years.

But we are glad to see Wells Fargo available and enjoyed checking our balance via iPhone for the first time. At just 0.1MB, the application was a quick download and compatible with my first-generation iPhone. There’s no need to first visit the bank’s website, as the app can be immediately used with your normal online banking username/password (see note 2).

While it won’t win any design awards, it’s simple to use with the typical online banking functions: balance inquiry, transaction listings, funds transfer, bill pay and GPS-enabled ATM/branch finder. Only the 12,000 Wells or Wachovia ATMs are listed in its database.

During the initial signon, the app encouraged users to create a short account nickname for easier reading on the small screen. And the bank also prompted me to sign up for text-message banking, something I hadn’t used at Wells before. When I agreed to do so, a six-digit confirmation code was texted to my phone, which I entered back into the app.

There is no mention of the new app on the Wells Fargo site.

Wells Fargo listing in Apple iTunes App Store (18 May 2009; link)

Notes:
1. Big four U.S. banks: Bank of America, Citibank, Chase/WaMu, Wells/Wachovia.
2. We’d previously registered our mobile number, which may have eased the activation hurdle.

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