"A Trojan virus in China is striking mobile phone users by intercepting inbound messages and lifting sensitive financial data, according to a story by Want China Times. In particular the malware is impacting third-party payment accounts." Continue Reading

"China's largest e-payment company Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's Alipay Wednesday said that users of its "mobile wallet" app have reached nearly 100 million across the nation so far, while the number of Alipay users via mobile phone has also breached 100 million.

According to Alipay, about one-third of transactions are from mobile phones, eight times that of the same period last year. On Singles' Day this year, the transactions done via mobile phone reached 45.18 million, with a value of more than 11.3 -billion yuan (1ドル.85 billion)." Continue Reading

"The biggest threat to Chinese banks’ cozy oligopoly may be in the hands of the nation’s consumers. Two online companies, Alibaba and Tencent, are making incursions into the country’s financial services market, providing an alternative to the capped deposit rates and sluggish service offered by the country’s big lenders.

The disrupters are taking on risks, and savers should be glad. Alibaba, the e-commerce group that just bought a 51 percent stake in the asset management company Tianhong for 193ドル million, is the banks’ main foe. By July, it had made over 16ドル billion in short-term loans to companies that sell goods on its sites. Its real-time records of borrowers’ cash flows and counterparties aid in lending decisions." Continue Reading

"The biggest threat to Chinese banks’ cozy oligopoly may be in the hands of the nation’s consumers. Two online companies, Alibaba and Tencent, are making incursions into the country’s financial services market, providing an alternative to the capped deposit rates and sluggish service offered by the country’s big lenders. The disrupters are taking on risks, and savers should be glad.

Alibaba, the e-commerce group that just bought a 51 percent stake in the asset management company Tianhong for 193ドル million, is the banks’ main foe. By July, it had made over 16ドル billion in short-term loans to companies that sell goods on its sites. Its real-time records of borrowers’ cash flows and counterparties aid in lending decisions." Continue Reading

ACLEDA Bank Earns Celent Model Bank Status for its Fiserv-Powered Mobile Banking Initiative
"Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that its client, ACLEDA Bank, PLC., was named a Celent Model Bank for 2013. Celent selected ACLEDA, headquartered in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, based on its successful initiative to bring mobile financial services to consumers without banking relationships, which the bank accomplished using Mobiliti Reach™ from Fiserv."

Mobile banking passes 6 million . . . fast
"Using a mobile phone for banking passed through 6 million users in Australia in the September quarter 2012, which was six months faster to that mark than Internet banking a white paper has revealed. While Internet banking took 15 quarters (3.75 years) to be adopted by 6 million users in Australia, mobile banking took only 13 quarters (3.25 years) to reach the same mark."

Banks moving towards mobile banking
"Bankers and software designers are meeting in Singapore to discuss how to take advantage of smartphones and tablets to expand their business. Banks are shifting investment, from brick and mortar branches packed with staff to slick IT solutions. Singapore software company Tagit is tailoring solutions differently for emerging markets like Indonesia and the Philippines, and banks with established networks in developed countries like Japan and Australia."

New Research Reveals China’s Potential for a Mobile Banking Revolution
"Researcher Patrick Ainslie calls it ‘handshakes over hetongs’ (the Mandarin word for ‘contract’). It’s an opportunity, an open challenge even, to reach 250 million people in China and potentially transform their lives. Ainslie is part of a team of researchers at New York-based social enterprise Reboot, which recently published a study, based on extensive field interviews, on designing financial services for China’s marginalized groups."

The Moving Target of Mobile Banking Service
"When my colleagues and I talk about mobile banking, we are struck by how many banks operating in mature markets could learn from Africa. Despite the infrastructure challenges – and in some ways because of them – many African banks display a real commitment to innovation in service. Standard Bank of South Africa, for example, is working to provide “inclusive banking” – banking services for the previously unbanked. These customers may not own smartphones, but they can now deposit money and pay for utilities using the phones they have."

Mozido Appeals To Politicos For Action On Mobile Banking
"Gregory Corona, president and chief executive officer of Mozido LLC, has reached out to two top administration officials to run interference for his company with the Bank of Jamaica over a mobile banking deal with the credit union league that has been stalled by regulatory review. Texas-based Mozido operates a local subsidiary, Mozido Jamaica, managed by Kavin Hewitt."

Only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference
"With only three weeks left to register for the third Annual Mobile Banking Southern Africa Conference 2013, we invite all financial, retail and IT professionals dealing with mobile banking and mobile payments to secure their seats at this high powered event. Registrations are filling up and the conference once again promises to be a full-house."

Mobile banking market in China growing rapidly, report finds
"There are 150 million Chinese using mobile banking services, transacting more than US550ドル billion a year through their mobile devices, according to a Celent report published yesterday. China thus accounts for 40% of mobile banking users worldwide. By 2014, the Mobile Banking Trends in China report estimates the number of users to reach nearly 500 million and transaction volume to exceed US1ドル.8 trillion."

Mobile banking sees a surge of new entrants
"During the quarter ending September 2012, the branchless banking segment saw more than 31.4 million transactions and Rs139 billion was managed through branchless banking channels, according to the State Bank of Pakistan. In an analysis of this fast growing segment, the SBP reports that branchless banking players registered a growth of 25% in mobile wallets; 7% in number of agents; 11% in number of transactions and 21% in value transacted during the July-September 2012 quarter."

Mobile banking rings up net victory
"THE number of Australians now using mobile banking has exceeded 6 million, with the pace of take-up coming at a faster rate than internet banking. While it took nearly four years for the 6 million figure to be reached for internet banking users, mobile banking hit this number in a little over three years, according to new figures released by financial services consultancy the Market Intelligence Strategy Centre."

Vipera in mobile banking project with Italian retail bank
"Vipera said it has been awarded a mobile banking project with an Italian retail bank, in conjunction with leading professional services firm. Vipera did not name the Italian retail bank, the company it has co-operated with to win the deal, or the value of the contract. The project would allow the bank to offer its customers full access to their bank account details enabling them to make credit card and utility bill payments and to instantly transfer funds anywhere in the world, it said."

QIB unveils its new look Mobile Banking application
"QIB - the leading Islamic bank in Qatar - has unveiled its new look Mobile Banking application which enables customers to access a wide range of services via their smartphones. QIB Mobile Banking is available on the iPhone, BlackBerry and smartphones using the 'Android' operating system. QIB Customers now have access to an extensive array of services that can be accessed anytime, anywhere."

Seven ways mobile phones have changed lives in Africa
"A little over a decade ago there were about 100,000 phone lines in Nigeria, mostly landlines run by the state-owned telecoms behemoth, NITEL. Today NITEL is dead, and Nigeria has close to 100 million mobile phone lines, making it Africa's largest telecoms market, according to statistics by the Nigerian Communications Commission. Across the rest of the continent the trends are similar: between 2000 and 2010, Kenyan mobile phone firm Safaricom saw its subscriber base increase in excess of 500-fold. In 2010 alone the number of mobile phone users in Rwanda grew by 50%, figures from the country's regulatory agency show."

Mobile banking accounts registered 37% increase
"The country’s number of mobile banking accounts has reached at 1.45 million, experiencing a remarkable growth of 37 per cent during the quarter ending June 30,2012,a state bank official has said. The official said the accounts? activity level has also improved substantially during the second quarter (April-June) 2012 as the number of active accounts increased by 66 per cent."

Banking reinvented
"Mobile technology is forcing a complete reinvention of the banking world, with demand for new services through a more interconnected community of users, businesses and services. The mobile generation has profound implications for South African banks, and banking users. South African banks have historically enjoyed a reputation for pioneering online and electronic banking services. The rate of innovation appeared to be stagnating in recent years, but the last 12 months have seen major developments in online banking, and set the scene for another renaissance in electronic banking."

Chinese Banks Need to Focus More on Mobile Banking - Executives
"Chinese banks need to focus on leveraging technologies such as mobile services as they shift more toward consumption-based lending, said banking executives at the World Economic Forum in Tianjin Tuesday. Such a shift is important for Chinese banks which have relied heavily on VIP or high net worth clients, said Ma Weihua, chief executive officer of China Merchants Bank Co. (3968.HK). "I.T. is like ..."

USAID prods mobile money use
"THE US, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the country’s mobile money service providers aim to increase the number of mobile money users in the country by 1 million when they launched a new partnership dubbed 'Scaling Innovations in Mobile Money' yesterday."

Mobile payment to improve banking services
"The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) says there is need to ensure that anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regulations are in place in the advent of mobile payment systems in the country. BoZ deputy governor for administration Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula says with mobile payment solutions being on an increase, vices that can jeopardise the process are likely to occur."

M-banking poised for explosive growth in UK
"One-third of UK consumers expect to be using smartphones to do all their banking by 2020, while two-thirds of banks expect everyone to be using mobile banking in some capacity by 2017, according to a report released by business technology provider Avanade this week."

St George launches latest mobile, online banking services
"The St George Banking Group has unveiled its latest innovations in mobile banking services with the launch of new features to its mobile banking app and online banking services which it says now allows customers to open a savings or transaction account via their smartphone in just 60 seconds and start using the account immediately."

Mobile Banking: Is it a Banking Solution To The Unbanked in Africa?
"Banking the unbanked especially in African countries has for along time been a major predicament. Due to the low level of technology, illiteracy, under development, and lack of proper awareness, the banking sector has been lagging unlike others such as IT and other sectors in the industry."

Emerging economies embrace banking innovations
"When it comes to reaching the unbanked in developing countries, there's room for all players. Worldwide, the unbanked population is estimated at 2.5 billion adults, including 80 percent in Africa, 40 percent in India and 64 percent in rural China. The established means of reaching out to the unbanked in such markets is the ATM. And research indicates that over the next five years, China, India and Africa will be three of four biggest markets for deployment of new or replacement ATMs — with North America rounding out the list."

Connected consumers go where banks haven't
"iWallet, PayPal, apps may grow faster than banking innovation. The banking industry has been given a warning: beware of new competitors stealing traditional financial services via technology. Consumers with mobile devices have the potential to access financial services outside bank offerings, says Bob Hayward, a keynote speaker at the Retail Financial Services Forum in Sydney last week."

Rise of the 'Smartphonatics'
"A recent report by ACI Research and the Aite Group identified a new category of smartphones users, or “Smartphonatics”, who change their financial, payment and shopping behaviour as a result of owning a smartphone. The report is based on a survey of 4 200 consumers, in 14 countries, in the first quarter of this year. The survey was conducted in order to gain insight into the worldwide adoption patterns for mobile banking and payments."

CIBC Continues its Leadership in Mobile Financial Services with the Launch of New Text Message Alerts
"CIBC today announced it has launched powerful new text message (SMS) customer Alerts, continuing its leadership in mobile financial services. The new Alerts bring important financial information to clients at a time and place that's convenient for them through their smartphone, or through email or online banking, to help clients manage their day to day finances. The Alerts range from reminding clients about upcoming credit card payments and due dates so they don't inadvertently miss a payment, to information on future-dated bills or transfers to ensure clients have adequate balances and can avoid late payment fees. Text message Alerts to mobile devices, combined with CIBC's award-winning Mobile Banking, empowers clients to effectively and conveniently manage their finances, wherever they are."

Sungard introduces new ‘solution’ to improve banking services
"As the global financial crisis continues to take its toll on financial institutions and countries worldwide, Sungard introduces its Ambit Core Banking Solution that aims to help banks improve their management processes. Ambit Core Banking Solution “is a universal banking system that provides comprehensive instrument and product coverage for retail deposits and lending, commercial banking, trade finance, and treasury management,” Sungard said in a statement."

Kiwibank’s iPhone App Puts A Service Rep In Everyone’s Pocket
"Kiwibank has released its mobile banking app for iPhones. The app is part of a suite of online innovations pouring from the bank intended to revolutionize how people bank online. Kiwibank’s first iPhone app has been much anticipated. While most of the world’s big financial institutions have had smart phone apps deployed for months, even years, Kiwibank was among the few holdouts. But it was worth the wait."

FNB banking app hits transactions landmark
"Since launching its mobile banking application on the 20th July 2011, FNB has seen over R4 billion in transactions go through the app. This is according to Michael Jordaan, who announced the figures this afternoon (26 June 2012) via his Twitter account."

Sun National Plays Large in the Cloud
"Say 'cloud' and 'businesses uses' to a group of 12 bank IT execs, and you'll likely get a dozen different answers. But one common thread in the debate is the cloud's vast potential as a low-cost leveler-smaller institutions without big bank scale or stomach for unknown risk can tackle big projects. Sun National Bank, an institution with assets of about 3ドル.4 billion and more than 60 offices, adopted a private cloud solution to roll out its new mobile banking service last year, and is currently evaluating cloud options for existing services, such as telephone banking."

The NFC-Based Mobile Wallet Isn't Science Fiction... Yet
"There's plenty of talk behind the concept of mobile NFC payments enabled through a smartphone-as-digital-wallet. The concept of the mobile wallet is linked to the future of mobile banking and payments in general.

But talk is cheap. The closest thing to widespread contactless payments still requires a physical card with MasterCard PayPass or Visa PayWave baked in. The Samsung Nexus S, running Google's Android OS, is one of the only mass market phones in the U.S. with an independent NFC chip built in. Apple said it won't include NFC in its next iPhone one day, while the next, a report said it will. Meanwhile carriers, vendors and payments providers are all racing to build their own widespread network of NFC payments.

China's Mobile Banking Penetration Reaches 52%
"According to the "2011 China Mobile Banking Industry User Survey" recently issued in Beijing by Chinese mobile internet portal 3G.cn, as of February 2011, mobile banking reached a penetration rate of 52.2% among Chinese mobile internet users, compared to 36.8% in July 2010. The report also shows that the industry is making inroads amongst the middle-age demographic, and users' personal monthly income level continues to rise."

Payment made easy with OCBC Android app
"OCBC Bank yesterday said that it has launched a mobile banking application, allowing its customers using Android phones to scan barcodes to obtain billing details and make payments from their OCBC Bank accounts. The bank said its customers have started downloading the application, OCBC Android Mobile Banking, from the Android Market since March 26."

FNB dominates cellphone banking
"First National Bank's {FNB's) cellphone banking offering has the biggest slice of the mobile banking market in SA, according to the latest Reserve Bank industry report. Every six months, the Reserve Bank releases a consolidated industry payment report, and the latest report indicates the bank is the market leader in the cellphone banking space."

Follow the Money: Mobile Banking Research in Afghanistan
"There's a moment at the end of every field study that's a mixture of relief and regret. It usually comes when the field study is wrapping up and the team is heading to the next destination -- shortly after take off, around the time that the food cart makes its way down the aisle and you're asked for chicken or beef -- or in this case lamb. It is the first proper reflection of whether the months of planning, the blood, buckets of sweat and tears have yielded enough to make it all worthwhile, and it's tinged with an acknowledgement that the opportunity for just one more interaction has passed."

Banks see cellphone transactions as path to growth
"A SENIOR executive at FNB has predicted an explosion of mobile banking in SA and Africa as banks use the cellphone to increase growth in the unbanked and low- income market. The CEO of FNB Smart Services, Yolande van Wyk, said in a recent paper on mobile commerce that mobile banking had become the ideal delivery channel to facilitate and deliver financial transactions and information."

China Bank launches mobile e-banking service
"China Banking Corporation (China Bank) has launched its own brand of speed banking 'China Bank Online for Mobile’ a mobile-optimized version of its award-winning internet banking service. China Bank’s mobile portal, www.chinabank.ph/mobile, is accessible via all Internet-enabled cellular phones and mobile devices such as iPad and iPod Touch."