"The financial technology industry gathered this past week in New York City for Finovate Fall this week, and, as one would expect, mobile was a dominant theme among the new solutions unveiled.

A number of solutions on display were aimed at simplifying and optimizing the mobile experience for both bank employees and customers." Continue Reading

Citibank exec: Tablet moves beyond being a lean-back device
"A Citibank executive at the Mobile Marketing Summit: Holiday Focus 2013 said that the company is adapting its mobile banking efforts to meet the evolving consumer relationship with tablets. In the session “How mobile and tablet banking is rapidly evolving customer relationships,” the exec explained how tablets are becoming more of an on-the-go device that drives the need for improved mobile banking offerings. Citibank views tablets and smartphones as part of a larger ecosystem that blends multiple channels to provide consumers with a seamless banking experience."

Banks May Soon Earn Ad Dollars from Mobile Platforms
"Millennials dominate mobile banking, according to a Nielsen study Telmetrics released this week, the xAd/Telmetrics U.S. Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study. (Millennials are people born from the early 1980s to the early 2000s.) The report shows that nearly half of all mobile banking users are under the age of 35, and one-third indicated that smartphones were the most important device for their banking needs. Nielsen surveyed 2,000 smartphone and tablet users in the U.S. about their "path-to-purchase" behavior on mobile devices, as it did last year. This year for the first time, the company gathered information about consumers' use of mobile and online banking."

Mobile payments study kicks off 2013 research series on consumer payment, banking trends
"Mercator Advisory Group has released the first of eight studies in its CustomerMonitor Survey Series 2013 Insight reports — "Mobile Payments 2013: Young Adults and Minorities Take the Lead." Findings are based on primary research gauging consumer behavior and preferences in regard to various payment methods and banking channels. The survey included 3,003 consumers in a representative sampling of the U.S. census demographic profile of American adults. Surveys were conducted online between May 28 and June 6."

5 Ways Mobile Banking Is Evolving: Finovate
"The financial technology industry gathered this past week in New York City for Finovate Fall this week, and, as one would expect, mobile was a dominant theme among the new solutions unveiled. A number of solutions on display were aimed at simplifying and optimizing the mobile experience for both bank employees and customers. The notable prevalence of mobile-first solutions showed how quickly innovation occurring in the mobile channel, and pointed the way towards a future where consumers can conduct most of their financial lives on their tablets and smartphones. We take a look at a number of solutions from the conference that show new use cases for mobile and improve the customer experience."

Are mobile banking apps secure?
"A recent experience with a credit card app has a Wake County man questioning if his account information is secure when using his cell phone. You can access these mobile banking apps on your smart phone and tablet. Justin Frechette wanted to check his Capital One credit card account, but instead he was able to see someone else's activity. 'Logged in made sure the payment I recently made posted to the account and that the account balance was zero,' Justin said. But he didn't see a zero balance. Instead, lots of charges that didn't belong to him."

BofA's Mobile User Gains Follow Xoom, Industry Shift
"Bank of America's (BAC) mobile user gains come amid an industry shift that is reducing the need for branches and ATMs and lifting mobile payment firms like Xoom Corp. (XOOM) and Western Union (WU). BofA saw its mobile users jump 28% to 13.2 million from the second quarter of 2012 to Q2 2013, according to a presentation Wednesday. Mobile transactions are up 4%. Meantime, the lender has reduced its banking centers by 5% to 5,328 nationwide, and direct-contact transactions have fallen 12%."

Hottest tech sector is all about money
"Finovate, the giant financial technology conference, blew into town yesterday, selling out the Manhattan Center on West 34th Street. Among the hottest trends this year were applications and products for banks, and—perhaps not surprisingly—fraud prevention systems. As more of the nation's banking system moves online, preventing fraud is an increasing concern for executives. 'All the thought leaders are here,' said Sunil Madhu, founder and CEO of Manhattan-based fraud prevention startup Socure, which sells its service to companies. Its service is aimed at allowing banks to verify consumers' identities."

Yalamanchili ships white-label mobile wallet app for banks
"Global payments solutions provider, Yalamanchili, has launched a white label mobile wallet application for global banking and financial institutions operating on its next generation payments platform. The wallet provides Yalamanchili's clients with a comprehensive and fully customisable mobile banking facility capable of supporting international money transfers, the management of multiple card accounts and a variety of mobile value added services, rewards and location based offers."

SIMPLE WILL START GRANTING VENMO USERS EARLY ACCESS TO ITS MOBILE BANKING APP
"Venmo, the popular payments app that lets friends pay each other via mobile for free, is offering its users early access to Simple, the mobile banking app that offers the same amenities big banks do, like checking accounts and debit cards, but without the traps of hidden fees and high interest rates. Simple and Venmo previously partnered in July, when Simple became the first banking service to offer its customers Venmo Touch, which allows you to make payments in third-party apps with a single tap."

Mobile banking expert Wolman to speak at ISU
"David Wolman, a contributing editor for Wired.com and author of "The End of Money," will speak about the impact of going cashless at a free lecture Sept. 19 at Iowa State University."

Forrester: How do the top U.S. banks rank in their mobile services?
"Mobile is the new black: In 2011, the number of smartphone subscriptions in the U.S. grew by about 50 percent. Today, U.S. smartphone penetration is approximately 40 percent. This technological sea change is having an impact on the banking industry: In the past five years, U.S. mobile banking adoption has more than quadrupled, hitting 17 percent by the end of 2011. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 33 percent."

Finovate Spring 2012: Digital Financial Services Innovation
"I attended Finovatethis week to get a preview of new financial services digital technology vendors. I say preview because if you have ever been to Finovate, you know it’s a little like speed dating, where 63 vendors have 7 minutes each to show you their best moves. The themes at Finovate this year were not much different as previous years with the focus being on mobile banking, personal financial management, and payments. However, this year, a few new topics emerged: rewards, coupons, and mobile banking services for Pre-Paid Visas customers. Apparently, Pre-Paid Visas are the new black."

What will be the biggest mobile banking trends of 2012?
"Pieter De Villiers - CEO of Clickatell - told MyBroadband BusinessTech that the biggest mobile banking trends this year will be person-to-person payments, mobile cheque capture and customised apps. As you can see, businesstech.co.za is a South African site, but Clickatell is a global company - 'the largest Online SMS Gateway covering 819 networks in 221 countries and territories'."

RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. Extends Mobile Banking to Android(TM), Expands Online Banking and Mobile Banking Platforms
"RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. today unveiled enhanced online and mobile banking platforms for Citizens Bank and Charter One customers, with updates including person-to-person payments on the web and expanded mobile functionality that is now available to Android users in addition to iPhone users. 'Our customers have embraced the ease and convenience of online and mobile banking, and these enhancements are a direct result of our commitment to invest in the services that customers tell us are important to them,' said Brad Conner, Vice Chairman of Consumer Banking, RBS Citizens Financial Group. 'People are busier than ever, and we are committed to putting our customers in control and showing them how to take care of their banking needs anytime and anywhere.'"

Global Study Identifies Impact of Smartphone Use on Mobile Banking and Payments
"A study of mobile banking and payment adoption rates in 14 countries by ACI Worldwide ACIW -1.30% and Aite Group has discovered a new category of consumer, known as Smartphonatics, that is driving the demand for mobile payments and banking. A Smartphonatic is someone who changes their shopping, financial and payment behavior as a result of owning a smartphone. The report identifies a stark difference between mobile adoption among Smartphonatics and other consumers: while 80 percent of Smartphonatics have used their smartphones for mobile banking only one-third of non-Smartphonatics report doing so. Similarly 70 percent of Smartphonatics have used their smartphones for mobile payments, less than a quarter of non-Smartphonatics have done so."

Citi to Sponsor U.S. Olympic Team, in Campaign Promoting Mobile Banking
"For the first time, Citi will sponsor the United States Olympic and Paralympic teams, in an effort that includes an advertising campaign that will begin on Monday to help the company support athletes and advertise its mobile-banking products. It joins a number of other financial-services firms as an Olympics sponsor, including Visa."

Mobile RDC First, Then Banking
"Mobile tech firm mFoundry’s looking to tap a niche’s niche—banks that are warming up to mobile financial services by offering remote deposit capture first, then rolling out full-fledged mobile banking later—by developing a new standalone mobile deposit solution that can seamlessly convert to full mobile. The product is aimed at banks that don’t have a mobile banking offering, enabling consumers to deposit checks via handsets. This app is pre-integrated with mobile banking capabilities, which can be rolled into the RDC app when the bank’s ready."

Mobile banking is primary channel for 13%
"Mobile banking is becoming the primary channel for interacting with the bank for a growing number of users. In May 2010 USAA reported that 38% of their mobile banking users considered mobile to be their primary interface with the bank. Now research firm Novarica has found that 13% of smartphone users consider mobile their primary means to check balances."

Forrester: Banks Must Innovate for Mobile Banking Growth to Continue
"Since 2007, mobile banking has more than doubled in use. According to analyst firm Forrester, this trend will continue, with usage again doubling by 2015, but analyst Emmet Higdon says that a few changes and realizations need to be made for mobile banking to really catch on.

According to Higdon, mobile banking lacks 'any clear differentiated functionality' and 'appeals most strongly to those consumers already inclined to use the mobile channel.' To really gain adoption, says Higdon, 'U.S. banks will need to enhance today's functionality significantly.'"

Finovate so far: the big themes in banking
"Some of the best minds in business are gathered at the London Business Design Centre today to witness cutting-edge financial and banking technology innovations at Finovate 2011. Chris Skinner kicked off the show by talking about what he sees as the top themes in innovation and the things he believes are having the biggest impact on banking."

Heartland Bank Launches iPhone App!
"G. Scott McComb, President and CEO of Heartland Bank is pleased to announce the launch of the iPhone App with Heartland Bank's Mobile Banking. Heartland Bank online banking customers can access their account information via SMS Texting, Web Browsing, or with the Heartland Mobile Banking App from the Apple Store!"

Comerica Unveils Mobile Banking Apps
"Comerica launched a Mobile Banking downloadable application (app) for the iPhone in the Apple App Store, and a downloadable app for the BlackBerry is also available. The downloadable apps for Comerica Mobile Banking allow customers to use their smart phones to securely view balances, check recent account activity, perform funds transfers, pay bills, and locate Comerica ATMs and banking centers, the Company said."

Banks Have Yet to Create the Killer App for Mobile Banking
"Although the use of mobile banking has grown from 5% of the U.S. online population in 2007 to 12% in the second quarter of 2010, according to a report released this week by Forrester senior analyst Emmett Higdon, such that 10 million Americans engage in mobile banking today, banks have yet to create the kind of 'killer app' that will make mobile banking truly appealing to bank customers."

In case you haven't heard the line-up for Finovate 2008 has been announced and it's stellar. Included in the list are mFoundry, mShift, Sybase, and Quicken.


Plus, if you're a member of BAMA, I have 5 promo codes (while supplies last) that I can give away to save you 250ドル off the price of admission. If you're interested simply login to the BAMA Group and send me a request via the LinkedIn message system.

Finovate 2008 Lineup

* BillShrink <billshrink.com>
* Boulevard R <boulevardR.com>
* CheckFree <checkfree.com>
* Checkpoint <checkpoint.com>
* Credit Karma <creditkarma.com>
* Digital Insight (Intuit) <digitalinsight.com>
* FiLife (Dow Jones/IAC) <filife.com>
* mFoundry <mfoundry.com>
* Mint <mint.com>
* MoneyAisle (NeoSaej) <moneyaisle.com>
* mShift <mshift.com>
* Inner8 <inner8.com>
* LendingClub <lendingclub.com>
* Pertuity Direct <pertuitydirect.com>
* Quicken Online (Intuit) <quicken.com>
* SmartHippo <smarthippo.com>
* Sybase 365 <sybase.com/365>
* Vidoop <vidoop.com>
* Wesabe <wesabe.com>
* WeSeed <weseed.com>
* Yodlee <yodlee.com>

About Finovate 2008

* Date: Oct. 14, 2008
* Place: New York, NY (Crowne Plaza Times Square)
* Cost: 995ドル through Sep. 30
* Website: finovate.com