There’s been a long trail of activity in Mobile Banking & Payments over recent years and some banks would seem to be on the 2nd launch of mobile banking now – there is an upswell of focus on the mobile phone as a serious tool for payments and banking, with SMS and NFC featuring as the popular technologies.
That’s not so surprising when you remember 1) Mobile phones are poised to become the world’s first ubiquitous technology and 2) The cost to acquire customers means banks* are searching for the edge over the competition. But knowing there’s an opportunity and exploiting that opportunity successfully are two different things altogether.
In this wave of Mobile Banking initiatives I’m intrigued to see how the strategies of Banks, Mobile Operators and Retailers will unfold. I’m sure we will see more announcements like this one in the year ahead – I look forward to the fun of the game – who will be the key players and what tactics will they use to get ahead?
But I will close with two little warnings a)don’t lose sight of the fact that the internet is going mobile and so all your online investment can and should be leveraged not ignored when you get seduced by new technology standards for mobiles; b)mobile is one channel and in the customer’s mind it matters how you link that with your other channels so think that through before you get carried away in any one channel.
*Note: Not just banks, all consumer businesses are looking for an edge & many are competing with banks for the consumer relationship (by which they mean money)
Tags: future trends, innovation, m-commerce, online banking
