Mobile Banking Hits Mainstream in 2009 Says TowerGroup

As economic concerns prompt consumers to manage their finances more closely, their desire for real-time access to- and control of- their aggregated financial information is increasing the urgency for banks to create a mobile banking channel. More broadly, the proliferation of mobile devices and smart phones symbolizes a pervasive, networked consumer market, revolutionizing many aspects of the consumer lifestyle, including finance. To this end, TowerGroup believes that mobility will be a major disruptive force in the financial services industry.

"Financial services executives understand that mobile banking is a bridge to much more feature-rich, value-added mobile payments solutions," said Charul Vyas, analyst in TowerGroup's Emerging Technologies practice. "The ubiquity of mobile devices, coupled with customers' craving for information on the go, is creating the perfect opportunity for banks to extend the reach of their banking services using the most personal possession for consumers - the mobile phone. At a time when every customer counts, mobile banking is an avenue for banks to reach new audiences and grow their business."

Most mobile banking strategies today are a result of banks' efforts to extend financial services to their existing Internet banking customer base as a next step in the evolution of the self-service business model. As time progresses, mobile banking will flourish and services will continue to evolve, moving beyond basic banking functionality like balance inquiries, location finders and intrabank fund transfers to more sophisticated applications that leverage the rich functionality of mobile devices.