The growing use of branchless banking, including mobile phone banking, is inevitable in most countries. But it's far less certain whether large numbers of the unbanked poor will use these alternative channels for financial services beyond payments, such as savings and credit. So says "Scenarios for Branchless Banking in 2020," a new report from CGAP, a microfinance group based at the World Bank, and the U.K.'s Department for International Development (DFID). READ MORE

U.S. Bank has announced that Visa Mobile is now available to select U.S. Bank debit card holders. Visa Mobile bundles alerts, offers, and a locator service -enabling cardholders to manage their U.S. Bank Visa accounts with near-real time updates. The application can be downloaded to mobile devices powered by Android, the Open Handset Alliance’s open source platform for mobile devices. READ MORE

41st Parameter says it is "forecasting increased mobile channel cybercrime and decreased effectiveness of traditional anti-fraud tactics, attributed to the rapid adoption of new mobile handsets and multiple operating systems. According to a November 2009 consumer study of U.S. mobile phone users, 18.9 percent of mobile consumers now use a smartphone, and an additional 49.2 percent plan to purchase an advanced mobile device within the next two years. Last week, Gartner reported smartphone sales in 3Q09 grew 12.8% year over year, reaching 41.1 million units." READ MORE

Discover has launched a new Discover Mobile iPhone application - now available as a free download from the iTunes App Store. The app allows a Discover cardholder to view account summary including current balance, etc., make a Discover card account payment, view recent transactions and rewards activity, and enroll in rewards programs.

M-Com has announced that ACLEDA Bank Plc has selected its BankAnywhere to power its mobile banking and payment services. ACLEDA will deploy M-Com’s BankAnywhere product within its secure data center in Phnom Penh and integrated to its Temenos T24 core banking system. The solution will enable ACLEDA customers to make person-to-person payments, pre-paid top up, utility bill payments and manage their finances in both Khmer and English scripts. READ MORE

PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit union service organization, has launched new iPhone and iPod touch mobile banking applications. According the PSCU, "his latest capability will help credit unions attract Gen Y and other member segments who are avid iPhone/iPod users. It also builds brand recognition through credit union logo visibility on the member's mobile device and customized iPhone application in the iTunes store."

Yesterday, CO-OP Financial Services announced that it has added the Apple iPhone to the roster of devices that can use its CO-OP Mobile banking software. Customers of credit unions served by CO-OP now can simply download the “CO-OP” application from the Apple iTunes Store to start performing mobile banking activity such as verifying balances, viewing transaction history and transfering funds between accounts.

International mobile banking solution provider, M-Com, announced today that it has been positioned by Gartner Inc. in the ‘Leaders’ quadrant of the Magic Quadrant for North American Mobile Retail Banking report.

“In my opinion, our positioning in this report mirrors what our customers and partners have been saying since we first launched mobile payment services in 2002,” comments M-Com CEO and Founder, Adam Clark. “I believe it is a testament to the dedication of our valued team and the commitment our customers and partners have had over the last decade in helping us build a better product for financial institutions”.

Citibank has launched Citi Mobile en Espanol to enable customers who prefer to bank in Spanish to do so from their smartphones. According to Citi, "the Spanish-language service lets customers manage their accounts, pay bills, locate Citibank branches and more - all from the convenience of their cell phones. Citibank is the first major U.S. bank to offer mobile banking in Spanish." READ MORE

A survey commissioned by VeriSign's Messaging and Mobile Media Division (in collaboration with Fiserv and M-Com) of more than 500 U.S. mobile phone users finds that financial institutions should mine the untapped market of offline-banking consumers as a potential target audience for mobile banking and payment services.

According to the survey, sixty percent of consumers not currently using online banking would be interested in using at least one mobile banking service if it was offered during a typical month. The survey also shows that non-online-banking consumers are heavy users of traditional bank channels: nearly two-thirds reported contacting their financial institution once a week or more through one or more bank channels such as contact centers and interactive voice response systems. These are among the most costly customer service channels. READ MORE

ClairMail has announced Version 4 of its mobile banking platform designed to help financial institutions realize the strategic potential of mobile banking. According to ClairMail, "this new release of the product delivers game changing capabilities in the three most critical areas of mobile banking solutions, the ability to use mobile to drive to 100% coverage of the bank's customers, the ability to proactively deliver personalized content to deepen customer engagement, and the need for a simple, yet powerful, converged customer experience to deliver comprehensive services and technology through a unified and streamlined customer interface." READ MORE

Over on PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson takes a look at mFoundry with her interview of CEO Drew Sievers.

Carol writes:

In the short-term, the killer app for mFoundry will be frequent-use, closed-loop stored value cards – delivered not by NFC but by the use of 2D bar codes. The Starbucks test announced last week is the first of what Sievers claims will be multiple announcements coming from mFoundry in the near future. 

Wells Fargo has announced a new mobile customer-to-customer payment option that allows Wells Fargo customers to transfer money to each other via the Wells Fargo Mobile Banking service. READ MORE

ABI Research has published a mobile banking “report card” which assesses 29 banks on the discoverability and accessibility of their mobile banking services.

Senior analyst Mark Beccue says, “People are asking ‘Is mobile banking taking off in the US?’ For that to happen, two things are required: the services must be easy to find, and accessible to a broad range of consumers . So the ‘grades’ in this report card are not about subscriber numbers or any other measure of success, but about how consumer-friendly the banks’ offerings are.” READ MORE

International mobile banking solution provider, M-Com, announced today that it now has reached the milestone of 50 distinct one and two-way SMS (text messaging) alerts live in the market, the broadest range in the industry. M-Com has found that alert capabilities are increasingly in demand by consumers, as they provide relevant and timely information on account activity.  

“We are delighted to be leading the market when it comes to the breadth and range of one and two-way text message alerts being delivered to consumers by our financial institution customers,” comments M-Com CEO and Founder, Adam Clark.  “The research and M-Com’s proof points around the world demonstrate that the demand for such alerts is from both online consumers and those that have limited access to online banking channels.”

Earlier this week, Nokia announced its Nokia Money initiative. Here are a couple of interesting blog posts discussing its prospects:

• Nokia Money – An Uphill Battle by Mark Beccue, ABI Research.
• Finnish Line by Dave Birch, Consult Hyperion.

What do you think? Add your comments below!

Nokia has introduced Nokia Money - a new mobile service operated in conjunction with Obopay - calling it "a new mobile financial service offering consumers with mobile device access to basic financial services. For many consumers, this will be the first time they have had any access to such financial services."

According to the company, "Nokia Money has been designed to be as simple and convenient as making a voice call or sending an SMS. It will enable consumers to send money to another person just by using the person's mobile phone number, as well as to pay merchants for goods and services, pay their utility bills, or recharge their prepaid SIM cards (SIM top-up). The services can be accessed 24 hours a day from anywhere, meaning savings in travel costs and time. Nokia is building a wide network of Nokia Money agents, where consumers can deposit money in or withdraw cash from their accounts." READ MORE

Dave Birch has posted his latest Digital Money Forum podcast - this week interviewing Dion Lisle, Senior Vice President of Citibank’s Growth Ventures team. In this podcast, he talks about Citi's focus on the mobile future.

A new study from IDC Financial Insights - "Market Analysis: Retail Mobile Banking Vendor Survey Results – Mobile Banking Will Have Its Day, Just Not Today" - finds that "while current economic conditions may have curtailed both consumers' demand for mobile banking and banks' willingness to invest in it in the short term, things are still moving forward."

The study presents the results of a survey of 14 U.S. mobile banking solution providers with the objective to get a better understanding of who the key players are in mobile banking, what products and features they offer, and an overall look at industry trends. READ MORE

Over on PaymentsViews.com, Glenbrook's Carol Coye Benson provides an updated look at mobile payments provider Obopay as part of her series of interviews with many mobile payments companies. READ MORE

Citibank has announced it is expanding its mobile offering for US consumers to smartphones - including most BlackBerrys, Palm devices and iPhones. The bank says that "now, more Citibank customers can access and manage their bank accounts -- anytime and anywhere -- via their smartphone's mobile browser." READ MORE

Monitise Americas has announced the launch of its Mobile Money application on the App Store. According to the company, "Mobile Money gives iPhone and iPod touch users simple access to their account information using a dynamic application that is easy to navigate and safe to use. Mobile Money is a leading global solution for mobile banking and payment services. It is the world's first mobile banking ecosystem, empowering consumers to perform banking and payment transactions using a single consistent interface -- regardless of choice of mobile operator." READ MORE

In an article titled "Will that be cash, check or cell phone?" and subtitled "Mobile payments are the next frontier, but Americans are slow to adopt", Vanessa Richardson writes for CreditCards.com about the status of mobile payments in the US market - particularly for local, NFC-based payments using mobile phones at the point of sale.

comScore has released an inaugural study of the mobile financial services industry with a new report titled Mobile Financial Services: The Market Today & Opportunities for Tomorrow. The report provides a look at the current state of the industry and mobile financial users, and highlights areas for potential growth in this rapidly evolving market. READ MORE

ClairMail has announced a record number of new customers and a 200 percent year-over-year revenue increase for the second quarter ending June 2009. The company says this record quarter "continues the rapid growth trend the company has experienced in the past 12 months." READ MORE

Mobile Money Ventures has announced it has teamed up with Citibank to offer the first browser-based mobile banking solution in the Philippines. Citi Mobile Banking allows customers to securely manage their banking needs from their mobile handsets at any time and from any location. READ MORE

Visa and NeuStar have announced a strategic alliance they say is "designed to accelerate the adoption of mobile financial services globally." According to the companies, "the alliance will combine the reliability, scale and security of Visa’s global payment network with NeuStar’s carrier grade infrastructure which provides critical interconnection services to global network operators and their partners enabling seamless delivery of mobile services to consumers worldwide." READ MORE

Fiserv has announced that it is now providing its Mobile Money service to Bangkok Bank, one of the only banks in Thailand using an international mobile banking solution. Customers can now access Bangkok Bank's internet banking platform, Bualuang iBanking, on their mobile phone, enabling them to view account information, pay bills, transfer funds and top up their mobile phone account. The application is available in both English and Thai languages. Powered by technology from Atlanta-based M-Com, Inc. Mobile Money from Fiserv was launched in September 2008. READ MORE

In an article titled "Testing the limits of new banking technology", ContactlessNews reports on recent trials by US Bank of NFC-equipped mobile phones, contactless stickers, smartphone-based mobile banking and small contactless payment keyfobs.

Javelin Strategy & Research has released a new report that shows how it believes that financial institutions must create a Customer-Driven Architecture (CDA) that gives customers what research shows they want most: financial control. According to Javelin, "with many consumers’ finances in shambles, today’s economy is the perfect time to finally put customers in charge. The seven attributes of CDA outlined in the report shows bankers how to prioritize technology investments in order to achieve iPhone-like monetary control." READ MORE