Monthly Archive for January, 2012

Mobile Payments Will Soar in the Next Three Years

Opinions vary in the mobile industry regarding the projected growth of mobile payments. Some expect mobile payment systems to grow slowly, over the next 4-5 years. Others, like Juniper Research, are more optimistic, projecting the global mobile payments market to reach $670 billion over the next three years.

Acquity Group created an infographic which paints a rosier picture, showing that while currently only 14% of companies offer mobile payment/commerce solutions, that number will quickly grow to 29% by next year and will grow into a $670 billion business by 2015.

 

Click here to view the full infographic.

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January 31, 2012 | Analysts, Payments and Research | 0 Comments

Canadians Embracing Mobile Devices and Mobile Banking

A recent poll for CIBC conducted by Harris/Decima revealed strong growth in smartphone ownership and affinity for mobile banking services among Canadian consumers.

The poll found that:

  • One-third (33%) of Canadians now own a smartphone.
  • Ownership is growing across age groups –  with 51% of Canadians between the ages of 18-24, and 35% of Canadians between 45-54, saying they own a smartphone.
  • Among all smartphone owners, one-quarter (25%) have used mobile banking.
  • About 1 in 5 Canadians (21%) who own a smartphone believe it will replace their computer in the next couple of years.

Younger Canadians are leading the country when it comes to mobile banking: among 25-34 year olds who own a smartphone, 36% have used mobile banking, and more than one-quarter (28%) believe their smartphone will replace their personal computer sometime in the next couple of years.

These results are consistent with data cited in recent MobileFI blog posts, which showed strong proclivity for mobile banking among Generation Y consumers in America and the United Kingdom.

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January 30, 2012 | Adoption, Analysts, International, mobile banking and Research | 0 Comments

Banks to Expand Mobile Banking and Payments in 2012

Financial institutions (FIs) are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities, according to a recent Forrester survey which evaluated the plans of ten top-tier U.S. banks and credit unions.

“After several years of technology-driven expectations, mobile banking is finally seeing sustained traction in the United States, and banks have rolled out support broad enough to enable consumers with nearly any mobile device to access basic banking functionality,” said Brad Strothkamp, vice-president, principal analyst, eBusiness and Channel Strategy, Forrester Research. “As consumers gain confidence with the channel, their needs are shifting from simple functionality like account balances and ATM locators to transactions like bill payment and account transfers.”

The Forrester survey indicates that FIs are moving to meet these more transactional needs by delivering increasingly robust mobile banking and payment solutions: Read More »

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January 26, 2012 | alerts, Analysts, mobile alerts, mobile banking, Payments, remote deposit capture and Research | 0 Comments

Financial Companies Will Define Mobile Payments & Commerce

Mobile industry analyst Chetan Sharma recently published his 2012 Mobile Industry Predictions Survey of mobile industry insiders, which solicited the opinions of 150 mobile executives, developers and other industry “insiders” to gauge which mobile areas most bear watching in 2012.

Some interesting findings from Sharma’s survey are:

  • For the second year running, mobile payments and mobile commerce were selected as the top 2 “breakthrough categories” for 2012.
  • 60% of those surveyed said mobile payments would experience a breakthrough this year, and 40% said the same for mobile commerce.
  • Nearly 40% of respondents said financial institutions will drive the payments and commerce space, up from slightly more than 30% last year.
  • Despite a year of moves by mobile operators worldwide to control mobile payments, the number of respondents who believe mobile operators will control mobile payments actually dropped, from 17% last year to 12% this year.
  • Of mobile payment methods, proximity-based payments (43%) and selling goods via mobile phones (34%) were predicted to get the most traction in 2012.
  • More than 2 in 5 respondents believe that the mobile web will become more relevant when compared to mobile applications, while only about one-quarter believe that apps will continue to dominate.

FIs interested in learning how to define the mobile payments and commerce space should download the Clairmail white paper, Mobile Payments: Driving New Revenue from the Mobile Channel.

 

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January 25, 2012 | Analysts, Industry, Payments and Research | 0 Comments

Over 20% of Smartphone Users in Europe Access Bank Accounts via Mobile

This week, comScore and Telefónica Germany announced the results of the “Connected Europe” study, which highlights how smartphones and tablets are shifting media consumption in Europe.

With regards to mobile banking, the study shows that over 20% of smartphone users in Europe accessed their bank accounts with their mobile devices and 12% used electronic payment services to pay for goods from their mobile phone.

With increasing smartphone and tablet adoption rates, the financial services industry must prepare for significant disruption to the remote channel environment, particularly all-things digital (mobile, tablet, smart TV, etc.).

Ubiquity and mobility have never before been so relevant, and it represents an enormous opportunity for financial institutions that can understand and leverage this change in behavior to their advantage; those who do not work to understand this emerging reality risk being left behind.

Key findings from the study include: Read More »

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January 24, 2012 | Adoption, Analysts, Europe, mobile banking and Research | 0 Comments

The Value Of Mobile Payments Is Beyond Transactions

Forbes.com recently published the following article written by Carl Tsukahara, Clairmail’s Chief Marketing Officer and Vice President of Products:

Carl Tsukahara, Clairmail Chief Marketing Officer

In 2011, the mobile payments space had a wild ride:

  • Verizon blocked Google Wallet from the newest flagship phone of Android, the Galaxy Nexus, no doubt in support of Verizon’s own payments initiative with AT&T, T-Mobile and Discover called Isis.
  • PayPal was rumored to preparing its own mobile wallet service.
  • Square fundamentally changed its still-new model of transactions by introducing a mobile payments system that centers on the consumer-merchant relationship rather than the payment itself.

All of this comes at a time when there is no single standard for new mobile payments technology. Isis and Google are backing conflicting versions of the same technology (Near Field Communications, or NFC), and equally significant players like PayPal are going entirely different directions with cloud-based (rather than hardware-based) mobile payment initiatives. Square and Intuit have circumvented the traditional payments network with their own respective additions to the transactional process (Square’s reader and Intuit’s GoPayment device). Read More »

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January 23, 2012 | Byline, CM in the News, Opinion and Payments | 0 Comments
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