Digital Transactions reports that two recent research projects reveal new opportunities in mobile banking and same-day bill payments for financial institutions.
According to new research from Javelin Strategy & Research, same-day bill payments are up 45 percent from 2007. But banks and billers should not count on continued fee increases. Javelin projects fees will dip to $7.96 next year and fall to $7.13 by 2014. The reason for the decline: a strengthening economy. As economic conditions improve, last-minute payments become more a matter of convenience than of necessity.
But banks can drive down transaction costs by concentrating on converting more of their customers to mobile banking, says separate research from VeriSign Inc., Fiserv Inc. and M-Com, which provides software for mobile banking. So far, banks have targeted mobile banking only at users of online banking, the research found. But focusing on that limited pool of consumers ignores a potential customer base of 55 million who are using far more expensive channels to interact with their FIs.
In a survey of 501 customers who don't regularly use online banking, 60 percent said they would use at least one mobile banking service during any given month, if such an option were offered.
