News

SURVEY: Sybase 365 releases mobile banking results

October 5, 2008

• "Mobile banking is not secure."  In 2007, 63 percent of European respondents, 83 percent of Australian respondents and more than half of respondents from the Americas who use mobile banking services said mobile banking is secure or very secure. And the 2008 survey found that 71 percent of banks are using mobile alerts to help boost consumer confidence in mobile banking services. Customers' mobile devices can actually help improve security because they can be used as an alternative to PIN tokens for identification. Mobile alerts can also be set up to notify customers of fraudulent activity on an account, enabling a rapid response leading to increased confidence for mobile services.
• "There is little consumer demand for mobile banking solutions." One in three mobile users says he would like to deal with finances "on the move."  Almost one-quarter of consumers surveyed say they would consider switching banks if they were offered mobile banking services.
• "For financial institutions, mobile banking is just another way to charge customers for additional services." Some 87 percent of respondents to the 2008 survey cited the reason their bank implemented mobile banking services was to improve the overall customer experience.
• "For financial institutions, mobile banking is only about cost savings." While it is true that mobile banking can lead to cost savings, the cost savings are found on the customer, not the FI, side. The 2008 survey revealed 65 percent of FIs that focus on growth from existing customers have introduced mobile banking to reduce customer-service costs. Many FIs also are using mobile solutions as a way to extend customer services, such as PIN reminders or dispute resolution, and are recognizing mobile as a new channel to reach customers with marketing, promotions and related offers.
• "When financial institutions talk about mobile banking they're referring to the ability to check an account balance or stock prices via a mobile device." Nearly three-quarters of the 2008 survey respondents say they allow customers to transfer funds and nearly 30 percent say they allow customers to pay bills via a mobile device.
• "In terms of implementation, there are no drawbacks to using an ATM network to integrate to a bank." This can appear to be an attractive solution, as the initial integration effort is generally a little lower than integrating to core banking. However, going this route ignores the inherent limitations of using the ATM network. An ATM network is a pull-based paradigm, which by its very nature has serious limitations for mobile banking. The heart of mobile banking is Alerts/Notifications, and these are best realized in a push-based model. Eighty-three percent of respondents to the 2008 survey say FIs are looking to integrate Internet and mobile-banking technologies and systems.