Banks begin to pick up the pace...

In recent blogs I have discussed the growing hype and momentum around mobile banking. However, much of the innovation in mobile banking services so far has come from outside the banking industry itself, with O2 recently announcing its mobile wallet and Google launching its wallet offering next month. There are some banks that are ramping up their investment in services across the mobile channel, namely Barclaycard, but how many banks are seriously considering it?

Well according to a recent poll of banking professionals,  40% believe their banks will have a mobile banking operation up and running within the next 12 months, if there isn’t one in place already. The survey also found that nearly half (47%) of the respondents expect to see up to 30% of their customer base using these mobile banking services within the next three years.

Of the mobile channels banks are looking to invest in, mobile web is only slightly more popular than other options. 47% of respondents said their banks are considering mobile web while 40% said they will be investing in mobile apps and another 40% said mobile SMS.

Unsurprisingly, banks are primarily looking to cater for iPhone and Android phones as these smartphones are proving to be the most popular with consumers in the UK (according to recent YouGov statistics). A third of respondents say they are investing in the Apple iOS as part of their bank’s mobile strategy with another third saying they are investing in the Android operating system. By contrast, only a fifth of respondents said their bank is looking to provide a service for the BlackBerry operating system.

Interesting but again unsurprising is that the primary obstacles preventing banks from providing mobile services is their budgets (20%) and security (20%). While tight budgets may be more down to macroeconomic factors, security does not need to be a barrier to adoption. The threat of malicious activities aimed at mobile consumers will never go away but these risks should be tackled proactively.  Mobile applications and services may be safer than many realise and in the case of smartphone apps, they offer a degree of security in advance of the online world. Spreading this message will be crucial if banks want to fulfil the mobile potential.