Swiss vendor Temenos has inked a definitive deal to buy FE-Mobile, a UK-based m-banking specialist. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Formed in 2002, FE-Mobile sells downloadable application, XHTML browser and SMS offerings under the SecureLink brand.
The vendor has been a Temenos partner since 2007 when the SecureLink technology was integrated with ARC - which is part of the T24 platform - to help banks implement easy-to-use mobile banking services.
Mobile banking is widely predicted to see a surge in popularity over the next few years, with the advent of smartphones, all-you-can-consume data plans and better applications. Temenos cites ABI Research, which predicts that in 2015 about 407 million people worldwide will perform financial transactions with their banks using their mobile phones.
Andreas Andreades, CEO, Temenos, says: "The acquisition of FE-Mobile follows our identification of mobile banking as an area of strategic investment. Although it is well known that mobile banking has experienced quick adoption in emerging markets, we believe that following the online banking explosion, mobile banking is poised to become a global growth driver."