Lets speak a little more on what Mobile Banking is. Mobile banking is not just online banking on a mobile device. In just this year alone, it has grown to new ways of transferring money and peer-to-peer payments are becoming more and more accepted. The greatness of mobile is that it offers the opportunity to target and hit new customers without access to, or who have turned away from, tradition banks. Its innovation and simplicity in engaging with the financial institution at anytime - be it paying bills or checking current account balances. On the other side the bank can reach the customers through different alerts. They can be alerted of low balances or potentially fraudulent activity. Mobile also offers the ability to provide location based services or use of the camera for banking such as QR codes or deposit capture- these are distinct services that are not found through any other channel.
Mobile Banking: Will Smartphones Replace Your Wallet
So the question is asked, why is it taking so long for this to be adapted to many banks? According to Sara Palmbush of Backbase to figure out why adoption is happening so slowly you need to step away from the issue of whether or not banks are allowing mobile access and ask other questions. When you do this it appears, the real problem for banks is not deciding if, or, why they should offer mobile services but rather what kind of mobile 'customer experience' they need to provide. This is then coupled with the question of how banks will prepare their systems to connect in the future with the tech savvy under 35s. Its this performance anxiety which is dragging the mobile banking service offerings down.
According to Justine Ealy of Analysis security remains a legitimate concern. Less than half of mobile users believe that mobile banking process to be secure according to CNET NEWS. Many users have expressed concern that their usernames, passwords, and account information available to hackers. ALthough hacking has ben detected in isolated situations, many problems around the transport and storage of user identification data have been addressed with the addition of required codes such as SafePass. In fact, the more you investigate mobile banking security, the more its clear that it is no less secure than other methods of banking. True, phones are small and easy to lose or be stole; but laptops are nearly as portable and make good targets for theft, as well. As Elinor Mills points out in her article "Mobile Banking: Safe, At Least for Now," checks can be forged and credit cards, easily stole. Any financial transaction brings with it some inherent risk. If anything, one could argue that mobile banking via a smart-phone is a more secure option, because it allows users to have immediate alerts and access when anything appears amiss.
Technology for the retail, consumer baking industry has come a long way since the first ATMs were rolled out in the late 1960s. As information becomes more available, smart, mobile devices more affordable, and security more reliable, I believe that mobile banking will be the way of the future.
3 comments:
i am definitely wondering, as your post seems to be when mobile banking is going to reach us in the US. It has been so successful in developing countries such as Kenya and the Philippines, and we boast more advanced technologies than both of them. I think strangely, the issue might be that our technology is more advanced, as well as our knowledge about how it works. I think that this is what causes fears about security problems and hacking into mobile banking networks. We already have the infrastructure to send payments online via laptop computers connected to the Internet, coupled with wide ownership and access to the Internet and computers throughout our country. Mobile banking does not seem to be as necessary for extricating Americans from time consuming errands as it does for foreigners who have infrastructural and resource based obstacles impeding their banking transactions.
The reason that in class we focused on mobile banking in developing countries is because most of the major banks in the U.S. already have mobile banking methods. Using a computer to access your bank account is nothing new. Heck, my account with Tompkins Trust (the local bank in Ithaca) has many of the online options discussed in your article. The reason small banks like Tompkins Trust do not have mobile applications is because they are expensive to create, implement, and upkeep. Especially in these shaky economic times, when banks are experiencing difficulties, the idea of implementing mobile applications is not one of their top priorities. I agree with you in that mobile banking with smartphones will be used in the future, but not until the economy begins to improve.
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