The Banking Anti-Crisis

“The brick and mortar bank branch system can only go so far. With cell phone service and a local shop handling the cash, mobile banking can reach every village and barrio in the developing world,” said Elizabeth Littlefield, CEO of CGAP.

In addition to Sprint, AT&T Mobility increased its efforts in electronic bill payment recently with its deal with CheckFree to offer the same online bill viewing and payment experience to online customers whether they are using AT&T’s Web site or one of the 3,000 or more sites supported by CheckFree.

“The goal was to get them more integrated with our products and services,” said Brian Daly, director of payment strategies at AT&T Mobility.

Fiserv, the parent company of CheckFree, said 23 percent of mobile phone users were using their phones to conduct financial activities. Earlier this month the company launched its Fiserv Mobile Money platform, an all-in-one mobile banking and payments solution that supports short message service (SMS), wireless application protocol (WAP) and downloaded mobile applications for conducting transactions.

The system is powered by technology from New Zealand-based Mobile Commerce Ltd. (M-Com). It is designed to allow financial institutions and billing organizations (such as service providers) to drive enrollment of offline customers to a more profitable mobile banking relationship. It can integrate with various core banking systems, online banking systems and electronic payments systems. It also leverages a financial institution's or biller's existing online security infrastructure, including existing credential management capabilities.

To show its commitment to the Fiserv partnership and to promoting mobile banking in the U.S. market, Serge Van Dam, vice president at M-Com, has relocated to Norcross, Ga., home of Fiserv’s Southeast regional headquarters.

In New Zealand, only about 4 percent of people pay their bills with a paper check. In the United States, approximately 51 percent pay by check. By partnering with CheckFree, the companies feel they are changing the game in the U.S. market.

“Looking for the best way to approach this market, we came to the strong conclusion we needed a company like M-Com who not only understands the nuances of the mobile space, but more important, the future of mobile,” said Calvin Grimes, mobile product manager at Fiserv. “By reaching outside the U.S. to a market leader like M-Com in the New Zealand and Pan-Asia markets, we can take advantage of the knowledge and capability they have today while the U.S. market develops.”

That experience includes mobile wallet and near field communications, which are in play today in New Zealand. “There are challenges in near field communications, because the merchant terminals aren’t broadly supported,” Van Dam said. “But the real question is, ‘Are the consumers ready for this stuff?’”

Surveys say, yes. However, other surveys say security is still a concern. “Data from our consumers says security remains the No. 1 concern even over cost, which was second,” he said.