Mobile banking has quickly moved from a “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” service, with industry analysts predicting substantial growth in consumer demand and usage during the next few years. Keeping up with new developments in the rapidly changing mobile landscape can be a dizzying challenge. However, identifying and evaluating several essential factors can ensure that your financial institution’s mobile banking and payments solution will be a wise long-term investment.
Whether you have already tested the waters by offering mobile capabilities and need to expand your services, or you have decided to add mobile banking to your current service mix, there are key elements that should be considered. An effective mobile banking solution should be comprehensive, secure, reliable, cost-effective and adaptable. And don’t forget the marketing component once you implement your solution.
Comprehensive
When evaluating the comprehensiveness of a solution it’s important to consider the completeness of the technology and available services. An effective solution should support consumers regardless of their preferred mobile device, mobile network, or access mode: text messaging (SMS), mobile browser or downloadable application. A solution should also incorporate a variety of services designed to appeal to different customer segments, including fraud alerts, account balance threshold alerts, ATM and branch locators, money transfers, bill payments and bill payment reminders and mobile deposits.
Secure
Mobile banking solutions should support the highest standards in mobile security at all touch points, including enrollment, data encryption, transaction auditing, reporting and regulatory compliance. Security concerns are one of the biggest barriers to consumer adoption of mobile banking and payments. Addressing these concerns by offering a secure product is very important to a successful implementation.
Reliable
Financial institutions should look for a reliable, sustainable product from a financially stable mobile solutions service provider. You want to ensure that you choose an experienced provider that is familiar with the nuances of the banking and payments industry, and has the financial viability to commit to future developments.
Cost-Effective
A good solution should meet the needs of a particular institution in a cost-effective manner. Financial institutions should look for flexible deployment options such as ASP or out-of-the-box options when cost management is a priority. This type of deployment may provide the flexibility to add options or features as your business requirements grow, and you could benefit from lower implementation and maintenance fees.
An evaluation of cost-effectiveness should also take into consideration potential savings that can be realized by transitioning customers from more expensive service channels to the lower-cost-to-serve mobile channel. Transitioning customers away from the branch and call-center by offering mobile self-service options can result in substantial savings per each interaction.
Adaptable
Can the mobile solution you are considering accommodate future opportunities in the quickly evolving mobile channel? Beyond today’s popular functionalities such as checking balances, making transfers, and finding branches and ATMs, what about future requirements such as mobile person-to-person payments, remote payment or point of sale payments? The solution that you select should be sustainable as functionality evolves.
Don’t Forget Marketing
“If we build it, they will come,” is a concept that may work in the movies, but it certainly does not apply when it comes to mobile banking adoption. Once you implement a mobile banking solution, it’s very important to execute ongoing marketing efforts to promote your solution. Even utilizing simple components such as placing ad banners on your online site or conducting email campaigns have proven effective in raising adoption levels.
Financial institutions today are faced with daunting investment decisions. Selecting the right mobile solution not only means keeping and acquiring customers today, but looking to the future, it ensures that you will have the right infrastructure in place to offer the next generation of functionality when needed.
Amy Wilkinson is the mobile solutions product manager at Fiserv, Brookfield, Wis.
