How to build & operate profitable mobile banking services

Mobile Money Canada took place this past Tuesday November 10th, at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and I had the pleasure of moderating a panel session entitled “What does it take to build & operate profitable mobile banking services”.  The discussion touched upon strategies for deploying mobile banking to the Canadian market as well as operational considerations and effective consumer marketing strategies.

The panel consisted of the following industry experts:

1) Patrick Kelly, SVP Business Development at Monitise Americas

2) Matt Krogstad, VP Business Development at M-Com

3) Joe Salesky, Founder, Chairman, & Chief Strategy Officer at ClairMail

4) Eric Feeley, Director of Product Management at Telepin Software

Below are some highlights from the discussion:

Mobile Banking Strategies:

1) Canadians are in making use of the online banking channel in a large way.  Therefore, banks need to clearly demonstrate the value of mobile banking to consumers.  Additionally, they must address any fears that consumers have related to security since this poses a large obstacle to adoption of mobile banking services

2) Many banks have already augmented their online channel with pages that are optimized for mobile web browsing.  This is a natural first step, however it doesn’t demonstrate the true value of Mobile Banking

3) Short term strategy for banks should involve the build-out of alerts and transaction notifications that provide consumers with information in real-time.  However, banks should be careful to include the ability to allow consumers to specify the hours of day that are acceptable to receive these notifications

4) Longer term strategy for banks should include looking at more complex, value-add services that enable consumers to initiate transactions such as payments.  These types of transactions represent revenue opportunities for banks, but it’s important to make sure they are rolled out at the right point in time since consumers require education and training on mobile banking services

5) It’s important to keep the user interface simple so that consumers aren’t confused and don’t become overwhelmed

6) Make enrolment simple.  eg. SMS to a short code for a downloadable application link, or call-back from a CSR

Operational Considerations:

1) Training of CSR’s:

a) to understand the products being offered

b) to be able to help / educate consumers

c) to be able to offer  or sell mobile banking to consumers

d) to be able to assist in problem situations

2) System-related:

a) Full view of the customer and the channel where they are conducting transactions

b) System capability to perform reconciliation or transaction roll-back to reduce manual strain on various lines of support

3) Security  - ensuring that any data captured through the mobile channel is secure throughout the process

Marketing the services to consumers:

1) It's extremely important to cross-market within the actual branch and the online channel, but also market heavily to the public so that they know you offer mobile banking.  It can be a differentiating factor that leads to new customers.

2) Provide incentives to customers for trying it out

3) Ensure that representatives can educate & explain the services to consumers

4) Provide simple instructions - in print as well as online.  Use of video demo's online are also useful.