Mobile Commerce Trends

By Mark Brousseau

Some interesting facts from the pre-conference workshop at the Third Annual Mobile Commerce Summit at the M Resort Casino & Spa in Las Vegas on Wednesday:

… Banks that think they are going to fund their mobile initiatives through advertising had better think again, according to Bob Gilbreath, chief marketing strategist, Bridge Worldwide, an interactive and relationship marketing agency. “Mobile ad interruption will not be tolerated,” Gilbreath said, noting that 72 percent of Americans have registered on the Federal Do Not Call list. What’s more, service providers fear losing $50 per month customers in exchange for pennies per ad unit, he said.

… Smartphone users spend less than 5 minutes online per session, Gilbreath said.

… People who write down how they will use a new product are 50 percent more like to use it, according to a study by Proctor and Gamble.

… Young consumers are spending less time in traditional “online” environments, Gilbreath said.

… The Berg Institute says there were 3.1 million mobile banking households in the United States last year – up from 400,000 households in 2007. The Berg Institute estimates there will be 7 million mobile banking households by the end of 2009.

… 50 percent of all calls to bank customer service centers are from mobile phones, and will rise to 70 percent in 2010, according to Celent. Many calls are simple balance requests, Celent notes.

… As of January, 2009, Bank of America had 1.9 million mobile banking users – up from 1 million users in June, 2008. On peak days, Bank of America has 100,000 mobile banking users.

… Only 40 percent of a retail bank’s customers are profitable, finds the Council on Financial Competition.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

Check Out A Small Sample of Attendees for TAWPI 2009 in Washington DC

ACE Hardware Finance Project Manager
Alabama Power Company: Supervisor of Remittance Processing
Alliance Bank: VP/ Director of Information Technology
Allstate Insurance Company: Associate Consultant
Amica Mutual Insurance Company: EVP of Operations

American Heart Association Vice President Customer Strategies and Field Operations Projects
American National Property & Casualty Co.: Sr Premium Payment Specialist
AmeriGas Propane: Director of Revenue Mangement
AmeriPharm Inc. IT Director
Ameriprise Financial INC: Director Document & Payment Operations

Bank of America LSS - Lockbox Specialty Services
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama Manager-Cash Management & Investments
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama Operations Manager-Payment Processing
Capital One Auto Finance Payment Processing Sr. Unit Manager
CenterPoint Energy Director of Remittance
Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc. Manager-Remittance Processing
CNH Capital America LLC: Mgr, Cash Processing and Processing Svs
County of Orange: Cash Manager
Customs & Border Protection Office of Training and Development
Department of Defense Senior Technical Advisor
Department of Homeland Security Chief Knowledge Officer
Duke Power Company Collect Process Design Specialist
Eastern Bank AVP
Father Flanagan's Boys Home Lockbox Manager
Fifth Third Processing Solutions Vice President - Relationship Management

FBI Management & Program Analyst
First American Real Estate Tax Svs Director of Operations
Florida Power & Light Company Customer Billing Supervisor

FMCS - Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service IT Specialist
FOOTSTAR AP MANAGER
Illinois National Bank Vice President
Indiana Department of Revenue Administrator of the Returns Processing
JPMorgan Chase & Company Executive Director, Receivables Product Mgt.
Library of Congress Acting Chief
LifeWay Christian Resources Manager of Accounts Payable
M & I Bank Vice President
Maryland Health Care Commission Division Chief - Center for Health IT
Media General, Inc. Remittance Processing Manager
Morgan Stanley Executive Director
Navy Federal Credit Union Manager, Remittance Processing
New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance State Coordinator
New York City Department of Education Technology Instructor
North American Membership Group, Inc. Operations Manager
Northwestern Mutual Director, Shared Services
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Office of Tax & Revenue Branch Chief Receipt & Archive Branch
Office of the General Counsel Director of Litigation
Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Chief Assistant Treasurer-Tax Collector
Pacific Blue Cross Manager, Office Services
Palmetto GBA Director
Pediatric Associates of Richmond Information Technology Specialist
Pepco Holdings, Inc. Business Systems Project Manager
PNC Bank Vice President, Sr.Product Manager
Portland General Electric Company Manager - Revenue Collection
Proctor Financial Chief Administrative Officer
PSE&G District Manager - Customer Operations
Resurgent Capital Services Senior Manager
Richland County Information Technology Business Systems Division Manager
Skechers USA ACCOUNTS PAYABLE MANAGER
SOURCECORP BPS Inc Director of Operations
State Farm Insurance Company Systems Analyst
St. Paul Travelers Insurance Vice President of Operations
Sunlife Financial Sr Manager, Imaging Center
T.Rowe Price Services, Inc Assistant Vice President
The Huntington National Bank Product Manager-Senior
TIAA-CREF Mgr, Business and Administrative Support
Time Warner Cable Regional AP Manager

U.S. Army IT Specialist
U.S. Cellular, Inc. Mgr, Accounts Payable/Business Support Services
U.S. Department of State Compliance
UMUC Program Director, Telecommunications Management
Union Bank of California Vice President/Manager
United States Treasury Assistant Commissioner Federal Finance
United Water VP of Customer Service
Unity Health Insurance Systems Analyst
US Attorney's Office Information Technology Specialist
Verizon Communications Manager
Wells Fargo Bank Product Manager
ZC Sterling Capture Automated Technologies Manager

Remote Deposit Capture Still Has Legs

By Mark Brousseau

With the stratospheric growth of remote deposit capture (RemoteDepositCapture.com says it has reached over 50 percent penetration among financial institutions in less than half the time it took online banking), you might assume that interest in the technology is dying down. You’d be wrong.

At last week’s Windy City Summit in Chicago, a session on remote deposit capture drew a standing room-only crowd (some attendees even sat on the floor), and many corporate practitioners admitted that they still haven’t implemented technology, reports Leilani Doyle, product manager at US Dataworks, Inc. (ldoyle@usdataworks.com).

“While remote deposit capture is no longer new, and the market is saturated with product offerings, the technology is still growing steadily among corporations,” Doyle explains. “Corporate practitioners recognize that truncating paper as soon as possible in the process is always better.”

Doyle believes that there is more growth ahead for remote deposit capture, particularly with ISOs now selling the solution to billers who previously were an untapped audience, and with the introduction of new check scanners especially designed for billers for low transaction volumes (think: small businesses). US Dataworks plans to make product announcements in this area.

Remote deposit capture holdouts (and early adopters of the technology) also are looking for remote deposit capture solutions that allow for the centralized processing and repair of checks captured at the point of presentment. Anticipating this trend, US Dataworks designed its remote deposit capture offering to allow billers to capture items anywhere, correct them anywhere, and clear them anywhere.

Doyle said there also was a lot of talk among treasurers at the Windy City Summit about the need to reduce any excess balances in their demand deposit accounts (DDA). “Using balances to pay for services is too expensive,” Doyle explains, adding that many treasury managers were looking for a place to park their excess funds. “Not only are corporations receiving an ECR of 1 percent or less, but they also are incurring FDIC fees based on the risk category of their financial institution.”

“The macro-economic pressures of banks not willing to lend, and the Federal Reserve fund rates being at an all-time low, have put a unique spin on the treasury management professional’s job,” Doyle says. “Treasurers are spooked by high FDIC rates, the unknown risk of FDIC rate hikes to cover losses, and the fact that they can no longer use DDA balances to pay for non-credit services.”

The challenge for most treasurers is that they can’t move their banking relationship if they have a credit facility with their bank – regardless of the fees the bank changing for its cash management services: “Companies need to have access to that line or another longer term credit facility.”

In addition, some banks are changing their availability schedules, Doyle says. This is another area where Doyle thinks US Dataworks’ technology can help. With a centralized payments hub, like the one offered by US Dataworks, corporations are better prepared to choose the bank with the best availability schedule, or to dynamically change the way payments are collected based on the paying bank. “Better management of the collections side of the treasury function will provide more accurate collected balance forecasting and reduces the amount of collected balances subject to the FDIC assessment,” Doyle says. “Corporations can augment this strategy with a sweep to pay off loans if they are a net borrower, or a sweep to an investment product, if they are a net depositor.”

What do you think? Post your comments below.