Fiserv Targets Mobile Payments

Posted by Mark Brousseau

Some interesting news from Fiserv:

Fiserv, Inc. launched Fiserv Mobile MoneySM, what it calls the industry's most complete mobile banking and payments solution, because it supports consumers on all three mobile access modes - short messaging service, (SMS), wireless application protocol, (WAP), and downloaded mobile applications, offers online and offline enrollment capabilities and integrates with core banking, online banking and electronic payments systems. The new solution, available for the first time today, builds upon existing Fiserv mobile banking options already in the market and adds a strategic technology to help all segments of financial intuitions.

Powered by technology from New Zealand-based Mobile Commerce Limited (M-Com), Fiserv Mobile Money enables organizations to reach more consumers through its native support for SMS, WAP, and downloaded mobile applications. In addition, the solution is allows financial institutions and billing organizations to drive enrollment of offline customers to a more profitable mobile banking relationship. Consumers can enroll via a mobile device, at a branch, ATM or customer contact center, as well as via the online channel. Fiserv will also support certain marketing campaigns and research aimed at driving adoption and usage within this emerging channel.

"Mobile banking holds great promise as a unique channel that offers customers the ability to manage their money anywhere, anytime, while enticing new customers and making existing customers more loyal," said James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy & Research. "We see 2008 as a pivotal year for the emergence of mobile banking and payments, particularly as more end-to-end, enterprise solutions start to take hold in the marketplace."

Fiserv's scalable mobile banking and payments solution can integrate with a variety of core banking systems, online banking systems and electronic payments systems. It is designed to leverage a financial institution's or biller's existing online security infrastructure, including existing credential management capabilities. In addition, Fiserv Mobile Money offers consolidated customer care and reporting across both the online and mobile channels, potentially lowering the total cost of ownership and enabling a broader view of the customer's needs when they contact the financial institution for service or support.

"This is a great example of Fiserv 2.0; using resources across our business units to develop innovative products that help our clients achieve best-in-class results. Fiserv Mobile Money is the result of hard work from our integrated teams representing both Fiserv and CheckFree. We are continuing our mission to be the leading provider of technology products and services to the financial services industry, bringing the best solutions to this emerging channel," said Jeffery Yabuki, Fiserv President and Chief Executive Officer.

Financial institutions will have the flexibility to deploy the Fiserv mobile banking and payments solution as a hosted solution or as software that can be managed and run in-house. The solution is available today via an in-house solution for the top 200 financial institutions. A hosted version is expected by mid-2009.

"Fiserv Mobile Money helps financial institutions optimize customer relationships either through deepening existing online banking relationships or through driving offline customer relationships to a more profitable mobile banking and payments relationship," said Steve Olsen, Fiserv group president, Internet Banking and Electronic Payments. "This ultimately helps institutions of all sizes to maximize their mobile return-on-investment."

To that end, Fiserv Mobile Money's multi-channel enrollment capabilities have proven effective as a means to attract more offline customers to the mobile channel, which has a lower cost to serve than other channels. For example, a Fortune 500 New Zealand bank that currently uses the M-Com solution, annually saves up to $30 per customer when it drives these customers from an offline relationship with the bank to a mobile banking relationship. The bank achieves this result even though more than 40 percent of its customers are not online banking users.

Fiserv Mobile Money runs on established mobile banking and payment technology from M-Com, whose mobile solutions are used by some of the largest financial institutions in the world, including Washington Mutual, Inc., ANZ Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corporation, Electronic Transaction Services Limited (Paymark) and GE Money, among others.

"This strategic alliance combines Fiserv's strong leadership in payments processing, innovation, operational excellence and execution with M-Com's proven mobile banking and payments technology and innovation," said Adam Clark, founder and chief executive officer of M-Com. "Together, we will provide the most complete solution in the industry, giving financial institutions and billing organizations a path toward unlocking the promise of mobile payments."

In addition, key personnel from Fiserv and M-Com are working together in the Fiserv campus in Norcross, Ga., to develop and deliver the next generation product - the industry's first single-platform, scalable mobile banking and payment solution that integrates seamlessly with online banking, bill payment and core banking systems.