Mobile banking is the way of the future. At least, that is the conclusion of a recent study conducted by pollster Novametrie, and commissioned by the European Financial Management Marketing Association, Crédit Agricole, Microsoft and CapGemini Consulting.

Based on a Pan-European survey of 5,000 online banking users and of about forty banking and mobile phone luminaries, the study predicts that within two to three years, making purchases and managing banks accounts on a mobile phone will become common practice.

Now, maybe have I been covering this area for too long, but it seems like mobile banking has been the next big thing for quite a number of years. So what is different this time? Well, perhaps have mobile devices finally reached the level of sophistication required for a user-friendly experience, beyond the tired text message alerts and WAP navigation.

Smartphones and their bigger screens, easier input methods, along with higher data transmission speeds and “unlimited” plans being offered by phone operators, are indeed starting to offer web-browsing capabilities increasingly similar to those experienced on a regular computer.  In that sense, mobile banking is really just another version of online banking, accessed from a mobile device.

Customers seem to be ready for it, too. 66% of respondents said they would be interested in using their mobile to manage their account, while 70% would use it for payment purposes. 25% of them even said they were prepared to change banks for an attractive mobile banking offering, while only 4% of bankers polled considered mobile banking to be a potential customer acquisition tool. However, half the bankers see it as a customer relationship management channel in its own right.

The security aspect of mobile transactions remains a prominent concern, with 50% of respondents seeing increased security as the main change banks need to make to their mobile offering. Still, it appears that most prerequisites (mature technology and client demand) now seem to be in place for a richer mobile banking experience.

Alas, the potential hold-up is also familiar to anyone who has been watching this space over the last few years. Indeed, the study, found that the mobile payment business model  is far from being finalised between banks on one side, and mobile phone operators, handset manufacturers and new entrants on the other.

Filed under: Payments, Retail Banking, Technology