Today a mobile phone plays an important role in many facets of our busy lives. Banking via mobile phone is a relatively new concept, but it is one area of mobile possibilities where convenience and real-world usefulness can readily be identified. Consider the expediency of being able to transfer funds between accounts while commuting, or pay bills while waiting for a flight, or verify whether a transaction has posted to your account while you sit in the lobby waiting for a client meeting - all from your own mobile phone. Mobile banking allows customers to do these things and at the same time provides the data security necessary for financial transactions.
According to recent research, although over 80% of US households have internet access, only 75% of those (between 60 and 65% overall) have the high-speed access required for the secure transactions involved with online banking. That means that, at present, almost 40% of US households cannot realistically do their banking online. Contrast that with 90% of households that possess at least one mobile phone, and the convenience and accessibility of mobile banking become even clearer.
With mobile or online banking, the primary concern for users is - and should be - the security of their financial transactions. To that end, banks have instituted many different strategies for keeping financial information secure. Controls such as data encryption and user authentication - preferably with visual as well as text-based authentication, are widespread. For example, many banks, in addition to your user name and password, require you to confirm that a displayed image is your previously selected "authentication" image. This practice ensures your protection from hackers who may log your keystrokes and therefore know your passwords, but are not able to see what subject matter your security photo depicts.
There are two distinctly different technologies utilized by banks for their mobile banking products. In one case, the banking functions will be available via a browser-based application designed to run over WAP, the wireless application protocol. The other option is a downloadable, stand-alone application stored on your phone that is specific to your bank's mobile banking product. In either case, these applications must be developed to function with the increasingly wide variety of different phones available and must take into consideration factors that are unique to mobile phones; the small screens, for example.
Even with the potentially high cost of mobile banking application development, banks across the world are aware that flexibility and convenience are what customers want, and they are responding with a variety of options for banking. Mobile banking is perhaps the most widely available of these options!
More and more banks are offering mobile banking to their customers, making banking more accessible and more convenient than ever before. Texas Gulf Bank, a community bank with several branches in the Houston and Texas Gulf Coast area, provides free mobile banking for their customers. for additional information, refer to http://texasgulfbank.com/mobile_banking.asp
By: Ellen Debboli
