16 Mar 2009
Uptake of mobile technology for banking services is set to hit 900 million users worldwide by 2014, according to analyst Berg Insight.
The predictions indicate a compound annual growth rate of 89 per cent from the 20 million users using mobile channels in 2008, with Asia being the fastest growing market and representing about 65 per cent of users.
Mobile technology will also play an important role in bringing financial services to people in the Middle East and Africa who do not use bank accounts, says the study, while the European and North American markets will use the technology as an extension of their existing online offering as mobile handsets become more widely used for internet access.
According to the Berg Insight report, mobile banking will attract 110 million users in Europe and 80 million users in North America by 2014.
"Mobile handsets are in an excellent position to become the primary digital channel for providers of banking and related financial services on emerging markets," said Berg Insight telecom analyst Marcus Persson.
“People who sign up for their first mobile subscription today will likely open their first bank account in the coming years and thus join the modern financial system.”
Last week, UK credit card firm Barclaycard signed a deal with mobile services provider Orange to develop mobile-based financial and payment services.
These predictions really don't surprise me, users no longer want to wait until they're sitting in front of a computer to get information - and they no longer have to, as they can now view web pages directly on their mobile devices.
Despite the demand for mobile content, many mobile operators need to make significant improvements to their services in order to benefit from this booming market. Ease of payment and content sharing are key factors that have to be considered when downloading information. There are also the important factors of quick download times and network-based storage for content. Faced with these technical issues and the mobile market reaching saturation, how can companies ensure that their consumers will experience their websites as intended?
With developments in managing content, companies can now deliver mobile-specific content more efficiently and consequently enhance their customer's interactions. This allows companies to use content developed for other channels, such as standard web pages, and quickly and easily delivers it to mobile devices, without any loss of integrity. This not only means that content can be produced once, saving time and money, but customers will experience the same online quality no matter how they access the information.
Posted by: Robert Bredlau, Director International Business Development, e-Spirit UK 24 Mar 2009
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