Small Banks Eye Mobile Upgrades

Community banks are planning to improve their mobile banking offerings, according to research by Banc Investment Group LLC.

About 89% of banks in a survey said they were considering updates of their mobile banking platforms.

Most were planning to add to their mobile banking systems an application that runs on smart phones; the remainder were planning to add other features to their current systems.

"For community bankers, mobile banking is a way to get closer to the customer in an efficient manner," Chris Nichols, Banc Investment Group's chief executive, said in a press release Tuesday.

The participants identified 21 mobile banking technology vendors. The most popular were Fiserv Inc., used by 24% of respondents, and Jack Henry & Associates Inc., used by 16%.

Nine percent of the banks said they were planning to change their mobile banking vendor.

Four percent of community bankers in the survey went against the trend, saying they were planning to discontinue their current mobile banking offerings.

Nichols said this has to do with the quirks of specific implementations and is not necessarily a sign that those banks are giving up on the mobile channel.

Banc Investment Group, a unit of Pacific Coast Bankers' Bancshares, surveyed 687 community bankers online in the first quarter.

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