MIAMI-How to make money off mobile banking?
That was the question on the minds of bankers at the recent Mobile Banking Summit here. For banks, mobile app development projects can cost $1 million to $5 million, and often boards and executive committees want to see some kind of ROI first.
For banks, the obvious answer is fees. Some in the industry feel it's reputationally risky to charge fees for mobile banking services. Some believe mobile banking initiatives pay for themselves because the channel is much lower cost than branches.
"You don't need to start charging fees in order to monetize mobile," said Andres Wolberg-Stok, global mobile and tablet banking director, Citi Consumer Banking. "Our data shows customers who adopt mobile banking increase their balances on deposit, decrease their attrition and see their overall profitability rise very clearly."
U.S. Bank has been charging 50 cents per mobile check deposit since 2010 and the bank has said its adoption numbers are strong. Regions Bank, Birmingham, Ala., is gradually monetizing many of its mobile banking services. "It's a clear value-added service," says Stephen Lamar, SVP e-business product and channel management. "Most of our product roadmap for mobile is monetized, and will continue to be."
