Studies Project Surge In Usage Of Mobile Banking

BOSTON - Mobile operators anticipate that 25% of subscribers will regularly use mobile banking by the end of 2009, compared to approximately 7% at the end of 2007, a new study shows.

The study found expectation of strong growth for other mobile transaction services as well.

The report, from Aite Group, LLC is based on an October 2007 survey of 12 international mobile operators. The companies envision that by the end of 2009, 25.5% of users will use the devices for mobile banking, 26.9% will use them for the addition of prepaid minutes, and 26.3% will use them for mobile commerce. With the majority of payments being diverted to phone bills at the end of 2007, mobile operators stand to gain tremendously as mobile transactions continue to increase, the study’s authors stated.

“Mobile operators clearly have a high opinion of themselves when it comes to the role they believe they will play in the future of mobile transactions,” says Nick Holland, senior analyst with Aite Group and author of the report. “Though they may lose out in some areas, such as payment share for mobile commerce, new technologies like mobile POS payments may lead to a very bright future for the intersection of mobile devices and payments.”

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