CHICAGO-Credit unions are well aware of the trend toward mobile, especially as a channel for reaching younger consumers. But a new study indicates that financial retailers may be missing out on a major opportunity to leverage technology and serve members by not embracing mobile messaging.
The study is the first of its kind from Infinite Convergence Solutions, a wireless messaging and mobility solutions provider for carriers and enterprises. More than 500 mobile phone users were surveyed on their preferences and habits regarding mobile messaging. According to the study, 36% of mobile phone users receive mobile messages from business, and 90% of those subscribers receive messages from as many as five businesses.
Anurag Lal, CEO of Infinite Convergence, told Credit Union Journal that one-in-three respondents indicated they would communicate financial or banking activity and updates via mobile messaging, and he said that number is likely to rise in coming years. That's the result not only of increased smart phone penetration, but also from older mobile phone users becoming more comfortable with that technology, increased ease of use, and the overall convenience factor for the end user.
"It has to be linked with assurances to these demographics that is isn't only convenient, but you don't have anything to worry about," said Lal. "That will go hand-in-hand with making a wider set of the population more comfortable with leveraging this."
The Keys Necessary
Key to those efforts will be communicating that mobile messaging (whether via text message or "push" messaging though smart phone applications) is safe and secure, said Lal. He offered the analogy that the credit card industry has not always had three-digit CVC codes on the backs of cards.
"That was deployed as an additional level of security to convince people to use their credit cards in online transactions," he said. "Now you're seeing the same credit cards being deployed with smart chips that give you an additional layer of security."
Lal stressed that it is imperative that FIs be active in the mobile messaging space, if for no other reason than because more and more businesses are getting in on the act, and FIs won't want to be left behind.
"Banking is a huge portion of the daily interaction of an individual, a small business or a large enterprise," said Lal. "Making sure we can access these folks, and that communication is secure, and that they can do it without worrying that they'll be compromised in any way ... is the huge challenge in front of the industry."
