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Banks could earn revenue by offering mobile-banking services to small businesses, according to an Aite Group report. Small businesses have adopted online banking and use it to check balances, transfer funds and pay bills–all functions that businesses easily could perform through mobile banking, according to the report. Boston-based Aite conducted a survey of 500 credit and debit card holders in January. About 5% of respondents said they were likely or extremely likely to use mobile-banking services, while a survey of 303 small businesses in November 2007 found that 35% of respondents were likely or extremely likely to use mobile-banking services if offered, according to the report. Banks can offer the kinds of services small businesses use most often through text messaging, so they can even reach those who do not have mobile phones with Web browsers, Nick Holland, Aite senior analyst, tells CardLine. "This is a revenue-generating opportunity for banks if they can customize the services for the small-business market," Holland says. For instance, offering services such as remote-payments authorization is a way banks could help save small businesses time by letting their owners make payments using a mobile device, he says. While consumers often receive free services from banks, small businesses are used to paying for them, so they provide a better revenue opportunity for banks, Holland says. "Small business are interested in mobile banking to save them time and money," Holland says. "They have been charged for other services in the past that retail customers wouldn't be."
