Banking applications for Apple Inc. iPhones and iPads, Google Inc. Android phones, and Research in Motion Ltd. BlackBerry and other mobile devices are growing fast, but not all consumers are keen to download specialized apps from their bank. Some prefer to bank using just a Web browser on their device.
In the first half of 2011, mobile-app use for banking information increased from 8.7 million users to 12.7 million users a year earlier, according to ComScore, a firm that measures digital commerce. Browser use for banking information increased at a slower rate, but it is still larger than the app market, expanding to 17.5 million users from 15.4 million.
This large mass of browser faithful is prompting mobile-banking technology providers to improve their mobile Web technology, particularly as newer smartphones offer a Web-user experience that's closer to that of a PC than was possible in the past.
Jack Henry's ProfitStars, for example, just finished work on a new version of its mobile-website platform that looks and feels like a desktop application.
"In the past couple of years, mobile websites have gone from being text oriented to being more graphical," says Guy Edwards, ProfitStars director of Web solutions. "So if you're looking for CD rates, today browsers can render graphics and rotate banners. You can create a more interactive and competitive experience."
The updated version is compatible with all Internet-banking providers and includes a content-management system that lets bank staff modify mobile content quickly and have that content automatically configured for the smaller screen.
Jack Henry did not disclose users for the new product, but with 1,000 bank clients for its Web management and hosting service, the firm has a large existing base to cross-sell. It faces competition in the mobile Web space from other core providers such as Fiserv Inc., which offers mobile-banking technology via an earlier acquisition of M-Com, and Fidelity Information Systems, or FIS. Mobile-banking tech firms such as Clairmail also compete.
Besides re-imagining browser-based mobile banking, these vendors also are considering how mobile Web interacts with other Web-enabled channels such as tablets, PCs and the call center.
"Banks are looking to be smart about where they invest their dollars," says Susan Hawkins, FIS senior vice president and group executive for ebanking, mobile and commercial treasury solutions. "One of the ways they are looking to do that is by leveraging the investment that they've already made in the online channel to make the web accessible and customized for each device."
FIS designed its original mobile Web platform to optimize banking functions such as cash management and electronic payments for the smaller screen of mobile devices. The tech firm has upgraded that platform to accommodate the use of several channels simultaneously by sharing customer information among channels, Hawkins says.
"A consumer or a business customer may interact with the bank via three or four channels at the same time. You may be entering a transaction online or on a mobile device, or shopping on a tablet app," Hawkins says.
A sample use case is to link mobile remote deposit capture or person-to-person payments with merchant rewards enabled by GPS. Several banks are piloting such a product, Hawkins says.
In a statement, Clairmail says it first offered what it calls a "triple play" mobile banking service in 2007, enabling banks to deploy mobile Web, text banking and native apps via the same platform and process. Clairmail's first stab at a more intuitive interface was a mobile Web browser application accessed via iPhone that has a look and navigation similar to native iPhone apps.
Clairmail more recently released a similar update to its browser-based Android and BlackBerry mobile-banking offerings that mimic applications written for those devices.
