Page 50 - Banking Finance AUGUST 2015
P. 50
ARTICLE
5. Social media and an easier-to-use banking pay- Focus on mobile security
ment services. The challenge is devel- and authentication
6. Personal touch oping mobile channels for sales rather
than merely a service tool. Mobile identity authentication has
1. Mobile and Online Ca- become more important for financial
pabilities An app for people buying a home will institutions as consumers migrate
have home prices, interest rates, and away from online banking to
Your phone, tablet and computer all advise from specialists. It's all about smartphones and tablet. Consumers'
know where you are and have a selling loans, but selling with an expe- changing preferences, combined with
pretty good idea what you are doing; rience that offers advisory services emerging technology, has forced fi-
e.g. at home watching TV (or Netflix), and not just low rates."At the end of nancial institutions to take a closer
out running (or out shopping), or even the day, what you offer on mobile look at how they identify and authen-
out of the country. e-Commerce busi- may not be as important as how it is ticate mobile banking users when
nesses are tapping in to this informa- offered. Simplicity, clarity and respon- they log into their account.
tion to offer targeted, relevant ser- sive design will be important to the
vices and offers to their customers. digital consumer moving forward. 2. Augmenting In - Branch
Experience
Customers prefer apps over a mobile M-Banking for Financial
banking Website and apps have While there is considerable adoption
higher engagement levels than Inclusion of mobile and online banking,
browsers. Banks must ensure their branches are not going to disappear
apps are defect-free, engaging, smart In rural India, where the mobile users any time soon as customers prefer
and self-learning. far exceed the fixed line subscribers branches for complex tasks such as
due to better mobile infrastructure taking out mortgages. While banks
The banking industry is still well short has made the mobile banking much are shutting down redundant
on harnessing the power of mobile, better in offering services. branches to save costs, banks such as
beyond just a channel or technology. Wells Fargo have launched a "neigh-
Mobile banking is leap-frogging online M-Pesa (M for mobile, pesa is Swahili borhood store" format - smaller and
banking, as banks turn to a "mobile- smarter branches, located in areas
first" strategy to provide more secure for money) is a mobile-phone based where customers usually shop.
money transfer and micro financing Banks can spruce up their branches
and deploy the latest technology to
service, launched in Kenya in 2007 by improve the in-branch experience.
Some banks have begun to provide
Safaricom and free Wi-Fi, iPads and large touch
screens at their branches for custom-
Vodacom. M-Pesa is ers to learn more about the bank, and
about using apps, payment services,
a branchless banking etc.
service. M-Pesa al- Banks can leverage newer technolo-
gies such as Apple's iBeacon to send
lows users with a na- customized offers, product informa-
tion, and branch information such as
tional ID card or waiting times, the nearest ATM and
branch staff information to custom-
passport to deposit,
withdraw, to trans-
fer money from one
person to another,
take out insurance
policies, and collect
payment from gov-
ernment agencies
using PIN-secured
SMS text messages
to other users.
50 | 2015 | AUGUST | BANKING FINANCE
