Is Turmoil is Boosting E-Banking Usage?

Fiserv Inc. recently conducted a survey and found that economic turbulence is driving more consumers to bank online.

Seventy-one percent of respondents said they were watching their finances more closely than a year ago. Of those, 75% said they use online banking; 28% said they were using it more often than a year before; 44% said they were using it the same; and 3% said they were using it less. Use of other channels, such as automated teller machines, call centers, and branches, declined and use of mobile banking was essentially unchanged.

Sixty-three percent of survey respondents said banking online gives them a greater sense of control over their finances.

The October survey of 1,009 online U.S. adults was conducted by Forrester Research Inc. of Cambridge, Mass.

Todd Lesher, the president of the electronic banking services unit at Fiserv, of Brookfield, Wis., said in a press release Thursday, "This survey indicates that online banking is still a great opportunity for financial institutions looking to strengthen their ties with consumers." From American Banker article.

Any Big Vendor Announcements from BAI Retail Delivery

It is that time of year again, when us vendors and bankers pack it up to head to the annual BAI Retail Delivery Conference and Expo. This year marks the 30th anniversary of the conference and is the time when exhibitors are unveilling new banking innovations, technologies and groundbreaking strategic insights. Let's take a look into a select few vendors to see what announcements are out there this week and the buzz:

Fiserv - Nice mix of acheivements, customer wins and new product announcements, high buzz.

• Fiserv Achieves Top Ten Ranking among Global Risk Technology Companies in Chartis RiskTech 100 Report
• Fiserv Recognized for Financial Technology Innovation by Bank Technology News
• Fiserv Delivers New Standard for Online Banking with Online Advantage
• BB&T Implements Fiserv Branch Source Capture™ Solution in More Than 330 Branches

Metavante - Just one partner announcement, no buzz.

• NYCE Teams With Verient To Provide New Online Payment Option

NCR - Four announcements and demo on MSFT surface, good buzz.

• NCR Launches Multi-channel Self-Scheduler Solution for Financial Institutions
• NCR concept to transform branch-based sales transactions
• NCR launches next generation self-service management

Yodlee - One announcement on something they have probably been doing for a while, no buzz.

• Yodlee Announces Availability of Over 11,000 Financial Data Sources

Cash Edge - One cool re-announcement of me-to-me payments, high buzz.

• CashEdge Reports Strong Market Traction With New Consumer Third Party Transfers Module

S1 - Busy marketing department and winner for most with five announcements, good buzz.

• Bank of Blue Valley Launches Postilion Retail Internet Banking to Offer Innovative Self-Service Banking Solutions
• Postilion Increases Payments Presence in Latin America with Four New Customer Wins
• Volksbank International Implements S1 Enterprise for Complete Overview of Customer Interaction
• New Releases of S1 Enterprise's Branch and Call Center Solutions Simplify the Process of Making Screen and Workflow Modifications
• S1 Corporation Signs Tenth Customer for Global Financial Institution-Centric Mobile Banking and Payments Solution

Digital Insight - Nothing, nada to announce...

We'll keep updating as things draw to a close and they turn off the lights in Orlando.

Q&A with Fiserv Mobile Money PM

Calvin Grimes, product manager for Fiserv Mobile Money, sits down with Michelle Robart, contributing editor for TMCnet, to explain the benefits of mobile banking and what he predicts in the future for this exciting industry.

TMCnet: For anyone who is not familiar with Fiserv, can you provide a brief overview of what the company offers, and who its customers are?

CG: Fiserv is one of the world's largest providers of information technology services to the financial and insurance industries. Leading services include transaction process, outsourcing, electronic bill payment and presentment, investment management solutions, business process outsourcing, software and system solutions. Fiserv reported nearly $4 billion in annual revenue from continuing operations for 2007, processed 18 billion transactions and provides technology solutions, including core and online banking systems, for top 100 U.S. banks, credit unions and community banks.

TMCnet: What is Fiserv Mobile Money and who can benefit the most from using this service?

CG: Fiserv Mobile Money is the industry's only all-in-one, triple-play mobile banking and payments solution providing universal reach by serving any device via any access mode on any carrier network. The solution provides financial institutions with the flexibility and scalability to deploy different access modes such as text (SMS), browser (WAP) and mobile application to meet the evolving needs of their customers. Fiserv Mobile Money also integrates seamlessly with existing banking systems and security infrastructures, including those offered by Fiserv. With one technology deployment, financial institutions can maximize their mobile return on investment and consumer adoption, while providing their customers with a user experience tailored for their unique mobile device and mobile banking preferences. Powered by proven technology from Mobile Commerce, Fiserv Mobile Money is available today via an in-house software solution; a hosted version of Fiserv Mobile Money will be offered in 2009.

TMCnet: What are some of the main benefits of Fiserv Mobile Money for businesses and professionals?

CG: Fiserv Mobile Money provides consumers with an enhanced mobile banking and payment experience for all mobile devices, such as the Google Android-powered G1 and the Apple iPhone, as well as a broad range of phones from other leading manufacturers such as Nokia, Motorola and Samsung. The Fiserv solution also enables consumers to choose the most convenient access mode - browser, text, or downloadable application - to meet their mobile banking needs, including checking account balances, receiving alerts, transferring funds and paying bills.

TMCnet: With the rising consumer demand for mobile banking services, what do you think is the main driving force behind mobile banking popularity?

CG: Certainly, a major factor is that mobile devices and the carrier networks have evolved to the point where they can support mobile banking services. More importantly, consumers are using these services in greater numbers, and many more are interested and ready to adopt in mobile banking services. In Fiserv's latest mobile survey, 23 percent of consumers said they use their mobile device to conduct mobile financial services, up from essentially zero in 2006. The survey also showed that 75 percent of consumers are interested in using mobile banking services, up from 49 percent in 2006. Among Generation Y consumers, that figure is even higher - 83 percent express an interest in and willingness to using mobile financial services.

TMCnet: What are some of the creative, real-world ways customers are using mobile banking in their daily lives?

CG: Today's increasingly mobile consumers are frequently away from their Internet-connected desktop or laptop computers that they would generally use to access online banking and bill payment services. However, consumers are rarely very far away from their mobile devices, giving them continual connectivity and unprecedented access to mobile banking services. During this economic downturn, mobile banking is providing consumers with a very powerful tool to help make more informed choices about how they manage and spend their money. So now they can use any mobile device, anywhere, anytime to check account balances to determine whether to make a purchase. In the course of a day, they can receive alerts that will empower them to transfer funds to avoid an overdraft and pay an overdue bill to avoid a service shutoff. This gives consumers tremendous flexibility and empowerment to manage their finances more effectively than they ever have before.

TMCnet: What are some of the trends shaping the mobile banking industry in the U.S.?

CG: Financial institutions generally will choose one of two paths - either pursuing a relatively defensive strategy whereby they are looking to provide straightforward, check-the-box mobile banking functionality - or taking a broader, forward-looking mobile commerce strategy aimed at providing mobile banking services today, while setting the stage for opportunities to generate revenue from the mobile channel and near-field communications, contactless point-of-sale transactions and micro-payments.

TMCnet: Looking ahead, what predictions do you have about companies continuing to utilize the benefits of mobile banking technology?

CG: In the near term, we see financial institutions seeing the value of providing customers with multiple ways to access mobile banking via WAP, SMS and downloadable applications. We also anticipate continued growth of near-field communications to help us realize the full promise of mobile commerce. You'll see companies across the industry spectrum using mobile phone numbers rather than email addresses to interact with their customers for peer-to-peer communications, and you'll also see retailers using NFC for loyalty, contactless card programs.

TMCnet: How can mobile banking help companies improve their bottom line and survive economic hardships?

CG: Mobile banking can help financial institutions reduce costs, improve their bottom line, boost customer retention and generate revenue from the mobile channel. That's especially important during this economic downturn. For example, ANZ National in New Zealand and Australia has been able to monetize the mobile channel using the M-Com-powered solution, by charging their customers for bill pay transactions and mobile text alerts. The bank is also driving down annual cost-to-serve expenses by $20-30 per customer by "right-channeling" customers from more costly offline channels such as the call center to the lower-cost mobile channel. At the same time, they're lowering churn rates to 5 percent for frequent mobile users versus 10-15 percent on average.

To read more of Michelle's articles, please visit her columnist page. Read the full article.

Finovate 2008

This week the financial services software nerds gathered in New York City for the second annual Finovate conference - "the Super Bowl and World’s Fair rolled into one" as the WSJ described it.

The Finovate conference is presented by NetBanker that showcases “the latest and greatest technological innovations in finance and banking.” The “hot products, cool people” format returned with 24 more companies getting 7 minutes each to demo their latest innovations (no PowerPoint allowed!) followed by several hours of focused one-on-one networking time. The event wrapped up with cocktails and appetizers at the end of the day.

Fiserv Mobile Money | The Swiss Army Knife of mobile banking

Fiserv announces anticipated mobile offering, the industry's first single solution that supports SMS, WAP, Mobile Application and Offers Offline and Online Enrollment... or the Swiss Army Knife of mobile banking.

BROOKFIELD, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 9, 2008--Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading provider of information technology services to the financial industry, today launched Fiserv Mobile Money(SM), the industry's most complete mobile banking and payments solution, because it supports consumers on all three mobile access modes - short messaging service, (SMS), wireless application protocol, (WAP), and downloaded mobile applications, offers online and offline enrollment capabilities and integrates with core banking, online banking and electronic payments systems. The new solution, available for the first time today, builds upon existing Fiserv mobile banking options already in the market and adds a strategic technology to help all segments of financial intuitions.

Powered by technology from New Zealand-based Mobile Commerce Limited (M-Com), Fiserv Mobile Money enables organizations to reach more consumers through its native support for SMS, WAP, and downloaded mobile applications. In addition, the solution is unique because it allows financial institutions and billing organizations to drive enrollment of offline customers to a more profitable mobile banking relationship. Consumers can enroll via a mobile device, at a branch, ATM or customer contact center, as well as via the online channel. Fiserv will also support certain marketing campaigns and research aimed at driving adoption and usage within this emerging channel.

"Mobile banking holds great promise as a unique channel that offers customers the ability to manage their money anywhere, anytime, while enticing new customers and making existing customers more loyal," said James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin Strategy & Research. "We see 2008 as a pivotal year for the emergence of mobile banking and payments, particularly as more end-to-end, enterprise solutions start to take hold in the marketplace."

Fiserv's scalable mobile banking and payments solution can integrate seamlessly with a variety of core banking systems, online banking systems and electronic payments systems. It is designed to leverage a financial institution's or biller's existing online security infrastructure, including existing credential management capabilities. In addition, Fiserv Mobile Money offers consolidated customer care and reporting across both the online and mobile channels, potentially lowering the total cost of ownership and enabling a broader view of the customer's needs when they contact the financial institution for service or support.

"This is a great example of Fiserv 2.0; using resources across our business units to develop innovative products that help our clients achieve best-in-class results. Fiserv Mobile Money is the result of hard work from our integrated teams representing both Fiserv and CheckFree. We are continuing our mission to be the leading provider of technology products and services to the financial services industry, bringing the best solutions to this emerging channel," said Jeffery Yabuki, Fiserv President and Chief Executive Officer.

Financial institutions will have the flexibility to deploy the Fiserv mobile banking and payments solution as a hosted solution or as software that can be managed and run in-house. The solution is available today via an in-house solution for the top 200 financial institutions. A hosted version is expected by mid-2009.

"Fiserv Mobile Money helps financial institutions optimize customer relationships either through deepening existing online banking relationships or through driving offline customer relationships to a more profitable mobile banking and payments relationship," said Steve Olsen, Fiserv group president, Internet Banking and Electronic Payments. "This ultimately helps institutions of all sizes to maximize their mobile return-on-investment."

To that end, Fiserv Mobile Money's multi-channel enrollment capabilities have proven effective as a means to attract more offline customers to the mobile channel, which has a lower cost to serve than other channels. For example, a Fortune 500 New Zealand bank that currently uses the M-Com solution, annually saves up to $30 per customer when it drives these customers from an offline relationship with the bank to a mobile banking relationship. The bank achieves this result even though more than 40 percent of its customers are not online banking users.

Fiserv Mobile Money runs on established mobile banking and payment technology from M-Com, whose mobile solutions are used by some of the largest financial institutions in the world, including Washington Mutual, Inc., ANZ Banking Group, Westpac Banking Corporation, Electronic Transaction Services Limited (Paymark) and GE Money, among others.

"This strategic alliance combines Fiserv's strong leadership in payments processing, innovation, operational excellence and execution with M-Com's proven mobile banking and payments technology and innovation," said Adam Clark, founder and chief executive officer of M-Com.

"Together, we will provide the most complete solution in the industry, giving financial institutions and billing organizations a path toward unlocking the promise of mobile payments."
In addition, key personnel from Fiserv and M-Com are working together in the Fiserv campus in Norcross, Ga., to develop and deliver the next generation product - the industry's first single-platform, scalable mobile banking and payment solution that integrates seamlessly with online banking, bill payment and core banking systems.

Product Demonstrations:

• ANZ SMS Demonstration
• ANZ Downloaded Application Demonstration

More people pay bills online than with paper checks

A recent survey sponsored by CheckFree, now part of Fiserv, Inc. found that more Americans than ever, an estimated 63.1 million households or three-fourth of those online, are paying their bills online rather than writing paper checks.

A little slower than email taking over U.S. Mail but, it finally happened. Actually for the second year in a row, American consumers who go online each month paid more of their household bills online at bank and billing organization websites than by any other method.

Some interesting facts from the survey:

• Internet-using households pay an average of 11 bills per month. Consumers use an average of three different ways to pay bills, with online, check, automatic debit and in-person topping the list of popular bill payment methods. Online bill payments at bank and biller websites comprised 42 percent of total monthly payments, followed by 31 percent of bills paid by check. See chart below.

• Fifty-one percent of survey respondents cited the environment as a reason why they chose to view and pay bills online. Of these, 72 percent identified paper and clutter reduction as chief benefits, followed by tree conservation (19 percent) and reduction in gas consumption (16 percent).

• Major credit cards (48 percent) were the most frequently cited e-bills received and paid at online banking sites, followed by cable or satellite television (42 percent), cellular phone (41 percent), electricity (38 percent) and local telephone (34 percent).

Data and segmentation about those paying bills online:

• Among younger respondents under age 45, 57 percent considered the environment as an important reason why they use online billing and payment, compared to 44 percent among those in the 45-and-older age group.


• Fifty-five percent of those living in the Western United States cited environmental concerns as a key motivation for online bill payment adoption versus 49 percent for other regions.


• Fifty-four percent of respondents who were aware their online banking site offers e-bills said they receive at least one e-bill, while 46 percent do not. The most appealing features of e-bills were due-date reminders, convenience and assurance that bills are never paid late.


• E-bill recipients were 45 percent more likely to report being extremely satisfied with their bank or credit union than non-e-bill users. Fully half of e-bill recipients said their experiences with e-bill had made them less likely to switch financial institutions in the future. E-bills are electronic representations of paper bills that are securely delivered directly to a business or financial institution Web site. With e-Bills, consumers can review balances, transactions and all other details available in paper bills, and schedule payments with just a few clicks of the mouse.


• Overall, 67.9 million households, or 80 percent of the estimated 85.1 million U.S. online households, use online banking services, up from 63.4 million in the 2007 survey.

• Those living in Western (83 percent penetration) and Southern (81 percent penetration) states were more likely to adopt online banking than those in the Northeast (78 percent) and Midwest (78 percent).

Additional Information:

You can watch a recast of the webinar where researchers from CheckFree and David Baron, vice president of Financial Research Services for Harris Interactive, provides insights into what made the survey successful.

In conjunction with the press announcement, CheckFree announced the launch of the new-and-improved eBILLPLACE.com website, which aims to inform consumers and the media about the environmental, time and cash-saving benefits of receiving and paying bills online.