WAP sites, mini websites that can be viewed on mobile devices, may lack in usability, but they are inexpensive to build and keep you in the game with the BofAs and Citibanks. And a shot of a mobile phone looks good on the homepage (see note 2), probably a bigger benefit than the actual service itself.

The latest bank to officially launch mobile banking is $1.7 billion Cardinal Bank <cardinalbank.com>, who's WAP site has its own URL: <gocardinal.net> (note 1). The WAP site consists of four main tabs  (see inset):

• Home
• Rates
• Find Us
• Sign On

The secure signon leads to full-service online banking including balance and data access, funds transfers, and bill payment (see screenshots below). While the bank may not get a lot of users, at least they have eliminated one reason for a heavy mobile user to look elsewhere for a bank. Nice work.

For more information, see our Mobile Banking Report (OBR 138/139).

Note:

1. While the .net address has two less keystrokes on a phone keypad than .com., it still a relatively cumbersome address for those without an QWERTY pad. If possible, invest in a URL with just a few characters and/or one the maximizes the use of the first letter of each key's triad (A, D, G, J, M, P, W). And don't ever use X, which is not on standard 10-key pads.

2. Cardinal Bank leverages the cachet of mobile banking with a prominent graphic on its homepage. It would be more effective if it was a closer shot, so the Cardinal logo was  visible on the Treo screen.