| By Jim Bruene on October 27, 2008 6:14 PM | Comments (1) |
Firethorn (owned by Qualcomm) has a new iPhone app called Mobile Banking for AT&T Customers. The app is currently ranked number eight in the finance category of the Apple iTunes App Store (see screenshot below). Of the transactional services, only PayPal and BofA's Mobile Banking are higher.
The application can be used to access online banking at any of the ten financial institution holding companies, and their subsidiaries, currently supported by Firethorn:
- 1st Bank (Colorado)
- America First Credit Union
- Arvest
- BancorpSouth
- Caroline First
- Mercantile Bank
- Suntrust
- Synovus
- USAA
- Wachovia (now owned by Wells Fargo)
The Firethorn application has 27 reviews so far and has scored a 4-star average (out of 5), much better than the typical finance app (see previous coverage here). The main complaint is lack of coverage for the user's bank, which is not the fault of the app. In comparison, Bank of America's app garnered 434 reviews and a 2.5-star rating.
I downloaded the application today and, unfortunately, I don't have an account at any of the financial institutions; however, that will change next week if they hit the dates contained in the Featured Providers page.
Here are coming-soon financial institutions:
- Citi Cards (Citibank) "coming Nov. 1" (previous press release here)
- Chase Bank "coming soon"
- Regions Bank "beginning this fall"
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I am surprised that less banks are offering mobile banking services like this. With the market how it is, building long lasting relationships by leveraging your brand only comes as a benefit.
BofA definitly recognizes the opportunity. It seems others such as Chase and Citi would rather leverage exisiting technology vs. creating their own. I see this as a lost opportunity to having the brand logo in the main interface of the iPhone, G1, etc.
I am happy to see Firethorn giving this app away for free.
We are currently looking at the opporunity to build our brand through mobile apps as well. Once ready, I will definitly look to communites such as netbanker for insights.