How Many iPhone Banking Apps Will There Be?

Are you tired of hearing "there's an app for that" yet? Well, get used to it, we are still at the beginning of the great app rollout.  Even as recently as our iPhone Banking Report published in March, I...

Posted by Jim Bruene on November 12, 2009 6:02 PM

Notes from the Mobile Commerce Summit (Day 1)

About 100+ folks gathered in the brand new M Resort near Las Vegas for the third annual Mobile Commerce Summit by SourceMedia. Jeff Dennes from USAA and Jim Simpson from City Bank of Texas, both provided an extraordinary amount...

Posted by Jim Bruene on June 4, 2009 7:02 PM

Wesabe to Power Bank and Credit Union Personal Finance Communities with White-label Deals

Today, Wesabe (company blog post) joined Geezeo (press release) in officially pursuing a strategy of white-labeling its personal finance services for banks and credit unions (note 1). Wesabe CEO Marc Hedlund told me they have three deals in various...

Posted by Jim Bruene on March 18, 2009 7:30 PM

Could Mobile Payments Get a Boost from Lowly Stickers?

Even though I have credit cards from Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, American Express and Chase, I have never been offered the opportunity to add contactless payment capability to my card, so I still have no firsthand experience of...

Posted by Jim Bruene on August 20, 2008 4:42 PM

CheckFree to Enable In-home Remote Check Deposits for Consumers and Small Businesses

Although, remote deposit capture has captured a significant share of larger businesses, consumers have had fewer options: USAA has offered in-home scanning, called Deposit@Home, for more than a year (previous coverage here), but its customer base is limited to...

Posted by Jim Bruene on February 5, 2008 12:23 PM

Mobile Banking Announcement: BB&T, Clairmail, and mFoundry

Winston-Salem-based BB&T Corporation (NYSE: BB&T - News) today said it has partnered with two California-based mobile banking and payment providers to offer one of the industry's most comprehensive mobile banking services. BB&T's three-phase rollout of the new service is set...

Posted by Brandon McGee on October 16, 2007 6:25 PM

Firethorn and Monitise Make Major Announcements

September, October and November are traditionally great months for new product announcements. True to form, at least five major U.S. mobile banking announcements appeared last week. Brandon McGee posts a quick synopsis here. Of special interest were the announcements by...

Posted by Jim Bruene on September 18, 2007 4:18 PM

Mobile Money & Payments 2.0 Released: The Latest from Online Banking Report

Our parent publication, Online Banking Report, has just released its latest in-depth report: Mobile Money & Payments 2.0: Why credit & debit card issuers should embrace mobile delivery nowLink to the full report hereLink to the abstract here The report builds on last month's Mobile...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 12, 2007 11:59 AM

Kroger Stocks Aisle 1 with Mortgages, Puts Pet Insurance on a Hang-Tag by the Dog Food

I never understood the fight against Wal-Mart's limited-purpose banking charter. I say let it "enjoy" all the benefits of being a bank: CRA statements, regulatory audits, compliance committees, and endless questions about trigger terms and the alphabet soup of regulations. Maybe a banking charter would...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 4, 2007 5:50 PM

Citi Mobile Launches in Southern California

The long-awaited launch of True Mobile Banking 2.0 (note 1) in the United States happened yesterday with Citibank beginning a limited rollout of its mFoundry-powered downloadable mobile banking service. The service is currently available to Citibank customers in Southern California...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 3, 2007 10:17 AM

Wachovia, SunTrust, and Regions Bank Team with AT&T Wireless and Firethorn for Mobile Banking

Once Citibank and Bank of America started making mobile banking noises, we didn't expect it to be long before others jumped into the market (note 1). So it came as no surprise today that SunTrust, Regions, and Wachovia announced full-service downloadable...

Posted by Jim Bruene on March 26, 2007 11:19 PM

Bank of America Posting Content at its .mobi Address

Bank of America is gearing up to launch nationwide mobile access this year. The region-by-region rollout begins in Tennessee next month (see note 1 below). Few details are available, but it sounds like WAP banking, similar to Wachovia's approach announced in December. We'll analyze...

Posted by Jim Bruene on February 19, 2007 10:42 AM

Getting Even with the Citibank Call Center

Score:      Tom Brown -- 1     Citibank -- 0 How many times have you been frustrated by your experience at a call center? Well, if you were a multi-millionaire hedge fund manager with his own blog, you could...

Posted by Jim Bruene on July 11, 2006 2:18 PM

Notes from BAI's SmartTactics Conference

Several interesting tidbits surfaced from today's presentations at BAI's SmartTactics conference in Las Vegas: Citibank online account acquisitionIn 2002, 6% of Citibank's new checking accounts were generated online; in 2005, the number was 20%. Our comments: Keep in mind that...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 24, 2006 7:40 PM

Bank of America's SiteKey a Model for Successful Authentication Systems

Most banks around the country are busily complying with the Federal Financial Institution Examination Council’s (FFIEC) mandate that they switch their online banking sites to two-factor authentication this year. Playing out against the past year’s flood of identity thefts and...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 23, 2006 1:32 PM

Federal Reserve Bank Introduces FedLine Direct

The Federal Reserve Banks are launching FedLine Direct, an Internet-based replacement for their current computer interface channel geared for institutions with high transaction volumes. FedLine Direct gives such firms automated Fed payments services. The Fed is testing a pilot program...

Posted by Jim Bruene on February 28, 2006 3:07 PM

Reviews of CertaPay and Star System

CertaPay Scorecard Founded 2000, privately held Management Michael Ginsberg, CEO Harry Enchin, President Employees not disclosed Revenues not disclosed EPP Products email payments, interbank funds transfer Address 55 University Avenue, 8th Floor Toronto, ON M5J 2H7575 Madison Avenue, 10th...

Posted by Jim Bruene on September 10, 2002 1:39 PM

Looking Back 1 and 5 Years in Online Banking

One Year Ago in Online Banking Report In April 2000, OBR began with the headline, Net Banking Catches Fire: 15% of U.S. Adults to Bank Online by Year-end. We also noted, “We’ve been waiting five years to write that...

Posted by Jim Bruene on April 4, 2001 1:34 PM

Internet Person-to-Person Payments

Killer app or line extension? killer app: adj. short for killer application: The application that makes a mass market for a promising but underused technology. First used in the mid-1980s to describe Lotus 1-2-3’s impact on IBM PC adoption....

Posted by Jim Bruene on November 1, 1999 11:00 AM

Optimized for the Net: Scan-and-Pay Bill Presentment

PayMyBills.com’s home page is tremendous, equaling the "NextCard standard” of just 25 words on the entire page. The 17 words and three pictures across the top do a far better job explaining the electronic bill payment process than most...

Posted by Jim Bruene on June 8, 1999 11:01 AM