Mobile banking gains steam with AT&T Mobility launch

AT&T Mobility launched a mobile banking platform that will be preloaded on its handsets starting later this year. The offering is now available for download to more than 30 of the carrier’s devices, which account for about 30 million wireless handsets in the market.
The carrier had previously announced its intent to launch a banking service, as well as deals with individual banks, but now the platform is launching nationwide. According to AT&T Mobility, its partnership with Wachovia Corp., SunTrust Banks Inc., mobile banking and payments enabler Firethorn Holdings L.L.C. and Firethorn’s partner CheckFree Corp. will provide mobile banking services to millions of the banks’ customers.
To sign up for the service, customers must first register at their bank’s Web site, where they will receive a one-time initialization code. Customers then fire up their phone’s mobile banking application, and use the code to link their bank account to the mobile application. Users then create a personal identification number to ensure secure access to the application.
Other security measures include encryption of all data and the ability for customers to immediately deactivate the service if a handset is misplaced. Also, new payees can be added only from the user’s online banking account, not from the handset.
AT&T Mobility said the service is free aside from data charges.
The carrier noted that since its first banking partner, BancorpSouth, went to market with mobile banking earlier this year, “adoption rates have been higher than expected and have resulted in a 15% traffic increase to the bank’s Web site.”
Other financial institutions that are either offering AT&T Mobility’s mobile banking service or have signed agreements with the carrier to offer the service include Colorado-based FirstBank, Synovus, Regions Financial Corp., America First Credit Union and Arvest Bank Group.
Momentum appears to be building in the mobile banking space. Recently, the GSM Association announced that a dozen mobile operators will run trials of contactless mobile payments over the next several months. Countries involved in the trials include the U.S., Australia, France, Ireland, Korea, Malaysia, Norway, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey and the Phillippines. The trials are part of the GSMA’s Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative for Near Field Communications payments.
In a separate announcement, CheckFree said it has expanded its mobile banking strategy to include WAP, SMS and applications embedded on mobile devices.