21/02/2012
By Scott Thompson
Geolocation will be the most important element of mobile banking projects in 2012, according to new research.
LM Research surveyed 500 IT managers in financial services, on behalf of Axway. Twenty two per cent said that their geolocation partnership project was their biggest technology investment priority in 2012. Twenty per cent cited mobile payment technologies as their biggest priority, and 18 per cent opted for mobile banking portals. Conversely, 36 per cent said that the uncertain impact of new regulation was primed to be their biggest technology headache in 2012. This was followed by staying ahead of cybercriminals, increasing the speed of payment processing and the need for a 360 degree view of customer data.
“With consumers increasingly using location-based social networking sites, and checking their smartphones for local directions and recommendations, the opportunity for financial institutions to influence or add value to a purchase is huge,” says John Wilson, director of solution enablement - financial services, Axway. “Geolocation can also have additional benefits for banks, by preventing phishing attacks, money laundering and other security breaches by determining the user's location as part of the authentication process.”
“As financial institutions are under huge pressure to ensure that they are using the right technology to manage customer data and ensure compliance, it’s great to see so many of them are also looking at developing strategies for growth. 2012 is definitely going to be all about mobile, so financial institutions are certainly putting their eggs in the right basket. As their mobile banking strategies evolve, banks will start to meet new challenges in order to satisfy the future mobile needs of customers, such as real-time account visibility, monetisation and using information, such as geolocation, to provide targeted offers. In any event, it’s clear that mobiles are increasingly becoming the channel of choice so prioritising investment in this channel has never been more important,” he adds.
