Latest white paper describes, explores and assesses strategic options for banks and financial institutions relative to mobile wallet technology
15 October 2013 – The utilisation of mobile technology is permanently changing consumer spending habits, disrupting previously-exclusive relationships between banks and their customers worldwide. If banks and financial institutions are to advance their commercial interests and remain competitive in the mobile age, they need to act now to formulate a sustainable mobile wallet engagement strategy. This is the view expressed by Mobey Forum’s Mobile Wallet Workgroup in the fifth instalment in its series of mobile wallet white papers, published today.
The paper, entitled ‘Mobile Wallet: Strategic Options for Banks’, draws on the analysis of the previous four papers, together with a variety of current mobile wallet examples, in order to highlight a series of strategic options for banks. It explains how the mobile wallet will transform the consumer shopping experience and describes the new role that banks and financial institutions can play in its delivery, before outlining a series of recommendations intended to aid banks in their efforts to establish optimal ecosystem positioning.
Three groups of services are described which are expected to drive mobile wallet adoption – ‘payments’, ‘own value added services’ and ‘value added services from third parties’. These groups are then mapped against three models for wallet ownership: ‘own wallet’; ‘joint venture wallet’ and ‘third party wallet’. Five strategic go-to-market options are derived from this process, which are explored and assessed. The paper concludes that the strength of each strategic option is dependent on a variety of factors influencing the bank or financial institution in question, and contends that each has validity when it is matched appropriately to the bank’s individual circumstances.
“Each strategic option has its own merits, but what unites them all is the need for banks to step out of their comfort zones and rethink their roles in the market,” comments Amir Tabakovic, Chair of the Mobile Wallet Workgroup, Mobey Forum. “By following ambitious mobile wallet strategies, some banks are starting to play in sectors that, in truth, have virtually nothing to do with banking at all. Even those opting for a more cautious approach must contend with a whole variety of emerging business models. We believe that banks would be foolish to ignore this market; it is evolving rapidly and the stakes are high. Banks have much to gain and, perhaps more than other players, much to lose.”
Mobey Forum, the global bank driven industry association working to accelerate the evolution and adoption of mobile financial services, highlights that it will take time for mobile wallets to become well established and widely used as the market remains in its infancy. Tabakovic concludes: “Now is the time for banks and financial institutions to do their homework and establish a strategy to safeguard their position in the future of transactional mobile financial services. This begins with an analysis of the bank’s present situation. When combined with a clear vision of the role that the bank would like to play in, say, five years time, banking executives should be able to identify a strategy that will enable them to attain their desired market position.”
‘Mobile Wallet: Strategic Options for Banks’ is available for download without charge from https://mobeyforum.org/whitepaper/mobile-wallet-part-5-strategic-options-for-banks/.
Leading banks and service providers have all contributed to the white paper, including: Bank of America, Danske Bank, Fiserv, Giesecke & Devrient, Monitise, Nets, PostFinance and Royal Bank of Scotland.
-ENDS-
For further media information please contact Kirsty Pearson / Rob Peryer tel +44 1943 468 007 or email: kirsty@iseepr.co.uk / rob@iseepr.co.uk
Notes to editors
The other white papers in the series are available here:
– Mobile Wallet Whitepaper Part 1: Definitions and Vision – More information
– Mobile Wallet Whitepaper Part 2: Control Points in Mobile Wallets – More information
– Mobile Wallet Whitepaper Part 3: The Hidden Controls – More information
– Mobile Wallet Whitepaper Part 4: Structures and Approaches – More information
– Mobile Wallet Whitepaper part 5: Strategic Options for Banks – More information
About Mobey Forum
Mobey Forum is a global, bank-driven business association working to accelerate the evolution and adoption of mobile financial services. Established in 2000, it brings together leading financial institutions, mobile network operators, mobile handset manufacturers and payment processors and vendors, committed to accelerating the mass-market deployment of user-friendly mobile financial services by promoting open and secure technology standards.