Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Bank of America: 1 Million Mobile Strong

The Bank of America, the nation's largest commercial bank, has one million mobile users for its Web services.

A few years ago, there was some question about the growth of mobile banking. While online banking drew a big crowd -- there was double-digital growth and adoption at the turn of the century -- privacy and security concerns worried consumers.

Wide-spread adoption isn't quite here (BOA has 25 million online bankers), the one million mark is a massive number of people when you consider the fact that less than a decade ago ecommerce sites worried that privacy and security concerns would hinder their growth.

While many of those concerns proved to be unfounded -- consumers spent $160 billion online last year -- banking is one of those itchy areas for consumers. The idea of sending out your financial data across a wireless network is unsettling at best. (My parents, for instance, made me destroy their old computer's hard drive so their personal information would be secure forever.)

But progress marches on. CityBank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America pushed into the mobile market last year with these options:

1. check balances
2. pay bills
3. transfer funds
4. view posted and pending transactions
5. locate banking centers and ATMs, accompanied by maps and directions<

As the Mobile Internet Devices -- those wireless, portable devices such as scaled-down laptops and increasingly-powerful smart phones -- proliferate, it's more than likely these types of financial services will grow.

Posted By Brad King at 10:04 AM
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