The impact of Googorola on mobile financial services

The news that Google has acquired Motorola will add fresh fuel to the smartphone fire that rages between Apple, Google and Microsoft.

The move underpins the search giant’s ambitions to be a ‘mobile-first’ company. According to Gartner, Google’s Android operating system is already dominating the space. It was the leading smartphone supplier worldwide in the second quarter of the year, with 43.4 per cent market share, up from 17.2 per cent a year ago.

But what does this mean for mobile financial services?

One of the biggest challenges for financial services companies that are investing in mobile is the vast array of different operating systems and specifications that they must follow when creating apps and web services. And this latest deal creates more uncertainty.

At the moment, from our own events research, we can see the UK market is predominantly focused on building mobile banking and payment services for the iPhone. But banks cannot rest on their laurels. The growing dominance of Google and its acquisition of Motorola mean that for widespread adoption to occur, banks must invest in Android-based mobile banking apps and services.

On top of this, it will be very interesting to see how the rest of the market responds, namely Microsoft and its strategy to remain a challenger. Also, how will other handset manufacturers fare, such as HTC, which relies on the Android operating system and Huawei, which has announced its intentions to launch a handset in its own right.

The market is certainly changing rapidly, as ever. As a result, I think that we will see greater collaboration between mobile specialists and banks as they try to navigate this increasingly complex market and deliver financial services to their customers via the mobile.