Mobile banking is on its way and if recent developments are to go by, it is in fact fast approaching. Indeed, banks that want to keep up with the pace will need to start thinking about, if they haven’t already, which technologies they want to invest in to enable them to deliver mobile banking services. I read an article recently that featured comments from SWIFT stating the opportunity for banks to use a shared platform for mobile banking. Swift's head of innovation, Kosta Peric said that past experience in online banking where the UK banks developed in-house solutions proved that there were cost savings in sharing a mobile banking service.

 I agree that banks can benefit through seeking external support but I strongly believe that mobile banking requires investment, innovation and differentiation to make it a success and this is not possible on a shared platform.

Banks must set their mobile banking offerings apart and offer features beyond common payments and banking services. These include value added services such as personalised marketing messages and location based offers that can be developed into a valuable revenue stream. These solutions can also integrate seamlessly into banks’ back office systems and can even echo the features and management capabilities a bank has chosen for its existing online banking system to make outsourcing less of a headache.    

As such, there is still time for internet banking services to be innovative. Back in the 1990s, banks were branching into online banking to provide basic services but now they are recognising  that by reinvesting in online banking, they can provide exactly those value-add services that today’s consumers are calling for and that can differentiate them from others. With increasing pressure to offer transparency and fair banking services, the online channel is critical in helping consumers to manage their money.

Take Principality, for example, and the visualisation tool it has incorporated into its internet banking service that enables customers to go online and see how their savings will grow over a period of time through a graph.

So while all banks want to offer mobile banking, digital banking channels are not just about sending simple banking information securely across a network. There is much more that a bank can deliver through the online and mobile channels and the key to standing out amongst the crowd is understanding the customer and enhancing their user experience.