Cellular South, the nation's largest privately owned wireless carrier, now offers the free wireless mobile banking application to customers who bank with Regions and eight other Mid-South financial institutions, including BancorpSouth, SunTrust, USAA, Wachovia, Trust One, Coastal Bank and Trust, Vanguard and Bank of Pensacola in the Mid-South region.

The mobile banking application is available on both cell phones and BlackBerry devices, including the Curve, the Pearl and the World Edition. The service allows individuals who are customers of both Cellular South and participating banks to view account balances and history, transfer funds and pay bills from their mobile handsets through a secure, PIN-protected gateway.

"More and more of our wireless customers are demanding mobile banking services, and we are pleased that we can now offer the application to our customers who bank with Regions," said Cellular South President Hu Meena. "Across the industry, people are realizing that mobile banking gives them the flexibility to pay bills, transfer funds and make financial decisions, anywhere, anytime."

A recent Harris Interactive study revealed that consumer demand for mobile banking among wireless customers is continuing to grow, as 16 percent of U.S. adults say they already use the services, and another 35 percent report that they are open to checking bank account balances and transferring funds via their mobile phones, smart phones or PDAs.

To use Cellular South's mobile banking feature, customers must have an account with a participating bank, such as Regions, and must enable online access to their account, a free feature at most banks. Users who sign up for Cellular South's mobile banking receive a secure initialization code and can access and monitor multiple bank accounts from the same application and PIN.

"We're pleased to work with wireless carriers like Cellular South to bring mobile banking to our customers," said David Rupp, Regions senior executecutive vice president for consumer services. "Managing bank accounts from a wireless device fits the busy lifestyle that many of us share and it will make banking more convenient for Regions and Cellular South customers."

Cellular South has been a leader in wireless communications for 20 years. Offering exceptional service and a suite of mobile commerce applications to customers across the Southeast, Cellular South continues to make the wireless lifestyle easily accessible. Mobile banking will provide yet another innovative mobile commerce solution for Cellular South customers.