Fiserv (FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, today announced that it has integrated its Popmoney person-to-person payments service with its widely used Mobiliti mobile banking and payments platform.
Person-to-person (P2P) payments can now be initiated directly from a user's mobile banking account, enhancing the functionality of mobile banking by enabling consumers to pay people they know or owe using their email address or mobile phone number. Consumers can also manage incoming payments and review their transaction history.
"As more of our members adopt and experience the benefits of mobile banking, they are ready to go beyond basic access to account information to use the service in new ways," said Donna Bland, President and Chief Executive Officer of Golden 1 Credit Union. "The integration of Popmoney into our mobile banking platform brings the innovative personal payments functionality that our members are looking for to our mobile banking service."
More than 16 billion person-to-person payments are made each year, according to an analysis done by McKinsey & Company on behalf of Fiserv. While most of these payments are currently made with cash or checks, electronic payments between people, also known as "social payments," are an emerging trend. Tablet banking and mobile banking users have indicated that they are interested in making these types of payments, with the April 2012 Forrester Research, Inc. report, "US Bankers Want More From Digital Banking," showing that 51 percent of tablet banking users and 46 percent of mobile banking users would like to make person-to-person payments via their devices.
As a result of the integration, Popmoney is readily available within the Mobiliti mobile banking user interface, making it easy for users to manage their mobile banking and payments activity from a central hub. With mobile banking adoption surging and consumers beginning to utilize the service in more sophisticated ways, it has become increasingly important for financial institutions to deliver a unified set of mobile banking and payments options. Transactional capabilities, such as the ability to deposit checks, pay bills and make person-to-person payments, are increasingly in demand, and delivering them drives convenience and satisfaction with the service and the financial institution.
"As mobile bankers grow more comfortable using mobile features to conduct banking activities, mobile money movement will increase in usage and value to users," writes Peter Wannemacher, analyst, eBusiness and Channel Strategy, Forrester Research, Inc. in the April 2012 report, "2012 US Mobile Banking Functionality Rankings." "In the near future, banks will differentiate by the mobile capabilities they offer users, including P2P, expedited payments, and the ability to manage recipients."
In addition to enhancing the functionality of Mobiliti, the integration expands the reach of the Popmoney network. Mobiliti is used by more than 1,300 financial institutions, and the number of consumers using mobile banking is expanding exponentially. According to the 2012 Fiserv Consumer Trends Survey, the number of U.S. households using mobile banking increased by 33 percent from 2011 to 2012, to almost 25 million households.
"For many consumers, their financial institution is the ideal hub from which to manage the many types of payments they make each month - from paying bills to paying other people," said Rahul Gupta, group president, Digital Payment Solutions, Fiserv. "The integration of Popmoney with Mobiliti gives financial institution customers another convenient way to access person-to-person payments, which will drive adoption and use of both services."
In addition to being available via Mobiliti, the Popmoney service is integrated into the CheckFree RXP electronic billing and payment solution and the Corillian Online and Virtual Branch online banking solutions from Fiserv and is available as a standalone service.
Popmoney is offered at more than 1,800 participating banks and credit unions, or anyone can sign-up at Popmoney.com. Once enrolled, all a user needs is the recipient's email address or mobile phone number to send money straight from their checking or savings account to the recipient's without exchanging bank account information.