iPhone... part two
May 2, 2008 1:45 AM
Filed Under: Mobile Finance and Banking Mobile Data and Messaging Mobile Industry
A few posts ago I wrote about how the iPhone (or full browsers on mobile phones) does not mean the end of mobile banking. And in that post I mentioned that I had some other reasons why mobile banking is different.
During the interim we've been interviewing candidates for a number of roles within Sybase 365, and with that post fresh in my mind, I thought I would ask the candidates the question iPhone vs. Mobile Banking. So here's some of the answers I got...
"The best thing about the mobile banking service offered by my current
bank are the alerts. You know when you money goes in and out of your
account. You don't get that with internet banking"
"[Internet on your phone] doesn't work for micro-payments. If you wanted to buy something for a euro from a vending machine, well you don't want to spend time/money on mobile data charges just for a euro"
"Most people don't have Smartphones. When will telcos start giving their pre-paid customers Smartphones"
"Internet banking is about complex interactions, mobile is about quick simple information - there are just different"
The alerts answer was very common, and I guess no surprise as that was the most requested service from our consumer survey last year. The micro-payment answer is really spot on - why spend a euro (on data charges) to pay a euro (payment).
I'll carry on asking the "iPhone" - I'll let you know if I get any additional reasons...
Posted by Diarmuid Mallon on May 2, 2008 1:45 AM
