Most Corporations Want to Use Mobile Banking, Survey Finds

Aite Group and Fundtech report shows 65% of treasurers interested in adopting mobile services and over half willing to pay for them.

Two-thirds of businesses are at least "somewhat likely' to use mobile corporate banking services to perform basic transactions such as checking balances or transferring funds, according to research released today by Aite Group and Fundtech at SIBOS today. An October 2010 survey of over 300 treasury executives worldwide found that more than 40% of respondents are "likely" or "very likely" to use mobile banking services. And more than 55% of treasurers expressed interest in performing more advanced functions such as approving transactions and initiating payments via a mobile device.

Mobile banking technology has primarily been offered to the consumer/retail channel but survey results indicate that corporate mobile banking presents a new, untapped opportunity for banks. Almost half (49%) of businesses are willing to pay for the convenience of mobile cash management capabilities, pointing toward the ability for banks to generate fee-based revenues to cover some of the cost associated with this kind of technology investment.

Aite estimates that today, only about 4% of businesses around the world currently use mobile banking services, and most of those businesses are small, with less than $10 million in annual revenues. The analysts feel the largest opportunity for corporate mobile banking exists among middle-market customers with annual revenues up to $10 billion.

The survey found that security is a concern for more than 65% of treasury executives. Half view anytime, anywhere access to banking information as the primary benefit of corporate mobile banking.