Banks Back Geolocation in 2012

Geolocation dominates mobile banking agenda

In a survey of 500 IT managers in financial services, 22 per cent said that their geolocation partnership project, which enables location-based offers to be sent directly to a consumer’s handheld device, was their biggest technology investment priority in 2012. This was followed by 20 per cent that cited mobile payment technologies as their biggest priority, and 18 per cent opting for mobile banking portals.

Conversely, 36 per cent of respondents said that the uncertain impact of new regulation was primed to be their biggest technology headache in 2012. This was followed by staying ahead of cybercriminals, increasing the speed of payment processing and the need for a 360 degree view of customer data, which each came in at 22 per cent.

With 85% of consumers expecting the experience on mobile devices to be better than or equal to using a laptop or desktop computer online, the survey indicates that financial institutions are taking note and prioritising investment in innovative mobility solutions to capitalise on this opportunity for growth. The need to invest in their mobile strategy is reaffirmed by the IDC 2012 Predictions analysis, which cited mobile strategy as priority number one for all industry players in 2012, as mobile devices outship PCs by more than 2:1 and generate more revenue than PCs for the first time. The analyst firm also predicts 85 billion mobile apps will be downloaded, and that mobile devices and apps will be the number one client portal to the digital world.

“With consumers increasingly using location-based social networking sites, and checking their smartphones for local directions and recommendations, the opportunity for financial institutions to influence or add value to a purchase is huge,” said John Wilson, Director of Solution Enablement - Financial Services, Axway. “Geolocation can also have additional benefits for banks, by preventing phishing attacks, money laundering and other security breaches by determining the user's location as part of the authentication process.”

“As financial institutions are under huge pressure to ensure that they are using the right technology to manage customer data and ensure compliance, it’s great to see so many of them are also looking at developing strategies for growth. 2012 is definitely going to be all about mobile, so financial institutions are certainly putting their eggs in the right basket. As their mobile banking strategies evolve, banks will start to meet new challenges in order to satisfy the future mobile needs of customers, such as real-time account visibility, monetisation and using information, such as geolocation, to provide targeted offers. In any event, it’s clear that mobiles are increasingly becoming the channel of choice so prioritising investment in this channel has never been more important.”