Asia steers m-banking
(19 February 2010 – Asia) ABI Research, a technology market intelligence firm, has forecast that by the year 2015 around 407 million consumers globally will carry out their financial transactions using their mobile phones.
While some 66 million will be located in North America, it is Asia Pacific that is driving the accelerated growth, the research house claims.
Mark Beccue, senior analyst, ABI Research, said that the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the lion’s share of the world’s 52.2 million mobile banking subscribers in 2009.
The global number of subscribers more than doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to almost double again in 2010, Mr Beccue added.
The accelerated growth can be seen globally, however Asia, led by India, is growing the fastest, Mr Beccue said.
Growth of this market in Europe and North America has been somewhat limited so far because, in contrast to banks elsewhere, the financial institutions in those areas offered mobile banking primarily to existing users of their online banking services, the research house said.
Wide access to computers and easy access to physical bank branches lessened consumers’ motivation to adopt the mobile banking model. However Wells Fargo, long a pioneer in electronic banking in the US, recently lifted that restriction, and also launched text-based mobile banking, which greatly expands the number of mobile devices that can access such services.
Moves of that kind will mean, said Mr Beccue, a new wave of mobile banking growth outside Asia; North America and Europe are still a long way from what anyone would call a ‘mass market’ uptake of mobile banking, but those regions offer the best long-term conditions for that to occur.
Mark Beccue, senior analyst, ABI Research, said that the Asia-Pacific region accounted for the lion’s share of the world’s 52.2 million mobile banking subscribers in 2009.
The global number of subscribers more than doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to almost double again in 2010, Mr Beccue added.
The accelerated growth can be seen globally, however Asia, led by India, is growing the fastest, Mr Beccue said.
Growth of this market in Europe and North America has been somewhat limited so far because, in contrast to banks elsewhere, the financial institutions in those areas offered mobile banking primarily to existing users of their online banking services, the research house said.
Wide access to computers and easy access to physical bank branches lessened consumers’ motivation to adopt the mobile banking model. However Wells Fargo, long a pioneer in electronic banking in the US, recently lifted that restriction, and also launched text-based mobile banking, which greatly expands the number of mobile devices that can access such services.
Moves of that kind will mean, said Mr Beccue, a new wave of mobile banking growth outside Asia; North America and Europe are still a long way from what anyone would call a ‘mass market’ uptake of mobile banking, but those regions offer the best long-term conditions for that to occur.
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