A Pitch to Financial Institutions:
You need to GET mobile

‘Mobile is very much a part of our marketing priorities, and getting our brand associated with mobile is at the core to our strategy”

Visa Europe

Thanks for that Visa, but so what?

Well there are 1 billion PCs in the world today, 950 million of which are connected to the internet. There are 1.7 billion credit cards with spending power, which has in recent years made a dramatic shift to the online market place.

This is all redundant when you realise that there are 3.4 billion unique mobile users in the world today, with 29% of worldwide internet access made exclusively on these devices, whereas 25% is exclusively made on PC’s.

When people talk about mobile in terms of marketing, it’s often the same images that pop into their head. Spammy unsolicited SMS from your local gym telling you to make the most of their discount sign up fees? Or an iPhone application that imitates drinking a pint of lager?!

The fact of the matter is that mobile creates opportunities that many other media channels cannot. A world of rich, interactive, targeted, location aware content is waiting to be exploited, and despite the 1000s of mobile campaigns already launched, the market remains unsaturated.

Mobile creates a whole new level of engagement with its consumers, and can integrate seamlessly with other digital and even traditional media channels for the optimum effect.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the past 12 months has been dominated by the mobile application. The iPhone App Store has clocked up over 3 Billion application downloads since it’s unveiling, landing on one of 85 Million Apple iPhone and iPod Touch devices worldwide.

Mobile apps now allow you to do everything from decide who makes the tea, to start the engine of your car. The market is becoming littered with financial services apps that allow you to find your nearest ATM, cash a cheque and pay your bills.

Imagine placing this power in the hands of your consumers. A device that allows them to do everything they could do via a branch or call centre. It’s not just the money making power of mobile, it’s the money saving power too.

If the past year has taught us anything, it is that the financial climate is a fragile creature. The industry needs to not only look after its customers, but itself too.

Mobile creates the opportunity to streamline processes and as a result, reduce costs. Why should a customer waste 2 minutes of a call handler’s time checking a bank balance, when they could be checking their balance on a dedicated branded mobile application. And hell, at the same time they can pay those bills and transfer that cash into their savings account for Christmas.

All at the click of a button.

All completely secure.

Over the next year, the mobile industry is going to become even more furiously competitive, as Android continues to go from strength to strength, allowing developers to create the applications of their dreams, and the Apple iPhone strives to maintain its place as the King of Mobile and at the heart of marketers mobile plans.

PricewaterhouseCoopers forecasts the transaction value of mobile financial services will be around £6bn by 2012. Being part of it won’t take much, but getting it right won’t be easy. That’s why you need a supplier with a strong understanding of the technicalities and security issues that surround mobile development. And to top it off, an understanding of employing creativity to create a usable, valuable, secure and enjoyable experience for your customers.