Mobile corporate banking means opportunity

A user-centric approach which allows customer firms’ executives to choose their own device is fundamental to a bank’s success in mobile corporate banking services and should be a key component in every bank’s omnichannel strategy, according to Mobey Forum.

In a white paper produced by the group, which focuses on mobile banking services, Mobey Forum discusses key findings and takeaways from a survey of 79 banks from around the world.

All of the participating banks confirmed their desire to offer mobile corporate banking services, with some 80% intending to introduce these services to corporate customers within the next 12 months.

Despite these bold intentions, the survey also highlighted a variety of barriers inhibiting the industry’s ability to go to market. Difficulty in identifying use cases, coupled with a lack of in-house knowledge and budget, were reasons cited as key barriers to rollout. Also a factor: difficulties faced in identifying across-the-board use cases that would drive service uptake across their corporate customer base.

“The world is changing rapidly and the pressure on corporate finance departments to keep pace with enterprise mobility is growing,” says Petra Bunschoten, chair of the Mobile Corporate Banking Workgroup at Mobey Forum and principal consultant at ING Netherlands. “This is a real opportunity for banks, as long as they can optimize their services for the range of different mobile environments in use today. The holy grail lies in their ability to provide a consistent and convenient corporate banking service experience across all devices, from anywhere and at any time.”

The Mobey Forum survey focused on payments and cash management use cases, such as notifications and alerts; payment authorization; advanced reporting; corporate card; and cash-flow management. Additionally, the paper acknowledges that, given time, the market opportunity could become much wider than this, incorporating treasury dashboards and foreign exchange services, for example.

“The quick and dirty way to offer mobile corporate services is for banks simply to mirror their web-based corporate solution on the mobile channel,” says Bunschoten. “But this strategy disregards the most obvious opportunities for the mobile channel to add value, through connectivity, flexibility, and the possibility to work on the go.

Today’s financial executives work from various places and need to be in control, she explained.

“They decide whether to use a desktop, a laptop, or a mobile device,” Bunschoten explained. “Banks must deliver services that not only accommodate this shift in working style, but help customers to maximize its efficacy.”

Download “Mobile Corporate Banking: A Key Component In A Bank’s Omni-Channel Strategy” [Registration required]