Mobile Banking Expected to Grow Rapidly - Towergroup

In a recent research report, Towergroup estimated that adoption of Mobile Banking is expected to grow from 10 million active users in 2009 to over 53 million active users in 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate of 51.8%.

According to the report, "As economic concerns prompt consumers to manage their finances more closely, their desire for real-time access to- and control of- their aggregated financial information is increasing the urgency for banks to create a mobile banking channel. More broadly, the proliferation of mobile devices and smart phones symbolizes a pervasive, networked consumer market, revolutionizing many aspects of the consumer lifestyle, including finance. To this end, TowerGroup believes that mobility will be a major disruptive force in the financial services industry."

10 million in 2009 is in itself an impressive number and if it plays out, by year 2013, we should have almost 60-70% of online banking users. This certainly creates huge opportunities for technology vendors like Firethorn, Clairmail, Mcom, Mshift and others.

The key would be to continue to innovate with new applications so that banks and vendors can maximize the opportunities created by the macro trends - increased consumer interest in managing their finances and use of smart phones for accessing the internet and other information.