UK building society Nationwide has extended its mBanking services from PDA to WAP.
The underdeveloped world of mobile banking in the UK grew a little more advanced today as Nationwide Building Society – one of the UK’s mBanking pioneers – announced it is to conduct a pilot WAP banking service. As well as being able to access account balances and view recent transactions, customers with a suitable WAP-enabled mobile phone will also be able to pay bills and transfer money from one Nationwide account to another whilst on the move or standing still.
However, the potential of mBanking services in the UK remains open to question. The UK’s experience of WAP so far shows that Brits have not been quick to embrace the technological opportunities available in mCommerce. Within the financial services realm, the slow take-up of mobile services in the UK contrasts sharply with Scandinavia, where banks such as Sampo and MeritaNordBanken have substantial numbers of mobile subscribers. A spokeswoman for Woolwich, the UK’s WAP banking pioneer, recently emphasized the slow take-up of its WAP services, stating there was no comparison with take-up of its PC-based Internet service.
With the advent of 3G over the next couple of years – and the continuous online access it promises – mCommerce providers need to address which applications are most suited to the mobile distribution channel. Simple mBanking functions, such as viewing balances and transactions, as well as real-time applications such as share dealing appear the most likely to work through the mobile channel. However, the problems surrounding WAP are unsurprisingly making many wary of 3G’s potential in the sector.
So why has Nationwide extended its mBanking services into the WAP arena? It may well be driven by the increasing pressure on big financial services players to be seen to be offering as advanced a multi-channel distribution network as possible. While the growth of Internet banking in the UK has been driven by the ease and convenience of PC-based banking, it’s not clear whether the UK banks that are launching mBanking services are giving customers what they want or what they feel they should be giving them.
