BALTIMORE — Call what is occurring now “the digitaltransformation of financial services,” said Geoff Knapp, a presenter at NACHA's PAYMENTS 2012 conference and a vice president at Fiserv.

His point: mobile is about much more than a new channel. Inmany, profound ways it is remaking the consumer's relationship withhis/her financial institution.

“Clients today are by and large choosing to interact with theirfinancial institution via online and mobile,” Ginger Schmeltzer, asenior vice president at Georgia-based SunTrust Bank, added atMonday's session. “Traditional branch and ATM usage are declining.We are seeing a substantial shift in how clients interact withus.”

One oddity: mobile banking customers may actually have much morecontact with their institution, perhaps logging in several timesdaily as opposed to stopping into a branch once weekly, saidSchmeltzer.

Mobile banking users also are highly attractive to theinstitution, said Schmeltzer, who elaborated that on average theyare “32% more profitable than non-users.”

They also are more loyal: “they are 53% less like to attrite,”said Schmeltzer. “We see a direct relationship between mobileadoption and loyalty.”

But that cuts both ways: “People are very passionate about whatthey want from mobile banking. If they don't like something – or ifthey want a feature we do not presently offer – they say, 'fix itor I am out of here,'” related Schmeltzer.

A complexity for financial institutions, suggested Knapp, isthat so much of mobile is defined by non-banks who have gotten verygood at delivering what mobile consumers want. “I call it theFacebook standard. They have created a seamless experience in termsof online versus mobile. That sets standards for mobile users whobelieve their experience using your mobile products should be everybit as good as online. This is a very high standard. But it hasbecome the standard,” the Fiserv executive said.