Freedom of choice. Call that the theme of this week's columnwhich looks at how credit unions that want can tell their coreproviders to take their mobile apps and shove them. Even morestartling: it is possible to home-brew mobile RDC, dodging heftymonthly licensing and maintenance fees. And, lastly, it may be timefor a complete rethink of how to protect mobile banking users fromcrooks, starting with a shift of responsibility away from themember.

The Direct Mobile Pipeline: Still think thatmobile banking is another window on online banking? You just don'tget it, shrugged Robb Gaynor, founder and chief product officer ofAustin, Texas-based Malauzai, a developer of standalone mobilebanking solutions that bypass online banking and instead directlyinterface with any of many core banking platforms.

One fact: at least some coreproviders have not been hospitable about opening up their platformto third-party developers like Malauzai but, said Gaynor, hiscompany has doggedly worked on middleware – software that lets onesystem talk with another – and the result is that it is becomingstraightforward to directly connect mobile banking to the core.

That could become key because many institutions are anecdotallyreporting a sharp rise in members who are mobile only. They do nothave online banking, don't want it and don't want to be forced toset up an online banking account as a prerequisite for mobilebanking. Many of the core platform developed mobile banking appsforce mobile to piggyback on online by using the same log-incredentials which have to be set up in online banking. New bill paypayees also usually have to be set up in online banking in thoseapps too.

Which is what opens the door for specialty houses such asMalauzai which, said Gaynor, “see mobile banking astransformational. There is a usefulness that online banking cannotrival.”

And the goal of these new-style mobile banking apps developersis to create apps that dazzle users by making use of the manyfeatures built into smartphones (such as location).

Malauzai, said Gaynor, building on its relationship withcorporate credit union Catalyst, presently has deals with 11 credit unions (plus 55other customers) but he expects the pace of adoption to quicken.“Within three years we believe the market penetration will bemassive. Not many credit unions are telling us, 'Sorry, we don'tneed it.' Almost all realize they do.”

Do It Yourself Mobile RDC: The hot, must-havemobile banking add on is mobile remote deposit capture which uses asmartphone's camera to snap a photo of a check and that powers thetransaction. Versions are available from Vertifi, the Massachusetts-based technology CUSO, and fromMitek, which lets mobile banking app vendors such as Fiservdo the direct selling to most credit unions.

The one consistent grumble – heard in pained yelps from smallercredit unions – is what the feature costs.

Now Austin credit union Amplify– with $611 million in assets and 44,000 members – isshowing there may be a third path: Home brewing.

Vendors are vague about mobile RDC pricing – getting exactnumbers is slippery – but small credit unions have told CreditUnion Times about fees that involve an initial payment in thelow four figures, a monthly license charge of around $500, andperhaps 50 cents per deposit, the last representing a worrisomewildcard. Were the feature to catch on with members, monthly usefees could skyrocket.

Not at Amplify, which had projected in would take in around$100,000 in mobile RDC deposits in the first month after the June 6launch. It in fact took in $364,000, said Eric Clemons, director of software development with Amplify. “Itshows how big the pent up demand was,” said Clemons.

He added that Amplify did not pay a dime in monthly maintenancefees. The credit union bought the software engine that powers itsmobile RDC from California-based AllMyPapers – “We paid a onetime feeof $5,000,” said Clemons.

Then he and his team developed the mobile RDC app for Amplifymembers in-house. “It took around six months,” said Clemons, “butit became one of our smoothest rollouts ever.”

“This definitely is the cheaper way to go,” said Clemons, whoacknowledged he was unaware of any other credit unions that haveintroduced a DIY mobile RDC. “We have shown it can be done and ourmembers love it.”

Healthier apps. What if the entire approach tosafeguarding members' mobile banking experience is wrongheaded? Andmaybe doomed to fail. That is the provocative idea behind San Jose,Calif., venture capital-backed Metaforic which takes its startin the idea that “apps need to take their cue from biology andlearn to defend themselves against malware,” said Metaforic CEO DanStickel.

Stickel is candid: The startup Metaforic has no credit unioncustomers but it is beginning to get a listen in mobile bankingcircles.

The idea is simple. Metaforic says that relying on consumers toprotect themselves is foolhardyand relying on institutional checkpoints at the mobilegateway isn't much smarter. “You cannot protect the consumerdevice. Accept that. What you can do is protect your app itself,”said Stickel.

How? Per Metaforic, the shrewd move is to inject apps with codethat distributes itself throughout the app. “It can communicateback if something goes wrong. What we are doing is injecting animmune system into the app,” said Stickel.

If a cyber criminal attempted to hijack the protected app, itwould know it was under assault – and it could warn the financialinstitution to ban it, for instance.

Stickel said that the hit on performance is “less than 1%,”meaning users should see no impact on their end.

Will the Metaforic injection work in financial services? Thatjury is out. The important takeaway is that it's time to rethinkhow to protect mobile devices when the users honestly should not betasked with doing so, Count Metaforic as first steps in what willprobably be many new directions in security.