From shopping for a car to offering small businesses thecapability to accept payments on the go, credit unions and CUSOscontinue to try and stay a step ahead in the mobile sector to keepup with members who value around-the-clock convenience.

From all indications, smartphone usage won't slow down any timesoon. In 2008, there were 7.4 million mobile banking users,according to the Forrester Research Mobile Banking Forecast,2012-2017. That figure has soared to 61.1 million this year. By2017, it is forecast to be 108.3 million.

And, more than two billion mobile phones will be in the hands ofusers by 2015, which is set to surpass PCs and tablets, accordingto a 2013 Gartner Research study.

Prompted by a surge in smart phone usage, auto buying serviceCUSO Autoland Inc. said it launched a mobile website Oct. 1 to meetthe research and shopping needs of car buyers. The Chatsworth,Calif.-based CUSO said it has seen a 67% jump in mobile traffic toits website in the last year.

Autoland President Jeffry Martin said unlike a mobileapplication that requires users to download software to theirmobile device, the CUSO's website is automatically presentedthrough the phone's Web browser. The site was designed to deliver apleasing user experience with key features online shoppers arelooking for such as a streamlined mobile interface and full chatcapability with Autoland representatives, according to the CUSO.

“After studying the behavior of members that had visited ourfull-site via mobile, we recognized the need to optimize thischannel to improve the user experience and increase our web leadconversion rate,” Martin said.

With nearly four out of five new vehicle buyers conductingonline research during the shopping process and 23% of thoseshoppers using a smart phone to access this information, Martinsaid implementing a mobile strategy has been a priority forAutoland this year.

When Autoland began development of its mobile platform, the CUSOassumed that the audience with the greatest propensity for thischannel would be younger car buyers. Data from Autoland showed thatboomers represented 42% of the CUSO's sales while Millennialsonly represented 10%.

America First Credit Union introduced The Dot, a mobile creditcard payment device for its business members.

“Interestingly enough, our research determined that boomers, thegeneration who account for the majority of Autoland sales, are justas digitally oriented toward mobile when it comes to their researchand service expectations,” Martin said. “We feel we've developed amobile solution that satisfies those expectations for car buyers ofall ages.”

In June, CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wis., officially launchedits AskAuto downloadable smartphone and table application after asneak peek at CUNA's Government Affairs Conference in February. Byscanning the vehicle identification number, the member learns basicvehicle information, including average retail cost of the new or used vehicle and EPA mileage estimates, according to thecompany.

The application saves this information along with the member'snotes and ranking preferences to allow for a comparison betweenvehicles before deciding to purchase. Once a decision is reached,the member can also submit a credit union loan application throughAskAuto.

So far, 45 credit unions have signed on to use AskAuto and 35have implemented the app, said Steve Hoke, director of loan growthproducts at CUNA Mutual and product leader for AskAuto.

“We've been really happy with traction in the marketplace,” Hokesaid. “Part of our intention with the app was to help credit unionscommunicate with members. Using the app on the dealer lot canhelp.”

Through October, members have downloaded morethan 1,700 AskAuto apps at the iTunes store and at Google's Playstore, Hoke said. More than 1,400 VINs have been decoded, 5,100messages have been sent by members to credit unions from dealerlots and resulting in 75 loan applications, he added.

“Part of what we had to tell staff internally is you can't justmeasure through loans generated through AskAuto. We're trying tohelp reinforce the dealer relationship,” Hoke explained. “Themessage to members is go into the dealer, ask for 'Mike' in thefinancing department but the loan is coming back to the creditunion.”

The $40 million Transtar Federal Credit Union in Houston isusing the AskAuto app, including its free marketing kit thatincludes videos, articles, ads, email messages, according to JamesTuggle, president/CEO. The credit union also offered a 1% discounton all loans generated through the AskAuto app or a mobileapplication.

In a little more than two months, the app had been downloaded 93times and eight new loans were directly attributed to it, Tugglesaid. Plus, the average loan amount was more than double that ofothers accepted during this period: $26,029 for the AskAuto apploans vs. $10,356 for the credit union's average auto loan.

While Transtar will continue to use AskAuto, Tuggle saidface-to-face interaction is still important. As proof, the biggestboost in AskAuto app downloads occurred in conjunction within-branch promotions. When the credit union hosted breakfasts atits main branch and at its select employer group, every member whocame in that day had to walk past Transtar promoting the app,Tuggle said. The credit union set up a QR code so that memberscould scan the app right into their phone and the response has beenpositive, he noted.

Transtar has also set up its credit union branches as dealerlocations to receive a custom message, Tuggle said. The app's GPSpinpoints the member's location and when they walk into a branch itpushes out the message to remind them to check out auto loans atthe credit union.

“Mobile is going to be critical to our success and we'rethrilled that CUNA Mutual Group offers tools that reflect this andsupports our adoption, and listens to our feedback,” Tuggle said.“Credit unions must find ways to be relevant in a changingenvironment and the AskAuto app helps us do just that.”

The $5.9 million America First Credit Union in Riverdale, Utah,is one of many financial institutions that are going mobile. Toallow its business members to accept payments anytime and anywhere,America First has introduced The Dot, a mobile credit card paymentdevice that connects with an iPhone, iPad or Android device, andworks in conjunction with a mobile phone app to accept credit cardpayments in an almost infinite amount of places.

Through October, members have downloaded CUNA Mutual Group'sAskAuto app more than 1,700 times at the iTunes store and atGoogle's Play store.

America First's The Dot can also be used to accept payments forphone and email orders, and e-commerce, the credit union said,adding any off-site merchant can safely process customer paymentsand immediately email receipts to their customers uponpurchase.

“We saw an opportunity to enhance our business member's abilityto accept payments wherever they were doing business,” said JohnLund, president/CEO of America First. “A fast, convenient andinexpensive pay as you go solution that can grow as our member'sbusiness grows. It was also a way to compete against the otheroptions in currently in the market.”

America First rolled out the Android application in Septemberand the Apple application in October, Lund said. The credit unionhas also seen an increase in new business accounts along withexisting businesses switching to iTransact, America First'smerchant services provider with existing merchant account usershaving greater flexibility.

The Dot is powered by iTransact, a local payment acceptancecompany in Farmington, Utah, Lund noted. In 2004, America Firstsaid it joined with iTransact to offer Visa, MasterCard, andDiscover card processing for its business members.

Although there was some expense involved in making The Dotavailable to America First's business members, the cost was minimalcompared to the benefits of them being able to accept paymentsanywhere, Lund said. The bigger returns are offering a value-addedservice and the ability to build loyalty, he pointed out.