Credit unions' competition is not standing idle when it comes tomobile banking services. A new report from the IndependentCommunity Bankers of America found that 37% of those institutionsnow offer mobile payments, up 23% in the past two years.

Another 43% intend to offer the service by 2015, according tothe ICBA's Community Bank Payment Survey released this week.

Fifty-four percent of banks of more than $501 million in assetsnow offer mobile payments, theICBA said, while those with $251 million to $500 million inassets include 46% offering that service among their ranks.

A recent CUNA survey, meanwhile, found that more than ofsmartphone users now use their devices for payments.

“The 2013 ICBA Community Bank Payments Survey confirms what weare seeing anecdotally in the marketplace – that community banksare increasingly offering mobile banking services to meet theevolving needs of their customers and enhance overall customerservice,” said Viveca Ware, ICBA executive vice president,regulatory policy.

Profitability as the motivating factor for offering the service,meanwhile, has dropped since a similar 2011 survey, the ICBAsaid.

“In fact, only 59% of community banks indicated that increasingprofitability is one of their most important payments strategies.This is down from 70% in 2011. While 55% of community bankscontinue to see payments as a source of efficiency, a greaternumber now see payments as a way to improve customer service,” thetrade group said.

“Community banks, by definition, are customer and communitydriven,” Samuel Vallandingham, president/CEO of the First StateBank in Barboursville, W.Va., and chairman of the ICBA's BankOperations and Payments Committee, said in the trade group'sstatement. “According to this year's survey, most community banksset their bank's strategic direction in payments by listening totheir customers.”