Fiserv, Inc., a leading global provider of financial servicesand technology solutions, recently announced the results of asurvey of the mobile banking and payment plans of top-tierfinancial institutions. The in-depth survey, conducted by ForresterConsulting on behalf of Fiserv in September 2011, evaluated theplans of 10 banks and credit unions that in total hold more than athird of all U.S. deposit accounts.

The results revealed that these financial institutions aremoving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticatedmobile capabilities. Transactional services, such as remote depositcapture and mobile person-to-person payments, will account for thebulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearlyunanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality,institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-salepayments.

Nine out of the 10 financial institutions surveyed already havea mobile bank offering that provides basic account access, andalmost all provide ATM/branch locators, transfers between accountsand bill payment. For 2012, financial institutions plan to focus ondelivering remote deposit capture, actionable alerts and additionalpayment capabilities. Eight of the 10 surveyed institutions plan toinvest in some type of mobile payments in the next 12 months, withperson-to-person mobile payments cited as a priority by sevenrespondents.

Financial institutions are committed to providing mobile bankingand payment capabilities for a range of devices, with a focus onsmartphones. While none of the surveyed institutions currentlyoffer specialized support for tablets, this was cited as a priorityfor 2012 by multiple respondents.

Plans to provide support for mobile point-of-sale payments varygreatly, with two of the surveyed financial institutions currentlypiloting such offerings, three saying they planned to support themat some point and the remaining five saying they had no plans tosupport mobile point-of-sale payments in the foreseeablefuture.

While financial institutions view the progress ofnon-traditional competitors such as technology andtelecommunications providers as a validation of mobile payments,and as a promotional tool to build consumer and merchant interest,the majority of the financial institutions surveyed stated thatsuch announcements have had no or minimal impact on their ownmobile payments strategy. This may put them at risk of deliveringnew capabilities too late.

“Most banks and credit unions are committed to delivering morerobust capabilities and a better consumer experience via the mobilechannel,” said Erich Litch, division president, Digital Channels,Fiserv. “Faced with a rapidly evolving market that is also beingpursued by sophisticated, well-funded third parties, it isessential that financial institutions that want to remaincompetitive push forward with their own mobile banking and paymentstrategies in 2012.”