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

The results revealed that these financial institutions are moving beyond the basics to deliver increasingly sophisticated mobile capabilities. Transactional services, such as remote deposit capture and mobile person-to-person payments, will account for the bulk of mobile investment in 2012. However, despite a nearly unanimous commitment to expand overall mobile functionality, institutions remain split on plans to support mobile point-of-sale payments.

Nine out of the 10 financial institutions surveyed already have a mobile bank offering that provides basic account access, and almost all provide ATM/branch locators, transfers between accounts and bill payment. For 2012, financial institutions plan to focus on delivering remote deposit capture, actionable alerts and additional payment capabilities. Eight of the 10 surveyed institutions plan to invest in some type of mobile payments in the next 12 months, with person-to-person mobile payments cited as a priority by seven respondents.