Stop thinking small. Mobile is in every hand today just aboutand there is no shinier proof than the recent rollout of mobilebanking — to a surprisingly huge membership segment – by DesertSchools Federal Credit Union, the $3 billion, Phoenix-basedinstitution.

Desert Schools had been dithering about rolling out mobile for someyears – “We knew we needed it to retain members,” said CathyGraham, a vice president who said that such plans had been put onhold as Desert Schools found itself in one of the geographieshardest hit by the recession. But when the economy began to perkup, Desert Schools put mobile banking back on its must-do list.

Desert Schools pulled the trigger this summer – uploading appsto the Apple Apps Store, Android Play, and even the BlackBerry Appsstore – and 90 days later it has a stunning number to report: “30%of our online banking users are now using our mobile apps,” saidGraham. That is 57,000 users for the Desert Schools apps and theyhave been enrolled with minimal marketing push to the creditunion's 322,000 members.