iPhones may replace banks. All of them.

Apple, the best fruit to ever make electronics, now boasts the strength to make mobile payments the next big thing; the only trouble is that the banks aren’t quite a focal point in their vision. Recent patent applications have revealed that the company is looking to incorporate near-field communication chips in their iPhone. While several attempts have been made to develop NFC systems that can transform a regular phone into a swiss-knife style financial tool, none have gotten beyond the pilot phase, since phone makers and wireless providers are reluctant to incorporate the chips – often considered a vital element to successful mobile payments – into their hardware.

Take a bite

In the shadows, many bankers secretly hoped that the techno-monster would demonstrate once again how it has the capacity to evolve the marketplace in a single bound. This instance appears no different, as payment executives stand convinced that an NFC-capable iPhone would change the game of mobile payments within the United States; however, recent disclosures have suggested that Steve and his company aren’t planning on doing what the financial institutions had hoped.

As it stands, Apple doesn’t want to just morph the iPhone into a payment device that relies completely on credit or debit cards. They want to introduce an iTunes on steroids, where cd’s aren’t just bought, but cars are paid off.

Technorati Tags: banks, iphone, mobile payments, NFC

All of youse work for Visa now

As Visa Inc. gears up for mobile and online commerce, their planned purchase of Cyber Source Corp. proves that their also keen on sharpening their eye on security breaches. A $2 billion cash agreement was a portion of what will be an immensely orchestrated effort to tighten Visa’s grip on security at retail locations, where anti-fraud campaigns have evolved and dramatically improved over the past few years.

Visa hired CyberSource as an internet bodyguard

Visa’s chairman and chief executive, Joseph W. Saunders said that a combination of Visa and CyberSource technologies and services will position the company on the crest of an immense mobile e-commerce wave.  Cybersource sports over 295,000 merchant clients,and is notorious for its cutting-edge security technology. Visa’s head of global e-commerce and authentication, Gerry Sweeney, agreed that the acquisition will greatly improve upon Visa’s solitary anti-fraud effort, and equip them for online transactions.

Mobile banking is still a baby, and widespread attacks occur constantly as hackers repeatedly attempt to access valuable information that is stored on smart phones. VP of the Stamford, Connecticut, market research organization, Gartner, Avivah Litan said that a solution for mobile fraud has yet to come about, because it isn’t prevalent enough to pose a high-priority threat; however, she anticipates that it will change in the near future.

Glad to see visa has a handle on things – which makes me wonder: what’s in your wallet?!

Technorati Tags: anti-fraud, cubersource, mobile, online commerce, securiry, visa

Banking on your phone is smart

As the fortunes of the world rebound, today’s economy proves to be a wonderfuly exciting time to be in charge of a large financial institution. Bank executives should be ecstatic about the task at hand; currently speaking, industry wealth has saturated the financial institutions, and it just so happens that there’s a growing trend of techno-savvy consumers who are freakishly eager to embrace new gadgets and technologies, instead of getting motivated about learning how to incorporate new tools instead of their ever-evolving super-sophisticated smart phones/ mobile devices.

People want to make deposits from across the street

According to Red Gillen, a Celent analyst, every bank that he’d spoken with had reported that their adoption numbers exceeded expectations. A few notable statistics found in a recent research study by mobile tracking vendor Sybase 365 included: 67 percent of Americans who claim tat they prefer to be in constant contact; 69 percent report they use SMS; 39 percent expressed an interest in mobile banking, and another 32 percent would even change banks to take advantage of free mobile banking.

Despite the apparent American interest, the consumers of the US are lagging behind their European and Asian counterparts, who have adopted the widest range of mobile services that are theoretically available.  This can be expected when considering how American banks weren’t very quick on the draw.

Perhaps the banks don’t want to progress the system? Weird.

Technorati Tags: bank, economy, financial institution, mobile

The Federal Reserve is a private corporation

Despite the barrage of nuclear criticism that welted upon the Federal Reserve for its failure to prevent the financial crisis, the despised board may crawl away like a cockroach from under the foot of regulatory reform; somehow the bank – which is a private corporation mind you (think Federal Express - not really federal is it?) – has escaped with not just its bank overseer/ supervisory powers completely unaffected, but with a newfound level of authority to enhance their capacity to enforce them.

Currently, a swarm of bipartisans are fighting to regulate a large majority of the central bank’s authority, which initially extended well beyond just a 800 state-chartered banks, and onto another 5,000 more holding companies. The bill that would accomplish

Lincoln invented Greenbacks to fund the war; the central banks funded his opponents

regulatory reform was introduced by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, and it effectively reduced the Federal Reserves authority to only the 55 biggest holding companies. His opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson introduced an amendment on Friday that asks to reverse the very provision that could force the Federal Reserve Company to actually do their job. The Republican from Texas is backed by Senators Bob Corker (R-Tenn) and Jon Tester (D-Mont; so, is he really democrat?), plus nine co-sponsers, all striving to keep the Federal Reserve’s and in the pockets of smaller institutions.

Has American learned her lesson, or is everybody going to let business continue as usual?

Technorati Tags: bank, federal reserve, financial crisis, regulatory reform

loan-to-deposit

As some jump for joy over a receding recession (depression), market watchers wonder why regional bankers are prematurely celebrating. The minor detail generally missed concerns loan-to-deposit rations; in other words, a way to indicate how much a bank depends on external finances coneys a free fall as more consumers save, and regional banks loan out less.

Executive by the likes of KeyCorp, Marshall & Ilsley Corp. and First Horizon Nation Corp. may stand by claims that the falling ratios of yester-quarter fostered a boost in margins and liquidity, but objective analysts see straight through the garbage. They drew attention to the fact that a such trend indicates weak lending, and deposits headed toward less-profitable alternate routes.

Regional banks celebrate to the market watcher's dismay

In a nutshell, more money has gone in to regional banks than out, which has rendered them saturated in liquidity, desperately scrounging juice margins by slashing rates on checking and savings accounts. The fact is that banks aren’t giving anybody loans; in conjunction with unemployment and widespread household vacancies, the prospects for consumer and commercial growth are insubstantial.

The chief investment officer at Point View Financial Services Inc., David Dietze, tied dreadful consequences to the plummeting ratio, which could drastically affect the economy: “over-saving and under-lending can lead to deflation.”

Technorati Tags: bank, loan-to-deposit, recession

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