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Archive for the ‘Mobile Banking’ Category

Through mobile banking, subscribers are able to pay bills using mobile phones. As bills come one after the other, at least 3 bills (electric, telephone, water) per month are being paid. A subscriber having an account in a bank linked to the subscriber’s mobile provider can enroll for mobile banking. From there, the subscriber can enjoy the convenience of paying without the hassle of going to the bank or to the payment center. Though the network may charge a minimum payment for using the services, it is still far more expedient than manually paying in the bank.

Balance Inquiry
Losing track of account balances is usual to the depositor. It is not practical to go to the bank and wait for your turn when what you only need to know is your account balance. Although it is also important for a depositor to exactly know how much money he has in the bank. With the modern way of inquiry, the subscriber can easily know his account balances anytime he pleases. The subscriber doesn’t have to wait for bank statements through snail mail, too.

Transfer of funds
Transfer of funds through mobile phones is also offered by mobile networks. This is possible by enrolling the subscriber’s number to the network’s services. The subscriber would go to the network’s service center and deposit the amount they want to transfer. The network would facilitate the money transfer virtually.

There can be two ways:
1. The subscriber would deposit to their “mobile account” and have the option to transfer it to other subscriber.

2. The subscriber can immediately deposit to the recipients “mobile account” making it possible for non-subscriber of the said network to transfer money.

The transfer of money is in real time. The recipient can immediately get the money upon transfer. It is accessible any day and any hour of the day.

Purchases
Purchases can also be done through mobile phones. This mechanism was designed for the convenience of the subscriber so he/she will no longer carry big amount of cash. The subscriber’s number would serve as the account comparable to the bank account number. Like in the bank, the subscriber needs to maintain funds in their account in order to purchase. Purchases is performed by sending keywords to other subscriber which is the seller’s number. Both subscribers would receive a confirmation that would act as a receipt. Upon confirmation, the buyer will be debited with the amount he entered.

Alternative to Phone Banking
Earlier, phone banking is more favorable than going to the bank. But now mobile banking can be a better alternative. In mobile banking you will send coded messages in order to engage in a transaction. The subscriber doesn’t have to call and hold on to the telephone until the transaction is completed. Sometimes staying on the phone and just hearing the messages can be tedious. It can be more prone to errors if the subscribers failed to listen carefully to the instructions.

Mobile banking innovation serves the subscriber’s basic needs to transact at their own ease. It may sound complicated for some but it gives a real relief to the majority. Furthermore, enjoying the convenience of the mobile technology saves a lot of money and time. By just sending text messages to the network provider the subscriber can already make a transaction in less than a minute. These messages are forwarded to the bank’s system and the transaction will be processed. The subscriber then will receive a message alert confirming that a transaction is successfully processed.

These are just the basic mobile transaction to name a few among other mobile banking transactions. Aside from these, there are more banking activities that can be performed with the use of your mobile phones.

If you do not have any idea when it comes to banking trends, look into online business banking and mobile banking. One does not have to leave the house or stop a meeting to do banking transactions. You can check your account online on a Sunday or you can be anywhere you want to and you can pay your bills or transfer funds without going to your bank. It can be at the wee hours of the morning or mid-afternoon. You can be lost somewhere and you can still meet payments on time due to online banking. It is the ultimate banking experience. You no longer have to rush out, hoping that you will be able to meet banking hours.

So check with your bank how you will be able to avail online banking. You do not have to worry about the security of your account as banks make sure that you and your accounts are safe with the state-of-the art technology and firewalls that usually go with online banking services. Banks also make sure that the navigation of the site is simple. Thus, even non-techie business owners will be able to make use of it.

So the following services are available for online business banking: viewing of account (detailed or otherwise), transfer of funds, pay bills one time or you can set it in a recurring mode monthly and others. So whether your accounts are for business or for personal use, it will make everything easier.

Now you can spend more time managing your business and less time going to and from banks doing banking transactions. If you have any questions when it comes to the details of online banking, the customer service of your bank is always available to answer them.

Mobile phones are now becoming an increasingly convergent device. Telecommunications is merging with mass media resulting into a compact solution for all. Mobile phones are the front-runners in adapting to this emerging technology. Cell phones have the portability, the compactness and also the upgradeability in them. These features of a mobile handsets are making them an easy-to-use, all functional device. Cell Phones are performing the function of a television, radio and internet. These multi-functions were already adopted by the computer and now the mobile phone is the new computer.

Through computers only one could access the virtual world but that scenario has changed in the past few years. The importance of the internet and its ability has been utilized in different mediums. Mobile handsets has taken the utmost advantage in utilizing this technology. Personalization is the best service and the internet service providers have found the mobile phone a perfect tool for rendering this personalization to them. A cellular phone is always closer to a person and making most services accessible to him through the mobile would enable his greater acceptance of such services.

Internet has made it possible for the cellular phone user to access the virtual world and avail many services. Internet banking, online payment of bills, checking mails etc can now be easily done without a computer. Writing documents and presentations can also be done through mobile handsets by using the same applications. Computers also store lot of multimedia and the mobiles are even venturing in that space. Popular brands like Nokia mobile phones have even installed a hard disk in their phones for maximizing the storage capacity. Watching movies and listening to music has become a pass

Wireless is the new kid on the block that seems set for greatness. How could it not be, after all, when it offers various degrees of freedom that previously simply did not exist? By avoiding the clutter of wires, and allowing portable notebooks to truly be as portable as they should, wireless technology has found a place in the hearts of even the most jaded computer users.

Mobile broadband is an extension of this newfound freedom. By offering high-speed, broadband, internet access of a wireless nature through portable modems, telephones or other custom devices, it allows, again, for more freedom. Unfortunately this freedom comes with disadvantages too.

Two major advantages of mobile broadband

Firstly, mobile broadband offers unprecedented levels of convenience as far as broadband internet is concerned. All that is needed is the modem, and internet access is readily available, in theory anyway. If coverage is good enough, it would be completely possible to use mobile broadband overseas from any computer terminal you happen to pass by.

Secondly, the complete lack of need for a landline makes for further flexibility. Whether at home, work, or the park, a land line is completely unnecessary. This translates into even less cables dangling around, and even greater portability.

Two major disadvantages of mobile broadband

Firstly, rather unfortunately, the range of reception for most mobile broadband networks seems to be decidedly limited for now. Sometimes the bad reception exists in ‘pockets’ here and there from which connecting to the broadband internet is not possible, but at other times it can be entire areas that are simply not covered. Also worrisome is the fact that when there is a high concentration of users in a particular area utilizing the mobile broadband, it can cause a general slowdown in service.

Secondly, the bandwidth available to mobile broadband customers is generally much smaller than their more conventional cousins. Although this particular limitation would go unnoticed to most casual users, heavier internet users would find it stifling to their activities. Some current mobile broadband providers charge on a per-MB usage basis and this too can end up being costly unless the broadband is used sparingly.

As a verdict, mobile broadband has a vast potential that can be tapped into and taken advantage of, however it remains very much limited as of yet. That said, it should be noted that the same was said of wireless networks at one point in time, not so very long ago, and as such never underestimate what tomorrow may bring.

For the casual user that values mobility and convenience over speed and consistency, mobile broadband is still a pretty attractive option. However for heavy internet users, and others that simply cannot, or do not, wish to handle the reception problems or bandwidth limitations, it may be unwise to sign up to this particular option just yet. Once the kinks are worked out of the execution, mobile broadband really will come into its own as the preferred form of internet access.

Introduction

Nigerian Mobile Telco has been referred to as the fastest growing market in Africa. Nigerian telecoms came into mainstream in 2001 when the deregulation of the subsector of the economy gave way to the private involvement. The telecommunication system was opened up with the issuance of Global System for mobile communication (GSM) unified license in 2001. GSM license in Nigeria cost about US$285million. Nigerian Telecommunication (NITEL) was the only operator in the market before 2001 with subscribers of about 500,000 from a population of 140 million.

The deregulation usher in telecom players like MTN, Glo Mobile, Zain formerly Celtel, Etisalat, Visafone, Multilinks, Starcomm and Zoom formerly Reltel. The telecom regulator in Nigeria is Nigerian Telecommunication Commission (NCC), with reference to NCC Act 2003; 3-(1) “There is established of a commission to be known as Nigerian Telecommunications Commission with responsibility for the regulation of the telecommunication sector in Nigeria”.

Product/ market Segmentation

The market is divided into urban and semi-urban, and rural market. Tele density in the urban is about 65% while semi urban is about 45% and rural is less than 15%. Product Segmentation is GSM and CDMA.

Major Players

MTN, Zain, Glo and Etisalat control the GSM market. While Visafone, Multilinks, Starcomm and Zoom formerly Reltel are CDMA product segment. The market share of these major mobile telecoms are MTN-40.54%, Zain- 30.20%, Glo Mobile-28.11 and Etisalat- 0.7%, M-Tel Mobile phone business of NITEL-0.45%. While Visafone leads the CDMA market, follow by Multilinks, Starcomms, and Zoom.

Fig.1. Market shares (percentage of total subscriptions)

Factors affecting the industry

o Infrastructure

o High demand

o Frequency problem

o Regulatory institution (NCC)

o Inadequate base station

o Large market

o Economic sabotage

o Interconnectivity problem

o Quality of Service-Due to the problem of capacity constraint

Product Differentiation

The telecom operators offer similar products with slight difference such as

- CDMA and GSM- Voice Service

- VAS; SMS, mobile news, online banking, music, data card, etc

- With diverse product differentiation, voice is the main source of income for Telco in Nigeria.

Growth in the Industry

Nigeria has maintained its lead as African’s largest telecom market with active subscribers of about 65million relegating South Africa to second place with about 45million subscribers. From a bit above 500,000 NITEL fixed wire line and mobile subscribers in 2001. The industry grew to over 7million subscribers in 2004; in December 2008 the subscribers in the market grew to 62.99million. An addition of 22.59 million subscribers in 2008 alone represented 56% annual growth rate. Recent figure as at January 2009 put the subscribers’ base at 64.16. While GSM subscribers are in the range of 57million, CDMA subscription in Nigeria grew from just 380,000 in 2007 to more than 6million at the end of 2008. The country intelligent report on Nigeria by Pyramid research stated that the market grew by 23% with total industry revenue of US$8.42billion. With mobile penetration of 42% revenue will increase to US$11.14billion by 2013 with forecasted annual increase of 5.7%. The telecom market has been named the largest mobile market in Africa. Tele density of 0.73% in 2001 has steadily increase over the year to 33.72% as at December 2006 and about 45% aggregate in December 2008. The current market installed capacity is 117.892 million as at December 2008. The mobile industry ARPU in 2003 was around US$54 per month but as at 2008 December was US$13.

Demand in the Industry

There is increase in demand due to;

o Population explosion in urban cities and metropolis

o Business purpose- Growth in SMEs

o Improved Banking operations

o Competition-The opening up of the market to competition in all segments of the industry has resulted in major drop in price for telecommunications services.

o VAS

o Business expansion by the operator- CAPEX and OPEX investment in the industry

o Infrastructure sharing

o Interconnectivity

o Fall in cost of subscription- Pre 2001, NITEL mobile cost above #60,000 per line, after the issuance of GSM license from mid 2001, it cost #20,000 per line, and today, this figure has fallen to almost zero. Tariff for calls on GSM network was #50 per minutes, today as low as #25 per minute (mobile to mobile). CDMA and fixed wireless tariff is even much lower.

Supply level in the Industry

o The supply as regards the product availability is encouraging compared to about 4 years ago but in terms of service and customer satisfaction is the opposite

o The market is still dominated by the market leader MTN

o Infrastructure in short supply

Benefit of Mobile telecommunication Operation in Nigeria

o Create competition in the telecommunications industry

o Privatization of Government owned telecom entities

o Telecommunication becoming affordable to the ordinary Nigerians

o Increased accessibility to telecom services

o Rural telecommunication project is encouraged

o Increase revenue generation for the government

o Creation of employment opportunity in Nigeria

Conclusion and Recommendation

The telecom industry in Nigeria is a goldmine; the development of telecom in Nigeria is so rapid and gives the investors quick ROI more than what they could imagine. The regulatory body (NCC) has to do a lot in Nigeria telecom development such as the issue of frequency or spectrum allocation, also the SIM registration is taken effect from July 2009 as well as the number portability which is scheduled to take effect from May 29 2009. If these are done well and successfully, the subscribers will have another story to tell compare to what is happening presently in the industry which is characterized by high drop calls and economic sabotage among the major players vis-

What better way to target and advertise to mobile phone users than right on their device! That this is a real and tangible form of advertising can be seen in Google’s acquisition last year of mobile advertising aggregator Admob for $750 million, and Apple’s acquisition of Quattro’s mobile ad network for $275 million. Also, don’t forget Apple’s announcement of their own iPad advertising network.
 
Mobile advertising aggregators have access to numerous mobile channels, whether in the form of text message campaigners, mobile websites or on device apps such as for iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices. Ads are sent down in text or banner form.  Mobile banner ads can have click to call functionality, or move the user to the advertiser’s mobile website or offer. Ads can typically be targeted by way of demographics, location and type of device.
 
As an example, download the CBS news app or go to CBSNews mobile and you will see advertising banners at the top or bottom of the page. The ad serving engine is smart enough to realize the type of phone that is being used to view the content, and for my phone was able to send a banner from Bank of America, advertising their new mobile banking app specific for the Android phone from which I accessed the site.
 
This type of advertising is powerful! Being able to send content that is user, device and mobile relevant increases the probability of effectiveness and marketing efficiencies. In addition, the click through possibilities for mobile ads to click to call, click to IVR, click for deliverables, and more, extends the value of the advertisement to be an interactive experience that benefits from the technology integrated into mobile devices – not possible through print, radio, television or even email advertising.
 
In this way the mobile device and the ad networks that serve it are replicating traditional communications channels such television and radio, but adapted for a new technology. Notably, this adaptation is benefiting from the nature of the mobile phone as the most personal of mediums, where even though a user may change their device or carrier, they are unlikely to change their telephone number or mobile logins – the starting point for many mobile campaigns that seek to develop ongoing relationships with their mobile consumers.

Mobile devices are with users 24/7, being always on, always available. The ability to serve relevant ads directly to this user tied medium is of incredible value. The ability to leverage the demographics of the user, optimize for the user’s device and utilize information garnered from previous interactions with the user in the mobile relationship is… priceless. (and yes, Mastercard has been reported as a mobile channel app participant)