Bank of America reaches mobile milestone

[PlanMaestro]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/05/24/3263327/bofa-reaches-mobile-milestone.html#storylink=cpy

 

Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that it has surpassed 10 million mobile banking customers, firmly planting the Charlotte bank as the dominant player in the emerging sector.

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A year ago, Bank of America had 7 million mobile users, and the company has lately been averaging 43,000 net new users each week. In a presentation to investors earlier this week, CEO Brian Moynihan touted the investment the bank has been making in mobile.

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Wells Fargo is a bit behind Bank of America in mobile adoption, boasting about 7.7 million users. But it is the first to roll out a new feature, called “Send & Receive Money,” that will allow users to transfer money using their mobile devices using the recipient’s phone number or email address.

 

The feature is based on a system called clearXchange, which is based in Charlotte and is jointly owned by Wells Fargo, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co.

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Wells Fargo’s mobile platform has experienced rapid growth as well, said Brett Pitts, senior vice president at Wells Fargo’s Internet Services Group. He said it took years for its traditional online banking platform to reach 7 million customers, but the mobile adoption speed was “breathtaking.”

 

 

[alertmeipp]

I got enough of BAC already, don't tempt me to go overweight.

 

[Rabbitisrich]

Brett King offers some good comments about the physical branch model on his blog, Bank 2.0:

But who is going to pay for the space?

The big problem with this, of course, is that as customers more commonly neglect the branch in favor of internet, mobile, ATM and the phone (call centre), the economics of the real estate and branch staff is no longer sustainable. So how do you have a space that still ensures the confidence of those customers that require the psychological ‘crutch’ of a space they might need to go to, but who aren’t willing to pay more for the privilege and won’t change their day-to-day banking habits back to the branch because the web and mobile are just so much more convenient?

 

On interchange fees:

However, the second reaction inevitably will be a realization that the cost base banks carry to support checking accounts via the branch is no longer viable – network is simply a luxury in a world where consumers just aren’t utilizing physical spaces for their relationship. With the best customers only visiting branches occasionally as they become increasingly digitally enabled, the expense of sustaining a network for a core product or relationship which looks more and more like a cost than a profit, becomes rapidly apparent. The UK has had more than a decade to deal with this, which is undoubtedly why the UK has halved the number of retail bank branches since 1990.

 

 

Note that the author has been crowing about uneconomic bank branches for some time, even as efficiency ratios stayed within a reasonable range for conservative banks. He's still worth reading despite the "if only ___ then I would be right" attitude.