Armageddon and mobile banking

This was without doubt one of the most defining moments in the history of financial services. The bail-outs, the lack of trust and the lack of liquidity all initiated a new world where money will never be the same again. We all lived through this week of financial imploding and we all speculated on how the world would be different where most banks are nationalised.

Of course I tried to put this new world in the context of mobile banking and I came to the following conclusions:

• Regulations will change and probably become more tough and rigorous, this is bad news for companies that had an intention to launch transformational banking on the back of mobile telephony
• Solutions based on positive balance (rather than credit) will become more attractive. This would require on-line, always available solutions - much easier to deliver using mobile banking.
• Consumers would require real-time banking systems that place them in control of their money. They would want more up to date information, more control over moving money and more access to information in context. It is much more easy to deliver this via mobile banking than through any other channel.
• Banks would become more conservative, but companies on the fringe (MFI's, MNO's etc.) may see this as an opportunity to start offering alternative banking services.

The recent financial Armageddon may just lead to a far more aggressive deployment of mobile banking solutions.