If news of Visa and Bank of America, MasterCard’s mobile PayPass, Google and Paypal, or Apple possibly developing NFC technology hasn’t convinced you that mobile marketing technologies will soon become deeply intertwined in banking, take a look at the winner of the research firm Juniper Research’s 2010 Future Mobile Award: Wells Fargo & Company.
A press release today from Juniper proclaims, “Wells Fargo was chosen based on its multiple platform strategy and continued service innovation such as the recent near real-time warning of potentially fraudulent activity.”
Wells Fargo allows customers–whether their operating systems are iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or even Palm– to access their accounts in several mobile ways: By sending a text message to a short code; by going on the bank’s mobile website; and by using mobile apps.
The financial institution also offers an SMS alert program for its credit card customers. Those who sign up get a text message every time their Visa card is involved in a transaction, alerting customers to potential unauthorized use of their accounts.
“Wells Fargo has been a pioneer in mobile banking by offering all three access modes,” Mark Schwanhausser, senior analyst at Javelin Strategy, said in a release. “Sometimes consumers prefer the speed of an SMS text, sometimes they prefer capabilities of a smartphone app, and sometimes they prefer to log on via a mobile browser. It’s essential to provide a full range of access modes so customers can decide for themselves what’s most convenient and practical.”
Juniper says its Future Mobile Awards “are given to companies that have made a significant contribution to their sector and are poised to make considerable market impact in the future.”
