While it makes sense the statistics here are mind boggling.  Of course mobile applications are the future.  Note to Banks … we just have to get the application to suit the medium.  Think about this statistic – more mobile phones that credit cards.

The Future of Mobile | Google Blog

There are currently about 3.2 billion mobile subscribers in the world, and that number is expected to grow by at least a billion in the next few years. Today, mobile phones are more prevalent than cars (about 800 million registered vehicles in the world) and credit cards (only 1.4 billion of those).

The post goes on to offer categories for mobile.  Lets take those categories and apply to Banking.  Note that each suggestion has a geo-location element.

Smart alerts:

you are in city X and your bank account just purchased something in city Y

you are in the shopping district, and your account balance is low, but your credit card availability is good

Augmented reality:

your nearest bank branch

your nearest ATM

Crowd sourcing goes mainstream:

you are leaving your bank branch – prompt you to rate the service level

local employees that have a moment and can see you right now for account/ mortgage/ investment

Sensors everywhere:

line up wait time at the nearest branch to where you are

location specific offers at the nearest branch, eg local mortgages

Tool for development:

other peoples opinion today about the closest branch

The future-proof device:

online banking application auto updates to latest version

Relevance to Bankwatch:

This post should be a wake-up call to Banks.  We have no idea what mobile banking means.  It has nothing to do with viewing account balances and paying bills.  Get that paradigm out of your mind.  Its a mobile device, not a laptop.  Think geo-location.  Your phone knows where it is … do you?

Other brainstorm ideas welcomed here … thoughts?