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Mobile banking, payments will lead to greener planet

Mobile banking and payments has emerged as the "green" financial management option for consumers and also offers new revenue streams and cost-savings to banks.

These mobile transactions eliminate the need for paper bills and statements and are just one way for people to start living a greener lifestyle. Already big financial players like Chase, Citibank, and Washington Mutual are offering account holders mobile banking options powered by processors like Obopay, ClairMail and AirCharge.

"We like to consider ourselves the only provider of two-way triple-play mobile banking and payments, with SMS, mobile Web and a client application," said Reetika Grewal, director of product marketing for ClairMail, Novato, CA. "A distinguishing factor is that we implement the services all with a single integration to the financial institution's system."

ClairMail's technology lets companies offer secure two-way mobile banking and payments services to their customers by using any mobile phone's existing software and standard capabilities, including messaging, mobile Web and client applications.

According to a recent study by Javelin Research, 43 percent of consumers would rather do business with a company they perceive to be "green."

Javelin Research stresses in the study that simplicity and convenience are what will drive adoption of green banking initiatives.

As customers demand more environmentally friendly ways of banking from their banks, financial institutions are looking for ways to not only offer these services but cut costs and complexity at the same time.

Many banks now offer mobile services which cut down on trips to the ATM or local branch, reducing pollution and saving the consumer money on gas.

Mobile banking, especially via SMS, has also proven to be more secure than traditional online banking.
ClairMail's mobile banking and payments system only requires knowledge of the tools people already use on their mobile phones, such as SMS and mobile Web.

ClairMail's Actionable Alerts enable financial institutions to deliver complete service to customers as an alternative to expensive channels like call centers and interactive voice response.

"Actionable Alerts are a strong business driver, and businesses can reduce call center costs and fraud costs by letting consumers to resolve questions via the mobile channel," Ms. Grewal said. "Consumers get a text alert asking if they've made a certain purchase.

"If the answer is yes, they continue going about their business, but if the answer is no, they get forwarded to a call center representative to immediately resolve the issue," she said.

ClairMail's recent partnership with financial services provider Wausau Financial Systems has brought a way for consumers to pay their bills via mobile to eliminate paper bills, checks and trips to the post office.

Wausau is the largest remittances processor in U.S. It gets all the checks and sends files to billers to apply the payments.

"We're able to capture phone numbers leveraging their software and take advantage of their existing relationships with banks and billers, including gas, electric, water and other utilities companies, around the country," Ms. Grewal said. "We provide the mobile communications and the ability to do all of this through mobile."

While many companies offer online bill payments, ClairMail's mobile bill payment technology allows people to simply respond 'yes' or 'no' via SMS to pay their bill without having to find a computer or log into their account.

Mobile Lockbox is the brandname for ClairMail's mobile billpay service.

ClairMail and its partners will use various marketing channels to get the word out about mobile banking and payments.

When consumers get their monthly statements in mail for their utility bills, one of the fliers will issue a call-to-action saying 'sign up for green payments.'

If consumers provide their mobile phone number and enroll in the mobile payment service, they will get an alert sent to their mobile phone each month when their bill is due.

The text message will ask consumers 'Would you like to pay this now, yes or no?' They can answer immediately or keep it in their inbox. They will get two more reminders via SMS.

The third message will be sent out the day the bill is due and will say, "Your bill is due now." For an expedition fee, consumers can pay it immediately to avoid any late fees from the utilities company.

"Paying your bills using your mobile phone cuts checks out of the process, and consumers can opt in to receive electronic statements," Ms. Grewal said. "It's a great way to be more green."

ClairMail's customers are billers and financial institutions, which handle the infrastructure and developing marketing programs to reach out to end consumers.

"Our clients are interested in having services that are more green, and we help them drive that message," Ms. Grewal said. "People are viewing marketing messages about mobile banking and payments when they their bills and bank statements, we have billboards with an SMS call to action and billers and financial institutions have banner ads on their Web sites.

"Utilities mostly all have very strong green programs, so it ties in really nicely," she said. "We collaborate with our customers to run an all-encompassing marketing program to get people interested in the mobile products."

ClairMail sends e-receipts to customers' mobile phones and email accounts.

The company is also in the process of developing a P2P mobile payments service.

ClairMail argues that there is a strong business case behind it for billers and financial institutions.

"Our innovative mobile products potentially let them to get cash in hand faster, because people can pay faster by simply replying to a text message, as well as the revenue from expedited payments fees," Ms. Grewal said. "Plus, call centers are expensive and tie up employees' time."

ClairMail stresses the convenience benefit for consumers.

"Most people get a bunch of bills every month, all with different due dates," Ms. Grewal said. "This serves as a mobile alarm clock and reminds you via SMS, 'Don't forget you have to pay this bill,' and, instead of driving to an ATM or a teller, it gives people access to information about transactions and balances anytime, anywhere."

As for mobile banking, ClairMail's clients include Wachovia, BB&T and Fidelity National Information Services. The company has partnered with mFoundry.

"Mobile banking in general is gaining a lot of traction, all billers and financial institutions are realizing the importance of mobile and they want to make it as easy and convenient as possible to pay bills," Ms. Grewal said.

"Standard banks are also looking towards the power of the mobile channel, because people have their phones all the time, and ideally people adopting mobile banking will be interested in converting more of their paper behavior to electronic, mobile channels," she said.