Windows Phone: Without Apps, It’s a Piece of…

Posted on April 26, 2012 by Drew Sievers

I read an article in the Times the other day about how Microsoft is writing checks to fill out its app store. It described the challenges Microsoft faces as it tries to create a compelling app experience for Windows Phone Mobile devices.

What? Software colossus Microsoft actually paying developers to build for their platform? Yep, apparently it has come to that. The irony of it all is quite thick, particularly when you think back to Steve Ballmer’s terse dismissal of the new iPhone in 2007.

Well, things have changed and Microsoft is a significant laggard in the mobile operating system race that is dominated by Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. Even so, they haven’t given up, and their latest Windows Phone operating system is their most aggressive push yet.

In fact, they’re even getting a little help from AT&T and Verizon who are flogging the Windows phones like there’s no tomorrow. Why? Simple. They want to try and stem the stranglehold that Apple and Google have on the smartphone market. After all, who wants to be relegated to the role of a dumb pipe?

Well, given all the hubbub around the Windows Phone OS, I thought it was time to take it for a real test drive. So, I put my iPhone in a drawer, grabbed a Windows Phone 7 device from our QA lab and started the process of setting it up.

While the set-up wasn’t easy, it wasn’t really very hard either. Decent marks for that Microsoft.

The first thing I noticed with the Windows Phone was its superior typography. The way type is designed on the device is really much prettier than what you find on any Android phone, and even nicer than you see on an iPhone. This is quite an achievement for a Microsoft product if you ask me.

The tile metaphor powering the user interface is interesting. The tiles animate, sweeping gracefully across and around the screen. The tile size provide ample space to deliver some limited messaging, which is a nice touch when you just want a tidbit of info.

Moving deeper into the phone, I saw the Windows version of their App Store. I clicked in and saw a variety of promoted apps in the store. Some looked familiar.

 

I searched for the app we built with Bank of America, and it was there for the taking. I already knew how that worked, so I searched for Pandora instead.

Nothing. Bummer.

I then searched for some of the other apps I use regularly like Instagram.

Nope. More bummed.

I knew that there was a dearth of apps in the store relative to iOS and Android, but I was surprised by how empty I felt not being able to connect to some of the basic apps I apparently find indispensable. At that point, I knew not to look for the other less brand-worthy apps I use on the iPhone. There’s no way they’d be there for me.

Funny, but the lack of apps wasn’t just about not having music or cool photos. Rather, the lack of apps highlighted the biggest problem with an unsupported smartphone: it’s just a phone and e-mail/calendar client. In other words, if you don’t have apps, you might as well be a Blackberry from 5 years ago.

I thought about how much I now do on my smartphone that I didn’t do just a few years ago. I wake up, courtesy of the phone, and immediately check the wind, surf, and tides to see if I’m going to surf before work. If not, I can go to the gym and use the app I have to track workouts. Then a quick look at the weather, followed by my reading the RSS feeds on my phone for industry updates while I buy coffee courtesy of my phone, etc. etc. etc.

Over the past 5 years, my mobile phone has blossomed into this data driven device that keeps me perpetually connected to the things I need and want…..and it’s all courtesy of the apps (and those not-so-dumb pipes I mentioned earlier).

So, of course Microsoft is paying people to develop apps for their OS. They have to because without the apps, their phone is immediately a relic no matter how good the UI, or how fast the data, or how beautiful the delivery.

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a purveyor of mobile operating systems at our door looking to pay for app development. The last one was Palm’s WebOS. Sadly, that didn’t work out to well for them.

I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how it works out for Microsoft.

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Reinventing RIM

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Rodney Aiglstorfer

The news is out and the general consensus is that RIM is either already dead or dying with no chance of recovery. But there is still hope for RIM if they can change direction and “Think Different”.

Adopt Android OS
For starters, RIM needs to toss out any notion of creating a new operating system or supporting their old legacy operating systems. What they seem to ignore is that the value of an operating system is in the ecosystem that supports it. Creating a new OS means creating a new ecosystem which is pointless when there is already a viable alternative that is open. By adopting Android, RIM can safely reduce their operational expenses by eliminating most (if not all) of the resources supporting their operating systems and tool ecosystems.

Port BB Email and Messaging to Android
Next, RIM should focus on porting its core strengths to the Android platform. Specifically this includes hardware and email/messaging software. No one makes a better mobile keyboard than RIM… and there are legions of BB email and messaging fans out there that don’t care about the OS, but are obsessed with authoring email from their mobile devices.

In much the same way that Amazon Kindle exists in either software or hardware formats, so too should the RIM product strategy. RIM’s messaging and email software running on Android should be the first choice for any enterprise. Existing Android devices should be able to run the software and integrate with existing RIM BES investments.

Less Is More … One Device is Enough!
Finally, they should focus on putting everything into a single device that speaks to their design strengths. Forget about creating yet another touch device – there are already too many out there. RIM makes a great keyboard – they need to embrace that and put a single memorable Android device in market that will be both original and desirable.

Sadly, I don’t see RIM taking this advice and I think the analysts have it right – RIM is dead.

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Application Revenues Promote Android Fragmentation

Posted on April 12, 2012 by Craig Setera

Recently, mobile analytics firm Flurry released a study showing that for every dollar spent on iTunes, 89 cents is spent on Amazon Market and only 23 cents on Google Play (formerly Android Market) for the same application! The study goes on to speak to the marketing effectiveness of the iTunes and Amazon application markets.

Not content to take a free operating system from Google and create excellent devices, Android device makers are no longer happy to be commoditized by the rules that Google imposes on them to qualify as being compatible. The Kindle Fire has shown that it is possible to break free of the Google Play store and associated software and actually flourish. Unfortunately, this direction is not good for Android software developers.

While there has been much hand-wringing related to Android fragmentation in terms of operating system levels, this type of fragmentation has the potential to be much worse to the application ecosystem than operating system version differences ever could. Applications can generally adjust to the different operating system levels, but they can’t easily adjust to device-specific bugs introduced by changes to that operating system. The more versions of Android that are out in the wild, whether from Google or customized, the more chance of bugs that affect an application.

Clearly, device makers want a bigger piece of the pie and that usually implies yet another “app store”. Google Play, Amazon Appstore and Barnes & Noble Nook Store are already vying for their piece of the application pie. Additional storefronts mean more work to distribute an application to all potential customers. To top it off, “native” Android push messaging support is tied to the Google Play store eliminating it from any solution involving non-Google certified devices.

As always, mFoundry continues to closely follow device markets on behalf of our customers. Most of our applications are free for consumers to use. Our financial services customers expect to be able to distribute their mobile applications wherever their consumers seek them out. However, increased market distribution and OS fragmentation clearly add cost.

mFoundry will continue to add support to our application infrastructure, tools and documentation as new market opportunities gain enough market share to be worthwhile. The Android platform is not yet to the point where JavaME was just a few years ago, but it is definitely going to be a bumpy ride.

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Brett King Discusses the Future of Banking

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Jeremy Porter

mFoundry’s 2012 User Workshop may have drawn to a close last Friday, but all our special guests are still talking about Brett King’s keynote. Brett King, bestselling author of the groundbreaking books Bank 2.0 and Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow, kicked things off with a keynote presentation that was entertaining and informative.

His presentation touched on where traditional banking is today, and where things are headed in the near future. A future King reminds us is already here, just not widely distributed yet.

A prime example of the future-is-now perspective was highlighted in his example of the work we’ve done with Starbucks on its mobile payments offering. While many talk about the pending reality of widespread mobile payments adoption, that adoption is here today for Starbucks – with approximately 20 million consumer transactions per month at an average of ticket of $4.50. It won’t be long before there are dozens of in-market success stories for mobile payments adoption. Continue reading →

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Should You Charge for Bill Pay?

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Carlo Cardilli

Should you charge for bill pay? It’s a fair question. It’s a service that delivers a lot of convenience for the user, and therefore a service they might be more likely to pay for.

Most bankers I talk to these days struggle with charging fees for many of the valuable services they provide. This is especially concerning in a post-Durbin era, where the spigot of interchange revenue is tightened considerably.

I think banks and credit unions should borrow from the innovations of the airline industry and charge for the valuable services they provide on a per-transaction basis.

There is the fine line between charging fairly for value and imposing a seemingly capricious fee that raises howls and scowls in the Twittersphere – or prompting the President to diss you publicly.

The BofA debit fee fiasco has led me to think about this a lot. Part of my job is to help FIs figure out how to generate more revenue, while weighing the potential backlash from disgruntled consumers if they don’t see the value. I think it comes down to two principles:

1. Only charge a fee for a service that is used by a minority of users
2. Charge fees on a transactional basis, not on a “monthly basis”

Let’s look at the first principle in action with airlines.  Why is it OK for them to charge you $5 for an alcoholic beverage or $4 for an “energy” drink? What about $5-15 for WiFi access? Quite simply, because it’s something the buyer values and is willing to pay for. Continue reading →

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Industry Leaders on the State of Mobile Payments

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Walt Cox

During mFoundry’s 2012 User Workshop last week, the recurring discussion between sessions and cocktails, was the state of mobile payments. All the event speakers, from Bank 2.0 and Branch Today, Gone Tomorrow author Brett King, to Glenbrook Partners co-founder Allen Weinberg, to all the customer and partner presenters, all shared their perspective on where mobile payments is headed – and all the attendees were abuzz with their reactions and perspectives as well.

Bottom line? Nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen and most will wait to place their bets until Apple shows its cards. It’s clear mobile payments is no longer an in-the-future play now. The future for mobile payments is here, it’s just not widely adopted yet. Continue reading →

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Mobile Enrollment Key to Mobile Banking Success

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Bryan Mishkin

Yesterday I discussed the importance of mobile enrollment to a successful mobile banking implementation at mFoundry’s 2012 User Workshop. When we were selected mFoundry’s mobile banking solution, I was asked what our adoption target should be for year one. I threw out 10,000 registered users, but I felt I was being conservative estimate. I got a look of disbelief.

When I said I thought it could really be 30,000 it was a look of shock. Today – almost six months after our implementation – we’ve registered over 15,000 customers for mobile banking. We registered 10,000 by the end of 2011! 30,000 now seems very realistic. How did we accomplish this rapid mobile banking adoption?

First, we treated mobile banking as an independent channel from all other channels, including online. You wouldn’t force your customers to enroll in online banking in a branch would you? (If you would why are you reading this blog post?) Instead treat mobile as an independent channel from day one. The day will come when users will only use mobile banking and never use online banking. This can’t happen if we do not treat them independently.

Mobile banking adoption is expected to exceed online banking adoption by 2015, but it can only do so if you treat it as an independent channel.

Second, we took a product-first approach to mobile banking. Mobile devices are built on a principal of ‘it just works’. If you ‘Nerf’ your mobile banking capability by reducing functionality, imposing artificially low limits in mobile deposit, or creating an enrollment process that requires interaction with another channel, your customers will abandon mobile banking very quickly. They expect, and deserve, more.

By taking a product-first approach you can provide the customer with the best possible user experience. Once you’ve got a great product experience then engage your audit, compliance and security folks, educate them on security and safety of mobile banking, put them in touch with compliance folks from other organizations and lead them to your line of thinking.

At UFCU we recognize that the mobile device & tablet experiences will quickly become our customer’s primary interaction points with us. The writing is on the wall. We’re in the post-PC era, and apps are king. Mobile banking is critical to offering your customers a new level of convenience but you must deploy mobile banking with putting in artificial barriers.

Set a strategy that has your mobile experience meeting or exceeding your online experience and then execute on that. If you do I guarantee mobile banking will exceed your wildest dreams.

And one last thing…. Go Hoosiers!

Feel free to follow or contact me on twitter @bryanmishkin with any questions you may have.

Bryan Mishkin is Senior Manager of eServices, University Federal Credit Union and a guest contributor to the mFoundry Mobile Banking & Payments blog. For more information on University Federal Credit Union (UFCU), please visit http://www.ufcu.org.

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Mobile Banking Best Practices From a Digital Marketer

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Craig Jordan

“The Times They Are a-Changin’” – Bob Dylan, 1964

2012 will be a year of transition from old to new paradigms in electronic banking :

  • “Touch” takes over fully from “point and click”
  • Users abandon “luggable computing” in favor of “portable computing”
  • Apps take over as the preferred mode of interaction on mobile/tablet

With unbelievable growth rates in smartphone adoption, the rise of the tablets, and deployment of 4G wireless networks, things are only going to get better and faster.

Understanding how to adapt and evolve with these changing times will be essential to any financial institution’s mobile offering, and more importantly their customers’ overall satisfaction.

In one of mFoundry’s recent webinars, Mobile Banking Best Practices, mFoundry’s Carlo Cardilli covered six proven strategies that have historically garnered the greatest financial success for mFoundry’s clients over the years.

The difference between knowing what works, and how to effectively implement these tactics however, is certainly no small feat. Therefore, I decided to write a few marketing guidelines to expand on some of these techniques, to not only help increase your levels of adoption, but also the ROI of mobile. Continue reading →

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Mobile World Congress 2012 Observations

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Drew Sievers

Every year the planet’s wireless community makes their annual pilgrimage to Barcelona for the Mobile World Congress, the largest mobile technology event in the world.

The sheer size and scope of the event is staggering, with eight enormous conference halls stuffed to the gills with products like handsets, software, antenna solutions, micro-cells, device management, cases, headsets, and something called back haul (I have no idea what that is but I know it’s not sexy).

Each year there are a few key themes that stand out from the rest. Last year really felt like the Android show as Google and a gaggle of Android developers managed to put green Android robots just about everywhere.

This year, there were a variety of themes in play, but I was sensitive to large amount of attention given to mobile payments and NFC.

While there were NFC and payment solutions spread throughout all 8 halls, there was also now a separate “Mobile Money Pavilion” that included a large grouping of mobile payment enablers.

Most of the offerings were carrier-focused solutions from companies I’d never heard of before. As you’d expect, some were interesting, and some were flat out boring. None of the offerings, however, were groundbreaking.

Interestingly, many booths outside of the Pavilion had mobile money and NFC offerings. In fact, just about every major handset manufacturer had an NFC area in their booth. That’s a new development and probably indicative of the upcoming slew of NFC-enabled handsets coming our way.

One of the more interesting NFC concepts, was the NFC Cafe from NXP (I don’t think they were actually offering coffee at this Cafe by the way–#fail for jetlaggers like me).

Aside from the expected NFC payment demos, they also had some interesting interactive ads and even an NFC-enabled ignition on a motorcycle.

Visa was also very present at the event, offering a nice selection of different mobile payment schemes and features.

Was there any mobile payments solution from anyone that was truly breakthrough?

The short answer was no, but perhaps more important was the concentration of payments and NFC solutions from nearly all major parties, e.g. Nokia, RIM, Android, NXP, Visa, Docomo, et al.

This is really the first year where the volume of payment and NFC demos supported the emergence of a new business. I suspect we’ll see quite a bit of activity from handset manufacturers and mobile operators in late 2012 and early 2013.

On a less serious note, here are some notable (and sometimes dubious) things I saw during my 8 hall, 5 hour walk. Let’s call them the mFoundry Mobile World Congress Awards.

Coolest Technology – Fujitsu Water Phones
Yes, these are actual mobile phones working perfectly underwater. Fujitsu had a large display of smartphones, feature phones, and tablets all functioning underwater. Amazing.

Most Striking Booth – Samsung
There were a lot of large, expensive booths at the show, but there was something about Samsung’s enormous booth that resonated with me. The picture below is only about one-third of the actual booth. It was almost as large as a city block. Guess they are doing well on the Android sales front.

Goofiest Booth Costumes – Nokia
Where’s Waldo meets an underwhelming device collection. It was hard to take these product specialists seriously with the awkward hat and striped shirts. This might go over big on a Friday night in Helsinki, but the amount of sniggering behind the scenes at the Nokia booth was palpable. Plus the product specialists displayed all the joy of 11-year-old boys being forced to wear collar shirts and hard shoes. Adding insult to injury was the uninspired collection of devices at the show. To me, the great brand of Nokia truly felt out of touch.

Most Pervasive Offering – Android
Android green robots were, like last year, everywhere at the event. Anyone who was an Android partner had a little green robot in their booth (think the Intel Inside logo). In addition, there was the usual developer pavilion for Android with scores of cool technical solutions.

Perhaps the oddest was the phone customizing Android robot. See the movie below. It puts little sparkles on your Android phone. Huh, who knew?

Most Politically Incorrect – NTT
Well, leave it to my friends in Japan to bring some inappropriate content to the show. In one of the weirdest things I saw, someone at NTT decided that they should spend a lot of money (for me at least) on a booth that peddled a game with scantily clad, anime-style women. The booth was a bizarre outlier that seemed like it should have been shipped to Vegas for the annual Adult Entertainment Expo.

Most Bizarre Name – Twonky
What happens when you run out of imagination and domain options? You get Twonky.

Best Payment Demo – PayPal and Paella
PayPal managed to set up a Paella stand at the event, with an express line for folks wanting to pay with the PayPal enabled mobile payment solution. Basically, you ordered courtesy of RedLaser (owned by PayPal), and you paid with PayPal. Honestly, I’m not sure how many people purchased Paella via mobile, but the stand and demo stood out.

Best Swag – Ireland National Booth
There were plenty of booths handing out pens, mints (always take those), pads, cookies, candies, etc., but you’ve got to give it to the Irish for pushing the boundaries for event swag: Pints of Guinness. As I limped along at the end of the day, I heard an Irish jig being played to my left. I glanced over and saw someone holding the unmistakable glass of black and brown joy that is Guinness.

After hours of walking, I was drawn to the booth like a moth to a flame (along with the rest of the conference attendees). A nice lad with a thick Irish brogue asked me if I “fancied a pint?” Oh yes, I certainly did fancy a pint. Sláinte!

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SXSW Interactive and the Mobile Wallet

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Jeremy Porter

mobile wallet

I was one of an estimated 24,000 to attend SXSW Interactive (SXSWi) this past week in Austin, Texas. For those of you that don’t know, SXSWi is the place to be to keep ahead interactive marketing trends or to be the first in your office to discover the latest ‘cool’ startup – it’s where Twitter and Foursquare launched after all.

While most attendees will return to the office talking about the likes of Highlight or Zaarly, or tossing around new buzzwords like “big data” or “gamification“, this was clearly the year of the mobile wallet at SXSW Interactive. That is, getting the conversation going – not actually using a mobile wallet.

Mixed among the logos of conference sponsors the likes of Pepsi, Doritios, Chevrolet and AT&T, was a logo for a lesser-known (for now) brand called Isis (a joint venture between AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon). It’s been more than a year since we first talked about Isis on the blog. Now, with one of it’s first test markets as the backdrop, Isis unveiled the Isis Mobile Wallet.

Rather than read a description of what the Isis Mobile Wallet looked like at the Isis booth, watch this video from cyber-illusionist Marco Tempest, officially unveiling the product to SXSWi passers-by.

The Isis Mobile Wallet will be available in two test markets this summer (Austin, Texas and Salt Lake City, Utah). Consumers in these markets will be able to use the Isis Mobile Wallet to “tap and pay” at NFC terminals, reload an Isis card (a mobile version of a stored value card), store loyalty cards, view and redeem personalized offers and view account details and purchase records).

I think people seeing a mobile wallet for the first time were excited. People weren’t really talking about Isis at the event. It will have to be in-market before it will generate a higher level of buzz at SXSW.

Here are some other highlights from the mobile wallet sessions I followed at SXSW Interactive:

PayPal Introduces Mobile Wallet Service

Isis wasn’t the only mobile wallet to be introduced at SXSW. PayPal unveiled its digital wallet service at SXSW (note the “digital”, according to PayPal, it’s more than mobile). In his presentation, “Why a Mobile Wallet Isn’t Going to Be Enough,” Sam Shrauger, PayPal’s VP of Global Product & Experience, gave attendees an overview of its digital wallet (you can see it for yourself in the eBay Ink video below):

What can consumers expect from PayPal’s ‘digital’ wallet? Here are a few features that stand out:

  • The ability to change your payment option within seven days of the purchase
  • Decide to split the payment over time – make three equal monthly payments, for example (instead of going against the debit card immediately)
  • ‘Found Money’ – storing deals and coupons and reminding you to use them at the point of sale
  • Loyalty points as currency – see your points (and their value) like you would any other balance in your wallet

You can read about PayPal’s reveal on its blog here:  or head over to the eBay Ink blog to watch an informal demo video shot right before Shrauger’s presentation.

AmEx Sync

Amex Sync generated a lot of buzz at SXSWi. Amex Sync let users convert Twitter hashtags into coupons. For example, once you link your Twitter account to Amex Sync, you can tweet with the hashtag #AmexMcDonald’s and receive an instant $5 statement credit when you use your AmEx. AmEx had a similar tie-in with Foursquare, encouraging users checking in to various locations to press a “sync” button to qualify them for a statement credit if they used their card at that location. Amex appears to be investing significantly in promoting Amex Sync. It even flew Jay Z in to perform for a bunch of lucky SXSW attendees who signed up for Amex Sync and tweeted early on at the event.

Maybe Next Time?

It’s hard to rise above the noise at SXSWi. Isis, American Express, PayPal and the dozen or so presenters that spoke about mobile payments managed to get the conversation started this year. As a group, they made it clear businesses should be thinking about mobile finance. While only the early adopters were moving money on their phones this time around, I expect most everyone to be paying with their devices next time the conference rolls into town.

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