Local Banks Racing to Serve Tech-Savvy Customers on the Go

Mobile banking’s been around a while, but faster connections and ever-smaller portable devices like smartphones and tablets have sent the number of mobile users skyrocketing in recent months.

This in turn is spurring banks to roll out even more mobile services.

Last month, Signature Bank of Arkansas became perhaps the first Arkansas-based bank to offer an app that lets people deposit checks using their smartphones. With the debut of Xpress Deposit, Fayetteville-based Signature joined national banks like Citibank and Chase in offering mobile deposit.

Most Arkansas banks are working to get similar apps up and running, but some are prioritizing their mobile offerings a bit differently.

Jason Kincy, marketing director of Arvest Bank Group, said that “the simple shift to mobile banking itself is just hitting its stride.”

The Fayetteville-based bank has gone from 45,152 mobile banking users at the first of October to 71,301 users at the first of April, he said.

“So I think we’ve hit critical mass in the marketplace to use mobile banking,” he said, “and with the recent launch of our Android app, those numbers are just going to go up.”

Bank officials felt it was most important to first deliver mobile banking services for iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms, plus text messaging, he said, “and that would give us a good [base] to offer other features like mobile deposit. Now that those are in place, we’ll be working on the mobile deposit.”

Kincy said it’s too soon to say when Arvest’s mobile deposit app will be available, but it’ll likely be later this year.

The bank’s also working on apps for tablets, he said, “so we’re really paying attention to all those platforms.”

Bank of Arkansas also is working on ways to make banking more convenient for its mobile customers, said Derek Martin, manager of consumer products and analysis.

“We have a number of items in the works and on our roadmap based on our clients’ feedback and the competitive landscape — including mobile deposit,” he said.

“We recently enhanced our mobile banking offerings to include even more BillPay features to help our clients manage their money,” Martin said.

The bank has already created an app for the iPad, he said, and is “watching the person-to-person payments closely.”

Person-to-person, or P2P, banking lets customers pay others through their smartphones as long as both phones are enabled. Arvest already has such a service, called ZashPay.

“Demand around P2P is still relatively quiet since it’s new in the mobile form and because there are existing players in the market serving the need, such as PayPal,” Martin said.

But he added that more customers sign up for mobile banking tools every day.

“We don’t expect that to change for the near term,” he said. “This is what banking looks like now — it’s more mobile and convenient than ever before.”

Susan Blair, a spokesman for Little Rock-based Bank of the Ozarks, said its mobile deposit app is in the planning stages.

“We launched mobile banking a little over a year ago and it’s grown significantly,” she said. “Expectations for high-quality banking services extend beyond the traditional bank branch and interest has grown on other devices.

“We can see the trend that the smartphone has become the primary Internet device for many consumers.”

The bank is seeing demand for P2Ps, she said, and is evaluating when it will offer the service.

“We’re developing a timeline for introducing a number of mobile services, including mobile deposits and person-to-person payments,” Blair said.

At Signature Bank, spokesman Kai Dare said they’ll have mobile banking apps for Android and iPhones out within the next couple of months. After that, she said, they’ll work on a tablet app.

For those worried about the security of mobile transactions, Arvest’s Kincy recommends taking basic precautions when using any mobile banking app.

“Customers should be aware that it’s best practice to log out when a session is finished, don’t share your password, many of the same practices as when banking from your home computer,” he said. “Don’t leave your phone unattended, and be careful who has access to your device.”