About Mobile Banking

Background of the Study

Many people nowadays have mobile phones. This is because of the relatively low cost of purchasing a mobile phone, low cost of sending a Short Message Service or SMS and the limited availability of landline. One service that can be availed with the use of mobile phones is the mobile banking services. Mobile banking shows some potential to change the way depositors perform financial transactions. Many people have already started using their mobile phones in performing transactions to avail of the different financial services offered by financial intermediaries and have experienced its convenience. However, many people remain skeptical of the benefits of mobile banking services and whether it is a much safer way to perform financial transactions.

In the Philippines, mobile banking started in the year 2000 when Smart Communications launched Smart Money which is referred to as the world’s first and most innovative card linked to a Smart wireless phone. This is in cooperation with the first eBank, Banco de Oro, and MasterCard. With Smart Money, Smart subscribers can easily and conveniently send and receive cash and make payments through SMS. The most popular feature is Smart Padala which is being used by many Filipino overseas workers to transfer their money to their relatives in the Philippines. With this type of innovation, Filipinos will no longer have to worry taking some risks in order to make their transactions personally. The use of mobile banking will make their transactions easier and more convenient.1

Availing of financial services offered by financial institutions is not very easy. It requires many documents to be submitted and step-by-step processes. The depositors would also need to make regular transactions with their banks and other financial institutions to be updated with their accounts. However, for many depositors, it is difficult to perform transactions regularly since they have limited access with their banks and it...