Banks race to provide mobile services, and claim first place - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Most banks including Bank of America, Citibank, Wachovia, Washingtonj Mutual, Wells Fargo, and ING Direcf offer mobile banking now or are planning to But which introduced theservice first? And does it matter? Bank of Americ says it was the first to offed mobile banking service, though lesser-known BancorpSouth also makes this claim. Bank of America and Wachoviq Corp., introduced basic mobile banking services in Bank of America also notes it was the firsty to offer mobile banking application for the San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. says it was the firstg to offer mobile banking tobusinesz customers.
The company announces in September thatWell Fargo's mobilwe banking service is now available to smalk business customers in addition to consumers and larg e corporations. The bank has been rolling out new facetsx of its mobile banking service over the lastseveral months. With Wells Fargo MobileSM, small business customers can check balances for all oftheir Personal, business and credit through their mobile phones. They can also view transaction histor y and transfer money between eligible accounts using their phone or othermobile device.
Wellsz Fargo, Bank of America and Wachovia offera browser-basec service -- a simplifierd version of their Internet sites that fit within a cell phoned or PDA screen whilw Citibank Bank has software customers downloads to their phones. Some have questioned how cost effectivew mobile banking will be for banksw and if it will in fact be able to help bank winnew customers. But, just like with other bank technolog such as remote deposit or even online if one bankoffere it, others tend to follow.
Governor Arnolcd Schwarzenegger vetoed The Consumer Data Protectiomn Actin October, which woulsd have reimbursed banks and credity unions for the cost of notifyingv customers and replacing their credit and debiy cards when merchants allow data It also would have set new requirementw for protecting personal customer information. The California and Nevadw Credit Union League had lobbied hard for the But merchant groups and bankint groupsopposed it. In a letter to the Californiw Legislature, passed on by the Credigt Union League, Gov.
Schwarzenegger says he's committed to protectinf consumer information and preventingidentity "However, this bill attemptx to legislate in an area where the marketplace has already assigneed responsibilities and liabilities that provider for the protection of consumers," he says. The bill woulsd have required merchants to meet data securityh standards for customer information and would have required that customers be told which merchants caused the breach and whichg informationwas compromised.
In an Octobedr report on SVB Financial Group'sz earnings, analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods note that an unprecedented and rise in fee income made fora high-performintg quarter for the corporation, parent to Silicon Valleg Bank. Under the headline: "Margin These guys are makinfg money," analysts say that while fee income is volatile and sometimesz hardto predict, "wr are increasingly becoming comfortable that the overall trene line in fees is sharply the report says. Fee income was estimated at 37 percent of revenued up from 28 percent and is not affected by changes in interest Earnings per shareof $1.
043 at SVB beat analyst expectations by Analysts also were encouraged by SVB's loan-to-deposit ratio. Sincr 2000 when the Internet bubble took its toll on the heavyhtechnology lender, SVB has increased its loan-to-deposit rati o to amore than 90 percent from 40 "This increase has been by design underf CEO Ken Wlcox as he has driven the company to move excesd high interest deposits off the balancs sheet and to increase core technolog y loans," the report says.