How many of you have your cell phone, Blackberry, Sidekick or iPhone with you right now? Who knows, you might even be reading this post with it. The fact is, now that most people are using a mobile device for something beyond phone calls, the market is responding with opportunities to extend online banking functionality to mobile users.

I was reading the CU Communicator Blog and a specific post here talking about a CU offering mobile banking. Some of the national banks have rolled out similar offerings in the past year, but I just wish it would happen sooner with more CUs. I did see recently where America First CU was moving forward with implementing Firethorn, a mobile banking platform, for its members, but it seems that they are the exception and not the rule.

As an iPhone user I am most interested in getting my balances and transferring funds across accounts. Of course with the full Safari browser on the iPhone I could log into my online banking site and do everything I could do on a desktop or laptop browser, but the experience needs to be streamlined. I need basic functions without all of the overhead of large graphics and bulky content.

PayPal elected some time ago to leverage a text message functional model where instead of going to their site, a mobile user could send a text message to a particular phone number and get their balance, pay others, etc. The text message model is ok and it does work, but it is somewhat less elegant. I would rather set up recurring text messages or emails that send me my latest balance every day, or send me an email after a certain transaction or specific amount comes through.

It appears that the market and the members and customers of FIs are ready for mobile banking and at the very least, a lightweight version of the desktop/laptop experience.

Where does your CU or FI stand related to mobile banking functionality?