Getting Up in the Morning.

    Editor’s Note: This is a sponsored post for the DNA Engine Blog by Alan Dunne.

    At 3V it’s easy to keep motivated. I just look at how most banks and big institutions in many countries treat their customers, and know people deserve better. It’s our job to try to make sure they get it.

    Over the next few years, the whole landscape of consumer financial services is going to change, and we want to help drive that change. Amongst all the noise and bad news about tumbling banks and rocketing charges, there are new sorts of providers coming into the market who know better what people need, who understand the power of technology and are used to having to offer the best possible service or their customers will go elsewhere.

    It’s early days, but this trend is going to accelerate. Just as we are seeing incredible growth in smartphones, mobile internet and the proliferation of different means of communication, so much so that it is hard to remember what it was like five years ago, surely in a few years time we will look back and marvel at the lack of choice we had in how we managed our money.

    So who are these new providers? Potentially any company can try to get in on the action once they have the right approach (and partner!), but those best placed are the ones who can make it relevant to their current services and customers.

    Most obviously, mobile networks have a great opportunity to offer something meaningful. They have near-constant contact with their customers, are a hub of entertainment and communication, distribute hardware and software and increasingly will be a conduit for m-commerce. They can be the money manager of choice for people in the near future.

    And I don’t just mean enabling NFC. There is much more to mobile money than NFC, it is about offering customers what they actually need right now better than the other guys.

    3V brought O2 Money, a debit card and virtual wallet, to market a couple of years ago with Telefónica, the first such service from a mobile network here in Ireland. To date, thousands of customers a month have trusted O2 Money with millions of Euro worth of shopping and money transfers and the programme continues to grow. No one questioned why O2 was offering financial services. It fit with what they wanted, it was convenient, and the level of service was better than from the banks. End of the story. Incidentally, it does not include NFC.

    But of course it doesn’t have to be a mobile operator. We see already many big retailers offering credit cards, insurance and loans. At 3V we have even been working with companies in media and entertainment who see the value of making it easier for customers to manage and move their money. For example, if you need a debit or credit card for a customer to register for your services, why not just give them one? If your customers are talking to each other internationally, why not let them send money too?

    Technology and speed are key. Most banks will not be able to keep up with what customers demand and this means the opportunity for companies who think creatively to take up the slack is huge. And consumers will have more choice and control than ever before.

    So back to motivation. Yesterday was a fairly usual day, until I needed to move money from my current account to my credit card account, within the same bank. 24 hours later it still hasn’t been moved, and I am being charged for the privilege. That made it easier to get up this morning.

    To find out more about 3V’s mobile payment solution for DNA, check out this site (only in Finnish)

    About DNA Engine

    DNA Engine is a blog driven by innovations, startups and DNA’s continuous search for leading-edge partnerships. They enjoy seeing companies which are continuously coming up with new innovative products and services that shape their way of using technology. They blog about their own insights on mobile handset ecosystems, innovation-driving companies and ICT phenomena, but also invite interesting guest bloggers to share their views.