PARIS—Taking advantage of the growth of mobile banking, mobile carriers are showing interest in becoming a bank, as well.
Mobile carriers Orange, Telenor, and O2 are all building their own banking operations, reports Venture Beat.
The move by the carriers is logical, said Venture Beat, citing the rapid adoption of mobile banking, fewer consumers willing to drive to a branch, mobile banking app interfaces improving, and fingerprint biometrics making mobile banking often more secure that password-protected online banking.
“The carriers just provide the data packages that allow people to use them. But in the last year, a small number of European carriers have come to a radical conclusion: Let's do more than just enable mobile banking apps; let's build our own,” Venture Beat noted.
Orange earlier this year moved to acquire Groupama Banque, enabling it to leverage its banking license and benefit from its existing client network. Other mobile operators are experimenting. Telefonica Spain, for some time, has announced a joint venture with CaixaBank and Santander, while in the U.S., T-Mobile launched a Visa card with banking features linked to a smartphone app, Venture Beat reported.