Mobile Banking

Finacle mobile banking solution empowers retail and corporate banking customers with access to banking services through SMS and GPRS/WAP-enabled handsets, leveraging a single platform. It offers both mobile commerce (m-commerce) and mobile payments within the DNA of mobile banking, with built-in support for merchant-initiated payments and reversals, in addition to customer-initiated payments and reversals. Leveraging recent technological advances in the mobility space, the mobile banking solution empowers banks with the means to innovate by easily deploying new services, with improved time to market. The end user experience thus created is richer, secure and truly convenient.

Finacle mobile banking solution functions in tandem with disparate host systems, core banking solutions, payment networks and third-party applications. The solution is interfaced with Infosys MConnect, the indigenously developed middleware, which orchestrates mobile transactions between users’ devices and the Finacle universal banking solution. Infosys MConnect handles the multiplicity of form factors and access mechanisms on multiple devices to provide a context-adaptable view to the transaction server. This presents banks with a powerful channel to service customer segments ranging from the mass affluent to the under-banked or unbanked, surmounting the challenge posed by the diversity of mobile devices. 

The solution supports synchronization of customers’ own data on their mobiles without re-downloading the application for downloadable client-based mobility. It empowers banks to capitalize on their existing Internet transaction and support capabilities to extend it to the mobile world, in practically real time. This ushers in the advantages of reduced integration by leveraging common interface messages, maintenance and deployment costs.

Key Modules

The mobility banking offering from Finacle is a logical extension of its proven Internet banking solution. All of Finacle’s online capabilities can be translated to the mobile channel, with reduced lead times, ensuring rapid time-to-market for banks.

Customer On-boarding
Finacle enables the bank’s existing customers to be directed to use the mobile channel for banking and payment transactions through the following modes:

• Phone banking leveraging the bank’s telebanking call center
• Mobile banking facility requested by sending SMS request in prescribed format
• Registering for mobile banking through the bank’s Internet banking site

The various flavors of mobile banking are:

• Browser-based mobile banking
• Downloadable-client based mobile banking
• Manual SMS banking

Finacle offers various functionalities for consumer and corporate banking leveraging GPRS or WAP-based transmission. An indicative list of features is:

• Account management and requests
• Local payments, bill payments and transfers
• Transaction approvals for corporate customers
• Merchant payments and reversals for POS, telephonic or internet-based purchase transactions
• Support for administrative tasks like secure mails to relationship manager, approvals, password change, data synchronization and self-audit

Mobile Commerce

Finacle offers commerce capabilities on its mobility and Internet platforms. Merchants and consumers can leverage Finacle mobile banking solution to perform business transactions at points of sale, with support for mobile and/or Internet banking. The solution offers out-of-the-box support for both merchant and customer initiated payments and reversals. Finacle mobile banking solution can service both retail and corporate consumers including the SME customer segment of banks.

Alerts
This module empowers customers to subscribe and receive alerts on multiple channels such as e-mail, SMS, voice, fax and Internet. It enables the customer to subscribe to alerts and choose a delivery channel. The module also allows the customer to set preferences for alerts and configure ‘do not disturb’ timings. The module supports the following:

• Personalized alerts
• Alerts from multiple back-end systems
• Batch or real-time alerts
• Alerts digest

Business Benefits

Robust Inclusivity Framework

Finacle mobile banking solution leverages Infosys MConnect to smoothly hurdle the challenges posed by the multiplicity of form factors and access mechanisms on multiple devices to provide a context-adaptable view to the transaction server. This enables banks to include, through the mobile channel, its various customer segments, ranging from the HNWI to specific unbanked communities, surmounting the complexities of diverse location and dissimilar mobile devices.

Maximize Innovation

Banks can leverage Finacle mobile banking solution’s indigenously developed middleware Infosys MConnect, to configure an unlimited palette of services from any channel, to the mobile space, with ease. The need for development of new back end services is precluded due to the availability of a banking solution behind the mobile interface. Finacle also provides the flexibility to deploy services over the existing online banking platform or through a standalone delivery channel interfaced directly with the relevant host systems. This ensures the rapid delivery of a comprehensive range of financial services, embellished with new innovative features, on mobile devices.

Robust Security

The solution offers extensive application security features like URL encryption, referral URL check and session management to provide a robust security framework. The solution also supports OTP (one time password - MobiToken), which provides a two factor authentication mechanism for users transacting with downloadable mobility client. This enables the bank to offer products that are highly secure and geared to withstand the onslaught of security threats associated with mobile transactions.

Cost Savings

The solution presents banks with the advantages of reduced integration by leveraging common interface messages, maintenance and deployment costs. This translates into significant cost savings without banks having to compromise on features or the range of devices supported. The mobile banking solution is inherently independent of the network service provider, obviating the need to build a business model that involves costs and profits sharing with them.

Customer Delight

Finacle mobile banking solution enables banks to offer the convenience of comprehensive anywhere anytime banking, using GPRS, WAP or SMS. It supports a wide range of mobile devices and mobile browsers. Banking customers can query on account balances and make fund transfers. Banks can also proactively send timely information to customers in a completely secure environment, whenever a customer-defined event occurs. The mobile banking solution’s self-service capabilities empower customers to manage their banking activities better. The solution also addresses data transmission and storage related security concerns adequately, delivering a truly streamlined customer experience.

Triple play (Telecommunications)

In telecommunications, the triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of the two broadband services, high-speed Internet access and television, and one narrowband service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business model rather than solving technical issues or a common standard.

The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

At the turn of the century, cable companies were in a technical position to offer triple play over one physical medium to a large number of their customers, as their networks already have sufficient bandwidth to carry hundreds of video channels. Cable's main competition for television in North America comes from satellites, which cannot compete for voice and interactive broadband due to the latency imposed by physical laws on a geosynchronous satellite. Cable's main competition for voice and Internet access comes from telcos, which cannot yet compete for television in most markets because DSL over most local loops cannot deliver enough bandwidth.

As an interim marketing move while they install fiber closer to the customer, telcos such as AT&T are doing co-promotion deals with satellite TV providers to sell television, telephone, and Internet access services bundled for billing purposes although the services provided through a satellite link and the services provided through a phone line are not technically related. Telcos that own wireless phone networks are also including those as part of such billing-only bundles because most cable companies do not own wireless networks

Today, triple play services are offered by cable television operators as well as by telecommunication operators. It paves the way for these service providers to compete with one another. It relies on the assumption that an integrated solution will increase opportunity costs for customers who may want to choose between service providers. Interoperability is not a design target. The term is primarily used in the US.

Regulation

There are multiple and intense regulatory battles over triple play services as incumbent telcos and incumbent cable operators attempt to keep out new competitors -- since both industries historically have been regulated monopolies, regulatory capture has long been as much a core competency for them as have been prices and terms of service. Cable providers want to compete with telcos for local voice service, but want to discourage telcos from competing with them for television service. Incumbent telcos want to deliver television service but want to block competition for voice service from cable operators. Both industries cloak their demands for favorable regulatory treatment in claims that their positions favor the public interests. In March 2007 cable operators scored a major victory when the FCC overruled two state public service commissions by ruling that incumbent local exchange carriers must connect to VoIP services [1]. Regulators in South Carolina and Nebraska had been allowing local telcos to block Time Warner Cable from offering local phone service in their states. In the other direction, also in March 2007 the FCC limited the powers of municipalities and states over telcos that want to compete with cable TV companies [2]; consumer groups expressed displeasure with this FCC ruling because they fear telcos will only offer service to the richest neighborhoods (a major bone of contention between telcos wanting to offer television service and local governments is that local governments typically impose "build-out" and community access requirements so a cable provider is forced to wire the entire town within a specified period of time). All three Republican members of the FCC voted for this decision, while both Democratic members voted against it and one predicted either Congress or the courts would overturn it. In October 2007, The Hartford Courant reported that Connecticut regulators have ordered AT&T to stop signing up new customers for its IPTV service until they got a cable license; AT&T said they would fight this decision in court [3].

Telco

For telephone local exchange carriers (LEC), triple play is delivered using a combination of optical fiber and digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies (called fiber in the loop) to its residential base. This configuration uses fiber communications to reach distant locations and uses DSL over an existing POTS twisted pair cable as last mile access to the subscriber's home. Cable television operators use a similar architecture called hybrid fibre coaxial (HFC) to provide subscriber homes with broadband, but use the available coaxial cable rather than a twisted pair for the last mile transmission standard. Subscriber homes can be in a residential environment, multi-dwelling units, or even in business offices.

Using DSL over twisted pair, television content is delivered using IPTV where the content is streamed to the subscriber in an MPEG-2 transport format. On an HFC network, television may be a mixture of analog and digital television signals. A set-top box (STB) is used at the subscriber's home to allow the susbcriber to control viewing and order new video services such as movies on demand. Access to the Internet is provided through ATM or DOCSIS, typically provided as an Ethernet port to the subscriber. Voice service can be provided using a traditional plain old telephone service (POTS) interface as part of the legacy telephone network or can be delivered using voice over IP (VoIP). In an HFC network, voice is delivered using VoIP.

Some service providers are also rolling out Ethernet to the home networks and fiber to the home, which support triple play services and bypass the disadvantages of adapting broadband transmission to a legacy network. This is particularly common in green field developments where the capital expenditure is reduced by deploying one network to deliver all services.

For existing multiple-dwelling-unit (MDU) buildings, where running fiber to each unit may not be feasible, telcos often use VDSL to connect individual units over existing copper through a central optical network terminal located in the existing telco closet [4] [5]. Over such a short distance DSL can deliver much higher bitrates than is possible running DSL over the local loop from the nearest central office as is common with basic DSL.

Wireless

Triple play has led to the term "quadruple play" where wireless communications is introduced as another medium to deliver video, Internet access, and voice telephone service. Advances in both CDMA and GSM standards, utilizing 3G, 4G or UMTS allows the service operators to enter into quadruple play and gain competitive advantage against other providers. The grouping together of services (as triple or quadruple play) is called multi-play.

Other advanced technologies such as WiMax or 802.16 has allowed new market entrants to achieve triple play. Many speculate that this means serious, new competition for established providers of bundled telecommunications services.

Business

The challenges in offering triple play are mostly associated with determining the right business model, backend processes, customer care support and economic environment rather than technology. For example, using the right billing platform to address a variety of subscriber demographics or having the appropriate subscriber density to financially justify introduction of the service are a few factors that affect decisions to offer triple play service.

In addition to the challenges mentioned above, there are a number of technical challenges with regards to the rollout of triple play services. Voice, video and high speed data all have different characteristics and place different burdens on the network that provides access to these services. Voice services are greatly affected by jitter, whereas packet loss or packet reordering has a greater effect on video and data services. Using a shared network resource such as cable or DSL requires that the network equipment used employs quality-of-service mechanisms.