March 25th, 2010 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Analysis & Editorial, Platforms: AndroidOS, Platforms: iOS | No Comments »
In The Netherlands, the Rabobank is a leading bank when it comes to integrating internet and mobile into their strategy. It has been developing many payment systems which are adopted by the general market now.
Rabobank started with phone based banking in 1995 with an IVR banking system which was pretty fragmentation proof. The first mobile banking website launched in 2001. These days however, Rabobank is very involved in the world of mobile applications and the Rabobank is the only Dutch bank that is an actual MVNO.
In regards to mobile applications, the Rabobank discovered a strange phenomenon. Though the trend with mobile websites was to combine as much services and content as possible, mobile apps are more about a certain set of functionality. As a result, they have a banking app, but also apps for events they sponsor like the Dutch Hockey team.
With their apps and with the phones they sell, the Rabobank also experiences fragmentation and the non-understanding consumer. It is very hard for the bank to decide which OS to support, which UI to build and on which store it should be present. Difficult questions for a bank that wants to offer a single product.
As a result, their latest mobile product is more a service for mobile developers. The Rabobank has created an infrastructure for mobile in-app payments called ‘My Order’. The implementation of the product’s SDK is seamless so the developer remains in control over the user experience. With the system in place, developers will no longer charge over the phone bill and lose money to the operator. Instead they charge directly to a bank account.
