Miro Slodki added some great comments to the post on bank branches, reproduced here:
Hi Susan thought you might be interested in this forecast re mobile/internet/branchless banking Source: http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1278413
By 2014, over 3 billion of the world's adult population will be able to transact electronically via mobile or Internet technology. Emerging economies will see rapidly rising mobile and Internet adoption through 2014.
At the same time, advances in mobile payment, commerce and banking are making it easier to electronically transact via mobile or PC Internet. Combining these two trends creates a situation in which a significant majority of the world's adult population will be able to electronically transact by 2014.
Gartner research predicts that by 2014, there will be a 90% mobile penetration rate and 6.5 billion mobile connections. Penetration will not be uniform, as continents like Asia (excluding Japan) will see a 68% penetration and Africa will see a 56% mobile penetration.
Although not every individual with a mobile phone or Internet access will transact electronically, each will have the ability to do so. Cash transactions will remain dominant in emerging markets by 2014, but the foundation for electronic transactions will be well under way for much of the adult world.Every time I see these kinds of projects, [which i do not doubt for a minute] it makes it clear to me that much of this technology advance will be driven by the needs of the un-wired i.e. developing world. Mobile business applications in undeveloped countries have the capability to transform lives. Perhaps they will achieve what decades of foreign aid have failed to do.
All businesses need to be thinking about their mobile strategy. I'm currently running a research project that permits people to contribute observations by SMS text message or e-mail -- all mobile. And I get e-mail daily telling me about more potential mobile research platforms.
When you combine mobile with location markers like smart codes of various sorts, incredible new possibilities open up.We need to start thinking about why we need offices and retail stores, and what we really want to do with them. Because I think we DO want to leave our desktops to interact with the world. Mobile lets us do that. But it doesn't necessarily mean we want to make investment decisions while riding the bus.
Resources:
Seth Godin had an interesting post on offices.
Miro Slodki writes well informed commentary about marketing. Like the current article that takes a closer look at how ideas actually spread. It isn't the BS you've been hearing.
