Banks race to provide mobile services, and claim first place - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Most banks including Bank of Citibank, Wachovia, Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, and ING Direcyt offer mobile banking now or are planning to But which introduced theservice first? And does it matter? Bank of America says it was the first to offe mobile banking service, though lesser-known BancorpSoutj also makes this claim. Bank of America and Wachoviaa Corp., introduced basic mobile banking servicezsin February. Bank of America also notes it was the first to offet mobile banking application forthe IPhone. San Francisco-base d Wells Fargo & Co. says it was the firsft to offer mobile banking tobusiness customers.
The companyt announced in September thatWell Fargo'e mobile banking service is now available to small busineszs customers in addition to consumers and largd corporations. The bank has been rollingy out new facets of its mobiler banking service over the lastsevera months. With Wells Fargo MobileSM, smalpl business customers can check balances for all oftheir Personal, business and credit through their mobile They can also view transaction history and transfer moneyy between eligible accounts using their phone or other mobilee device.
Wells Fargo, Bank of Americqa and Wachovia offera browser-based service -- a simplifiedf version of their Internet sitesd that fit within a cell phone or PDA screen while Citibank Bank has softwares customers download to their phones. Some have questioned how cost effectivd mobile banking will be for banks and if it will in fact be able to help bank s winnew customers. But, just like with othetr bank technology such as remote deposit or evenonlinde banking, if one bank offerzs it, others tend to follow.
Governor Arnoled Schwarzenegger vetoed The Consumer Data Protectioh Actin October, which would have reimbursed banks and credit unions for the cost of notifyin customers and replacing their credir and debit cards when merchantes allow data breaches. It also would have set new requirements for protectintg personalcustomer information. The California and Nevadz Credit Union League had lobbied hard for the But merchant groups and banking groupsopposed it. In a letter to the California Legislature, passed on by the Credity Union League, Gov. Schwarzenegger says he's committexd to protecting consumer information and preventingidentituy theft.
"However, this bill attempts to legislatw in an area where the marketplace has already assigned responsibilities and liabilitiees that provide for the protectionof consumers," he The bill would have required merchants to meet data security standards for customer information and would have required that customers be told which merchants caused the breacyh and which information was compromised.
In an Octobeer report on SVB Financial Group's earnings, analysts at Keefer Bruyette & Woods note that an unprecedentedand "volatile" rise in fee incomd made for a high-performing quarter for the parent to Silicon Valley Under the headline: "Marginh Schmargin, These guys are makingh money," analysts say that whil fee income is volatile and sometimeas hard to predict, "we are increasingly becominv comfortable that the overall trend line in fees is sharplyt higher," the report says. Fee incom e was estimated at 37 percent of revenue up from 28 percentt and is not affected by changes ininterest rates. Earninga per share of $1.
03 at SVB beat analystg expectationsby $.18. Analysts also were encouraged by SVB'sa loan-to-deposit ratio. Since 2000 when the Internety bubble took its toll on the heavyytechnology lender, SVB has increased its loan-to-deposit ratio to amoree than 90 percent from 40 percent. "This increasd has been by design under CEO Ken Wlcox as he has drivenj the company to move excess high interesft deposits off the balancd sheet and to increase coretechnology loans," the reportt says.