Case Study: Rabobank Reduces The Supply-Side Barriers To Mobile Banking

Rabobank has been a pioneer of mobile financial services and has a clear vision of the future of the channel. The Dutch bank was one of the first to launch transactional mobile banking services back in 2003. Finding that barriers like unclear costs and a poor user experience were deterring potential mobile banking users, the bank took the radical step of launching its own mobile virtual network operator service, Rabo Mobiel, in the Netherlands in late 2006. By boosting awareness, making the costs clear, and improving usability, the bank has nearly quadrupled mobile banking use within one year and gained a head start in mobile contactless payments. Rabobank's case provides other banks with lessons on how to grow mobile banking adoption by reducing some of the supply-side barriers.