Decent mobile phone banking services a mixed bag in Tampa

One of the hot topics in banking lately is mobile.

Banks are abuzz with how customers can use their cell phones to check balances, find branches and otherwise handle their cash on the go. And lots of banks are launching applications for iPhones, BlackBerries and other smart phones to do even more.

But how well those systems work is another matter.

One researcher recently ranked 29 U.S. banks on how well they handle the mobile customer, and the results in Tampa Bay were mixed. Some of the area's biggest banks scored A's, some scored D's or worse.

"It's a really mixed bag with how well some banks did," said Mark Beccue, an analyst in Tampa with ABI Research, which studies consumer and business technology. "They've made some progress, but we're a ways from mass adoption."

Banks getting an "A" grade include BB&T, USAA, Wells Fargo and others. Those banks did well promoting mobile banking with customers and potential customers shopping for a new bank, Beccue said. They also had systems that worked with three different mobile methods: Text messaging, mobile Web pages and applications on the iPhone, BlackBerry or other smart phone.

USAA, for instance, recently launched a way for iPhone users to deposit a check by taking a photo of it with their phone's camera.

In the middle of the pack were "C" grade banks, including Citibank, Wachovia and others. Those generally had some basic text messaging systems, but had limited mobile applications.

Then there were the "F" and worse grades: M&T, Provident, HSBC and KeyBank either had very limited mobile systems, or none at all, in Beccue's opinion.

"Some of those that failed are really just in the experimenting phase," Beccue said. "M&T offers mobile banking to a very narrow slice of their customers, and in limited forms, like text messaging."

None of the banks seemed to have what Beccue expects will be an especially popular system. That is, a service from the bank that sends an alert to your phone that warns that a certain bill is coming due imminently, and presents a way to pay it on the go right from the phone.

Given that just 19 percent of U.S. cell phones are considered a "smart" phone, the potential market for mobile banking is still relatively small, but it's growing quickly. And because people tend to jump on mobile data the minute they get a smart phone, Beccue expects customers will expect their bank to take care of them on the go.

Meanwhile, there is some progress among banks at the bottom of the list. KeyBank, for instance, is building a mobile system and should launch it within the next 60 days, said a company spokesman.

Here are the group's ratings for local banks

A - Exceptional: BB&T, Eastern Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Northeast Bank, USAA, Wells Fargo

B+ - Very Good: Bank of America, Chase

B - Good: Capital One, US Bank, Huntington Bank

C - Average: America First, Bancorp South, Citibank, PNC, Wachovia

D - Below Average: Carolina First, 1st Bank, IBC Bank, Mercantile Bank, Regions, SunTrust, Synovus

F - Failing: M&T, Provident Bank

No (discernable) mobile banking offering: Citizens Bank, Comerica, HSBC, KeyBank