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One thing we haven’t really seen take off in the U.S. is mobile banking. My guess has always been that it’s a security concern, though I’m sure others have their reasons. However, this seems like a natural and logical function for a BlackBerry. Verizon Wireless understands this. They’ve introduced a mobile banking service for their BlackBerry models. This means the 8330, 8310, and 8830 World Edition. Good news for those of us who are on the road frequently. Nothing is more frustrating than needing to make a balance transfer, but not having the access to do so.

Of course, you have to bank with an institution which offers mobile banking services. These include Wachovia, Regions, SunTrust, USAA, Synovus, America First Credit Union, Arvest, Bancorp South, FirstBank, South Financial, and BECU. You have to sign up for mobile banking with your institution first, and then you can get it through Verizon.

To sign up, visit mobile.vzw.com from your BlackBerry (the default homepage) and click on “Mobile Banking”. This will take you to a download page for the appliction.

As far as security, well, Verizon is trying to cover that base:

obile Banking is a safe and secure application, offering customers the following security measures: multi-factor authentication including initialization codes and six-digit PIN requirements; lock out after three invalid PIN entries; use of account nicknames instead of account numbers; encrypted transactions; time out of application after two minutes on Choose PIN screen and 10 minutes on other screens; and lost device functionality, which disables the application. In addition, funds can only be transferred between accounts that are set up with online access, and Bill Pay payees cannot be set up or edited on the phone.

Does anyone already do mobile banking? Anyone planning on trying it? What are your concerns?

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