That pluck has given mobile banking a big shot in the arm as China Mobile announced that it purchased a 20% in Shanghai Pudong Development Bank for $5.83 billion. The acquisition puts China Mobile in the unique position of being able to further mobile banking — without being at the mercy of the banking cabal. And it will do so in the fastest growing economy in the world. China Mobile is already the largest mobile telecom company in the world.

I think it is fair to say that this deal does not get done in the US. We are so ensconced in the post-credit-crisis regulatory mud wrestling that there is 0% chance regulators would go for this. But this is the type of arrangement that can make mobile banking the default banking channel. China might be the equivalent of the Wild West from a regulatory standpoint, but sometimes that type of cowboy-ing is necessary to move the innovation dial. Another word for that is “pluck.”