At a recent conference I heard Payton Dobbs from Google identify “Mobile” as one of the top three trends in financial services. I am fascinated, however, because on the same morning I heard the speech, I was also reading an ABA Article on the Status of the Law and Electronic Money dated 1997. None of the technology has changed. Its been some 12 years and all the same players are here. NFC, electronic checks (still nothing but a legal concept in all 50 states), RDFI, and payments through e-mail are still mostly just good ideas. Why so? Mobile banking in the US is still limited to accessing information on the phone or smart phone already established or authorized on the computer or at the branch. The concept of mobile payments from phone to phone lays quietly waiting until someone – be it Company or person – makes it happen.

What has to change is the American mind. This shift is “about” to happen but has not. In other countries a certain level of desperation drove customers to mobile payments and mobile banking. In the US it will happen differently.

Until such time, however, the forward thinking Company, and this includes banks, had better start adjusting the furniture, painting the walls and fixing the ceilings for the party that is about to happen. Woe unto the bank/company that is asked by 1,000 customers at once, do you accept “_________” as payment? (Fill in the Blank with whatever company you think will have the secret sauce.) Even more woe to the executive who must explain to his boss why they are not even on the ground level of establishing a mobile channel that can show the company logo, let alone allow customers to pay through their phones.

Companies must start establishing themselves with their customers on mobile phones. Even if the only thing a customer sees is a pretty picture that says we’re working on it. Something is more than nothing. Once you get the pretty pictures up, you’d better start thinking about your company policies that should be adjusted (even if slightly) to accomodate the flow of customer information over a smart phone. There is a good amount of adjusting to be done both for hardware, software and internal policies, some of which are mandated at the federal level.

If you’re not going to be creative enough to be “The Company” that makes mobile payments happen, you’d at least better get invited to the party.