M-Com, the Auckland company that has become a global leader in mobile banking and mobile payment solutions, is helping to bring banking to people who’ve never had bank accounts before.
More than 180 banks spread over five continents are using M-Com’s technology, and it lays claim to having the most complete product in the mobile banking market. It is on the verge of having tens of millions of consumers worldwide using its software.
Since the company began in 2000, it has built up a list of world firsts in mobile financial services, like real-time debit card payments by mobile phone.
While its customers include some of the world’s largest and most prominent banks and financial institutions, M-Com is looking to further develop its relationship with emerging markets.
“We have a lot of experience with customers with highly sophisticated banking needs, but we are also building experience with customers who have very simple needs, who’ve never had a bank account before,” says Adam Clark, CEO of M-Com.
“We are quite uniquely placed to provide very cost effective, simple and innovative services to these previously out-of-bank customers in Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. Being able to combine both of those needs into a single product is our next major product initiative.”
Another of M-Com’s world firsts has been in a recent software advance – an ASP platform that supports hundreds of banks from one single software instance; within a few years, that will be thousands of banks.
“We can get a small or medium-sized bank configured within 30 minutes, and up and running overnight, offering advanced mobile banking and payment services to their customers. It’s a fantastic capability, which allows us to serve those smaller banks in the market very cost-effectively,” says Mr Clark.
ANZ in Australia recently launched goMoney, an iphone app using M-Com software, allowing its banking customers to transfer funds, and send and receive mobile payments.
Much of M-Com’s global success has come from a solid investment in its intellectual property (IP).
“We spent the first few years developing our IP. We built strong credibility, product and great customer references in New Zealand and Australia, ahead of the United States mobile banking market taking off, so that when we entered the market in the States, we were well ahead of our competitors in terms of product, knowledge and our ability to speak to what works.”
The business began with a target to be the best mobile banking product in the world, and Mr Clark says M-Com achieved that aim to a large extent a couple of years ago. The goals have been reset: to be the world’s number one provider in two measures – the number of banks or financial institutions using M-Com’s software, and the number of transactions flowing across that software.
“M-Com is moving from being perceived by the market as a small Kiwi business, to one that has international relevance, with a United States office and esteemed United States partners, like Fiserv. We don’t necessarily get as much leeway as we used to, or as much empathy - our customers now demand more from a contractual and service level perspective. So we’re having to grow up, which is good for us,” he says.
“But we still have a heavily Kiwi team – who are very dedicated, hardworking and intelligent – and that’s key to our success. Our growth metrics are looking very encouraging – our revenues and staff numbers doubled last year, and both metrics are set to double again this year.”
Entering the 2010 New Zealand International Business Awards has given M-Com the opportunity to take a critical look at its business processes and market performance to date, to plan effectively moving forward, says Mr Clark.
“It has also raised the domestic profile of our business, which supports our staff retention and acquisition programmes that are absolutely critical to our growth strategy.”
Judges’ commendation
“M-Com has taken a structured approach to its international growth by ensuring it has a sound market position every time it enters a new market. It has a list of world firsts in terms of its technology development and deployment, indicating it is a company that started out with a global vision and is delivering on that.”
For more information contact:
New Zealand Trade and Enterprise
Anna McIntyre, phone +64 4 816 8317, email anna.mcintyre@nzte.govt.nz
M-Com
Serge van Dam, phone +64 4 889 2662 (New Zealand) or +1 678 369 0602 (United States)
