A new study from the Mobey Forum claims that while banks have been quick adopters of new technologies in developing services for consumers and small-medium size enterprises (SMEs), big corporations have often been overlooked.

The study notes that corporate clients are slower to demand new technologies because of legacy systems and internal rules, and banks have been shy to invest in the development of these services without being certain of the return on their investment.

The report surveyed 79 banks around the world, all of which said they have a desire to offer mobile corporate banking services, while 80 per cent plan to do so in the next 12 months.

Petra Bunschoten, chair of the mobile corporate banking workgroup at Mobey Forum, who is also a principal consultant at ING Netherlands, believes there is “a real opportunity for banks, as long as they can optimise their services for the range of different mobile environments in use today.”

However, the answer does not lie in simply mirroring a web-based corporate solution on the mobile channel as this disregards the most obvious opportunities for the mobile channel to add value “through connectivity, flexibility and the possibility to work on the go”, and is a “quick and dirty” fix, she said.

Rather, “the holy grail lies in their ability to provide a consistent and convenient corporate banking service experience across all devices, from anywhere and at any time,” she said.

Banks need to work towards mobile device integration and deliver services that offer a shift in working style, as executives work from various places using a host of devices.

According to the study, a user-centric approach which allows executives to choose their own device is “fundamental to a bank’s success in mobile corporate banking services and should be a key component in every bank’s omni-channel strategy.”