The rise of mobile banking usage has not blossomed universally across all sectors. For instance, despite a substantial take up in retail banking, mobile banking usage for managing a company's finances has yet to curry favour in Asia.

That's according to data from Asset Benchmark Research (ABR), which surveyed over 1,100 Asia-based treasury professionals and found that only 34% of participants were currently using the corporate mobile banking services of their partner banks. Moreover, only a small proportion (13%) of individuals mentioned that they would start adopting mobile banking practices in the next six months.

Given that almost 20 years ago treasury professionals were making the same negative or lukewarm comments when it came to using the internet to transfer funds, the apparent lack of initial interest in corporate mobile banking services could mean that the industry as a whole is in store for a change of mindset.

"The idea of using the internet is not even on the map. The internet is not mature enough to deal with high-risk, high-value transactions. We don't want our business leaked to the outside world," mentions a treasury survey participant in The Asset's March 2000 issue.

The lack of maturity mentioned above with respect to the development of the internet could also be a factor explaining why many companies are on the sidelines with this latest innovation, as these businesses also fear any repercussions surrounding the embryonic stages of the development of mobile banking.

Nevertheless, major international and regional banks are increasing their investments into mobile solutions for their commercial/corporate customers.

For example, Citi has its CitiDirect BE app that allows its users to track its supplier finance arrangements in real-time. Singapore-based bank DBS has been encouraging its SME (small and medium enterprises) customers to utilize its IDEAL 3.0 app, pointing out that it will greatly improve the visibility and control of business professionals constantly on the move.

According to ABR data, one of the key reasons why companies were not overly interested in corporate mobile banking stemmed from the fact that it was not applicable to the company. This is a view that may change with time, as companies are increasingly growing accustomed to integrating mobile collections into their overall treasury strategy.

Standard Chartered for example last year worked with various companies such as Juneyao Airlines in establishing a mobile wallet solution for travellers. The growing familiarity of companies like Juneyao Airlines with mobile-based solutions could alter the general perception of corporate mobile banking, shifting sentiment in a more favourable direction.

It was 20 years ago when people couldn't fathom transacting on the internet but as time passes new solutions may become equally commonplace.