In a move applauded by the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA), the Making Online Banking Initiation Legal and Easy (MOBILE) Act of 2016 was introduced to Congress on Nov. 4.
MOBILE is the brainchild of Reps. Scott Tipton (R-CO), Randy Hultgren (R-IL) and Terri Sewell (D-AL), and aims to allow consumers to open bank accounts without having to visit a physical branch location. Inclusion is key, allowing for digital access without sacrificing banks’ identity theft and financial fraud policies.
The effort at banking modernization comes on the heels of a 2015 report by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) which found that 7 percent of the U.S. population was without banking, while nearly 20 percent was underserved by the banks they did use.
“In an increasingly digital world, banking must be able to adapt and meet the ever-growing needs and expectations of consumers as they seek to monitor and manage their funds,” Richard Hunt, president and CEO of CBA, said.
The FDIC determined that consumers were increasingly turning to smartphones for their banking. Yet an issue that has faced banks’ efforts to move into the mobile sphere has been an inconsistency among state laws pertaining to swiping or copying state-issued ID cards.