One routinely reads about mobile phone operators entering the payments space, most famously Vodafone/Safaricom/mPesa in Kenya. Bankinter Mobile turned the tables on this in entering the telco space by becoming a virtual mobile network operator (VMNO).

In a new report, Turning the Tables: Bankinter Enters the Telco Space, Celent studies how Bankinter realized the potential of mobile early on. The bank has been a leader in mobile banking, with text banking launched in 2001, over 10 years ago. Mobile banking plays many roles at Bankinter. It is a:

• Revenue generator
• Cost avoider
• Customer satisfier
• Sales tool
• Profit generator

As an example, the cost of blocking a card via mobile is an order of magnitude less expensive than blocking the same card via mobile.

“Bankinter has been able to harness the mobile channel in many ways that other banks haven’t,” says Bart Narter, Celent Senior Vice President of Celent’s Banking Group and author of the report. “Their ability to market in real time to their customers is unparalleled.”

This report provides an overview of Bankinter’s history with mobile, including their innovative bankinter labs, the bank’s dedication to and measurement of customer satisfaction, and the impact mobile usage has on customer satisfaction.

This is followed by an evaluation of some of Bankinter’s marketing programs, many of which have response rates far in excess of 1%. Finally, the report explores Bankinter’s entry into the telco space with Bankinter Mobile. This gave banking customers free access to Bankinter’s mobile banking, with data charges waived by the bank.