What the Big Banks Think of Mobile Banking

Researchers predict that more than half of us will own a smartphone by the end of the year, and even people who consider themselves tech-shy probably have an ordinary cell phone in their purse or clipped to a belt. Not just for texting or surfing the net, these devices are at the cutting edge of the way we interact with our financial institutions.

A rapidly growing number of activities you can do in person or via a phone call can now be accomplished - sometimes faster, because there's no waiting in line or on-hold time - with a few taps of the keyboard on your cell phone. In fact, five years from now, Javelin Strategy and Research predicts that 86 million of us will use our mobile phones to conduct our banking activities.

WalletPop contacted the nation's biggest banks to find out a little more about the applications, alerts and other tools that are bringing banking into the 21st century.