Tuesday, August 27, 2002
Wells Fargo to shutter wireless banking service
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "NEWS" @ 09:00 AM
http://news.com.com/2100-1017-954592.html
"The financial company said [last] Tuesday that it plans to shut down the mobile service by late September, due to lack of interest. The service, which debuted last year and lets customers make transactions from cell phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants), had just 2,500 active customers, company spokeswoman Wendy Grover said."
This is unfortunate. I think the wireless "revolution" is just getting started. Right now, the Wells Fargo banking service is only available on Sprint PCS phones and Palm handhelds, which I presume means the VII or i705. We are just now seeing the devices come to market that appeal to more mainstream users like the Treo, Pocket PC Phones and Phone/PDA bluetooth partnerships. I would have liked to have seen Wells Fargo stick it out a bit longer, but I understand their position. They would need more programming to get it to work on a Pocket PC or other cell phone providers, though I personally cannot imagine doing much more than a balance inquiry on my cell phone's screen.
Let us hope they are putting this on a back burner to be resurrected in 12-18 months after the PDA/Smartphone market has had a chance to mature.
"The financial company said [last] Tuesday that it plans to shut down the mobile service by late September, due to lack of interest. The service, which debuted last year and lets customers make transactions from cell phones and PDAs (personal digital assistants), had just 2,500 active customers, company spokeswoman Wendy Grover said."
This is unfortunate. I think the wireless "revolution" is just getting started. Right now, the Wells Fargo banking service is only available on Sprint PCS phones and Palm handhelds, which I presume means the VII or i705. We are just now seeing the devices come to market that appeal to more mainstream users like the Treo, Pocket PC Phones and Phone/PDA bluetooth partnerships. I would have liked to have seen Wells Fargo stick it out a bit longer, but I understand their position. They would need more programming to get it to work on a Pocket PC or other cell phone providers, though I personally cannot imagine doing much more than a balance inquiry on my cell phone's screen.
Let us hope they are putting this on a back burner to be resurrected in 12-18 months after the PDA/Smartphone market has had a chance to mature.
