You have to look hard to find good news about Citigroup (NYSE: C) these days. but despite all the bad headlines, the company continues to find new ways to innovate.
Take its joint venture Mobile Money Ventures LLC (MMV), which is an alliance with SK Telecom. Basically, this is a new company that is building new financial mobile applications.
On Monday, MV debuted a new offering – and it leverages Google (NASDAQ: GOOG)'s Android. In fact, I saw a demo of it at the 2nd Mobile Commerce Summit.
All in all, it's pretty cool. The application helps with tracking and payments (there are also person-to-person transfers). Plus, you can even get mobile coupons and rewards – and send them to friends.
More importantly, the interface is intuitive and quick. It has a slick iPhone feel.
While the mobile banking market is still in the nascent stages, it looks like the growth rate will be particularly strong (just as was the case with ATMs during the 1980s). No doubt, Citigroup is making the commitments to be a top player in this important category -- which is likely to lead to more customer engagement and hopefully more profits for the long haul.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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