Increasingly, banking institutions are developing new mobile banking initiatives, enabling customers to perform activities such as performing balance checks, account transactions, payments etc. via a cell phone or PDA.

For M&T Bank, a $65 billion institution based in Buffalo, N.Y., late 2008 was absolutely the wrong time to get into mobile banking:

• The economy was crazy;
• Joblessness was high;
• Spending was down; budgets tight.

And yet, for many reasons, it also was the perfect time to launch this new initiative:

• Tech-savvy customers are demanding the service;
• Institutions nationwide are rolling out their own mobile products;
• M&T could gain a competitive edge if it launched mobile banking - and stand to lose that edge if it didn't.

Ultimately, M&T took the plunge and is rolling out its mobile banking pilot project this December. By this time next year, the institution hopes to have 10% of its customer base enrolled in mobile banking.

Register for this webinar to learn first-hand from M&T executive Matthew Speare about how he sold, launched and expects to benefit from this pilot project, including:

• How he pitched and sold the pilot to skeptical senior leaders;
• The types of solutions and service-providers he evaluated;
• Unique risks that needed to be assessed and mitigated;
• How to derive lessons-learned from other institutions' mistakes;
• The pros and cons of different approaches to mobile banking.

Over the course of this 90-minute webinar, Speare will detail his own institution's case study, from the drawing board to the beta test, and he also will answer real-time questions from session registrants.

Matthew Speare, Senior Vice President of Information Technology, M & T Bank Corporation

Matthew Speare oversees security for M & T Bank Corporation, the nation's 17th largest bank holding company, based in Buffalo, New York. He is responsible for developing and sustaining an information risk program that effectively protects the personal information of millions of M & T Bank customers. His responsibilities include information security management, IT compliance and risk management, corporate emergency and incident response, and business continuity management.

Matt is also a Major in the Army National Guard, serving as the 42nd Infantry Division Aviation Operations Officer, and is a AH-64 Apache Attack Helicopter pilot.

---