VeriSign inks banking alerts pact with Fifth Third

Network infrastructure services provider VeriSign's Messaging and Mobile Media division announced an agreement to supply SMS-based mobile banking alert services to Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third--which operates 1, 311 full-service banking centers across the U.S.--currently boasts more than 1.3 million active online banking customers; the new SMS alerts will notify customers of recurring events like statement availability, payment due notice and balance threshold events (e.g., an account balance moving under or over a predetermined amount).

A recent TowerGroup study reports the number of active mobile banking customers in the U.S. is expected to reach 10 million this year, growing to more than 53 million by 2013. According to VeriSign, it now works with six of the nation's top 10 banks and three of the top five credit card issuers; the firm adds that it saw a 96 percent increase in mobile banking platform messaging traffic in 2008.

For more on the VeriSign/Fifth Third deal:
- read this release

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