Mobile e-commerce? It's on the move. (Marketing News).

Mobile e-commerce--sometimes called m-commerce--is about where regular e-commerce was five years ago. And when it arrives, watch out! That's the view of New York-based Accenture, a management and technology consulting firm.

"Never mind that the current technology is slow and difficult to use," says Mark C. Giometti of Accenture. "In two to three years, deployment of emerging technologies such as 2.5G and 3G networks wilt enable vastly more powerful wireless financial services applications."

The advent of 2.5G networks--expected this year in the United States--will make possible such features as instant-on access, packetized data, voice channelization and higher data throughput. Businesses wilt be able to support complex account activity, wireless appraisals, instant credit scoring and on-site claims adjustments (among other services). Maybe multimedia communications, location sensitivity and voice data entry, for example. Security will improve.

The company says that now is the time for financial services companies to make a move. There are risks to being an early adapter, but the opportunities to capture vast segments of the market are tremendous, says Accenture.

"It's important to note that e-commerce achieved 25 percent market penetration in about two years," says Giometti. "Firms that defer first or early mover advantage in effect give early adopters, typically the most attractive customers, up to the competition. One market-leading financial services firm has stated that the early adopters have balances 10 times higher and trading volumes five times higher than average customers."

Accenture suggests five potential options for moving into wireless transactions:

Business Model Extenders. You can move some of your existing services (such as trading or account access) to wireless.

Operational Extenders. Mobile e-commerce applications can be used to reduce costs of service, such as by offering mobile customer relationship management.

Market Creators. Progressive Insurance is experimenting with usage-based automobile insurance. Customers' vehicles are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) equipment, which tracks each car's position every six minutes. The accumulated data when, where and how much the vehicle is driven is reported periodically through cellular communications technology. Customers are then billed based on the mileage--and the subsequent risk Accenture says customers in the experiment are paying rates that are 25 percent lower than average.

Value chain annihilators. Create new product categories. How about a mobile, automated insurance adjuster?

Product inventors. New mobile products could completely redefine customer relationships: mobile open finance services, for example, could lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. There are still technological obstacles to a mobile e-commerce model, Giometti says, but "in-commerce is changing the rules of business. It's not simply about a new channel but rather about harnessing the unique characteristics of wire, anytime/anywhere access, always-on and location awareness.

"The best strategy for most financial services providers is to ensure that in-commerce activities add value to your business and that you carefully manage expenses in initial deployment," he says. "The technology is still immature, so carefully weigh your options to partner with solution providers, integrators and ASPs while focusing on internal learning. Your customers will be there. Build (the system) while they adapt."