Copyright 2001, TowerGroup. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Since 1994, the number of wireless handheld communications devices has grown tenfold worldwide. Since 1989, the number of cellular phones in use in the US has grown by a factor of 22. This growth in the ubiquity of wireless handheld devices is set to introduce significant changes in how financial services firms perceive the Internet, as well as how these firms deliver their services and applications to both the retail and industry professional user groups.
Important issues remain to be resolved, however.
This Research Note presents TowerGroup's expectations for the potential of wireless technologies in financial services, as well as the remaining key issues that must be resolved before that potential can be fully realized. It discusses factors behind the rise of the wireless device revolution in the US and the relevant markets that TowerGroup expects the wireless channel to penetrate in US financial services.