Mobile banking provider mFoundry is announcing a new cloud-based solution for financial institutions that will allow them to expand the range of mobile services offered to its customers. The new product, called Fin.X, is an extensible platform that lets banks and credit unions connect their customers through their mobile devices to services like P2P money transfers, auto insurance quotes, gift cards and more.

Along with launching its new product, mFoundry is also announcing that 30 companies — companies like FIS, Dwolla, Diebold and Blackhawk Network — will be joining its Service Provider Network offering their solutions through the Fin.X platform.

"The power in mFoundry’s mobile banking solution is both the technology architecture and the aggregation of many services in our Service Provider Network," said mFoundry CTO and co-founder Rodney Aiglstorfer.

"mFoundry’s new mobile banking technology can layer on an almost unlimited number of service providers quickly and at minimal cost." Aiglstorfer said. "That allows financial institutions to enjoy all the benefits expected from a hosted platform combined with all of the upside found in much more expensive custom solutions."

For FIs, the ability to offer a wider range of solutions through mobile devices is a pretty big deal. Mobile banking is becoming a "must have" for banks, with consumers appreciating the convenience of having their accounts readily available and banks saving money by diverting simple customer requests like account balance inquiries away from more expensive channels like call centers.

But up until now, mobile banking was all about lowering costs. With Fin.X, mFoundry thinks FIs can now turn the channel into a revenue driver by providing them with revenue-sharing opportunities from its Service Provider Network.

“Fin.X from mFoundry can do it all: Drive profitability, reduce cost, strengthen loyalty, differentiate your brand, and increase top line revenue,” said mFoundry CEO and co-founder Drew Sievers. "mFoundry’s Fin.X has the potential to transform mobile banking into an institution’s most profitable channel."

Sievers said there’s no question that mFoundry's platform can accelerate revenue and grow earnings.

In fact, mFoundry said it estimates its new platform can grow banks' per user revenue up to 40 percent cost savings and revenue earning banks up to $100 of incremental per user revenue annually.

Increased revenue is obviously good news for banks, and it's a pretty good arrangement for mFoundry's partner providers as well.

Take startup Dwolla. The company is looking to gain a foothold with financial institutions to get them to offer their customers Dwolla's payment and money transfer services. Through mFoundry, Dwolla now has instant access to a significant number of FIs. MFoundry provides mobile banking services to more than 800 banks and credit unions including a third of the top 50 U.S. FIs.

It also doesn't hurt the service providers that mFoundry brings some substantial mobile payment credibility to the table. The company is behind the Starbucks mobile payment application, arguably the most successful mobile payment deployment to date.

For more stories like this, visit the mobile banking research center.