IBM and Monitise today announced an expanded, multi-year global alliance to deliver cloud-based mobile commerce products to help financial services institutions embrace the mobile channel and better engage with customers, according to a press release.
 
As part of today's news, the expansion of the alliance will bring together the IBM MobileFirst portfolio of offerings as well as IBM’s financial services and retail industry expertise with Monitise’s mobile banking and payments capabilities, spearheaded globally as an IBM Global Business Services’ initiative, according to the announcement.
 
“As the market for mobile payments is expanding, we are continuing to invest in the IBM MobileFirst portfolio to address this opportunity," Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive of Monitise, said in a statement. "The combination of our capabilities with Monitise will provide value to our clients, enhance the customer experience and drive business growth.”
 
Financial institutions will gain access to data analytics to offer customers targeted services such as in-store engagement and location-based offerings that empower timely decision making and convenience, according to the announcement. Financial services providers will be able to deploy new digital and mobile money products while reducing costs and driving new revenue streams.  
 
Monitise said in the announcement it will draw from the expertise and resources of the IBM ExperienceOne portfolio and Interactive Experience practice, which improve customer engagement by using data analytics to deliver relevant, personalised brand experiences. In addition, IBM and Monitise plan to collaborate with IBM Ready Apps, a suite of industry-specific, pre-configured apps that can be easily customised and deployed.
 
Monitise will also move its production hosting and cloud requirements to IBM, including SoftLayer.