Mobile e-commerce? It's on the move.

• Position: 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...