Who is in the lead in terms of outfitting credit unions with mobile banking tools? SilverCloud Systems decided to answer that question by surveying its customers.

“We wanted to know who the major players are,” said Scott Cornell, CEO of the New Hampshire-based provider of knowledge management software.

In a poll of 230 credit unions, SilverCloud got responses from 140 – ranging in asset size from $100 million to $5 billion – and what emerged is a portrait of a highly fractionalized marketplace, with many providers jockeying for share.

“This market is well spread out, with a lot of vendors,” said Cornell.

“The three largest providers,” added Cornell, “are DI/Intuit, mShift and Access Softek,” which collectively have over a third of the market. Intuit Financial Services, which bought Digital Insight in 2007, had the biggest share, but still just 14% of the market among Cornell's client base.

Many other providers, from mFoundry to Cavion/Harland to Fiserv, claimed single-digit market shares and, according to SilverCloud's survey, some 4% of credit unions said they are developing mobile banking tools inhouse.

One surprising finding, said Cornell, is that 15% of respondents do not yet have a mobile banking presence.

Another surprising finding, said Cornell, is that this market is characterized by substantial turmoil and flux.

“Credit unions are moving from one vendor to another, in search of better pricing and more flexibility in the mobile offering,” he said.

SilverCloud is making available a free copy of the research here.