About 200, mainly smaller credit unions, now offer mobile banking to members via a free service provided by CU*Answers, a data processing CUSO in Grand Rapids, Mich. The service is provided to institutions that use its core computing product, said CU*Answers CEO Randy Karnes.

Until mobile emerges as a powerful revenue generator, CU*Answers will continue to offer it for free, he vowed.

“If I thought I could charge for it, I would,” Karnes admitted. “There may be gateway fees down the road, once credit unions are making money on mobile.”

CU*Answers' It's Me 24/7 service allows access to a mobilized version of online banking via mobile devices. While the browser-based tool may not be in step with the increasingly elegant apps offered by many financial institutions today, the $29 million First United Credit Union in Grandville, Mich., uses it because it's attractively priced, President/CEO Mark Richter said.

In particular, First United's younger members use It's Me 24/7 because many of them don't have internet access, opting instead, to use their smartphones.

“They are getting the mobile banking services they said they want,” said Richter, who noted members can pay bills, check balances, transfer funds and do other essential mobile banking tasks.

App versions of It's Me 24/7 can be customized for a credit union but so far, he has resisted the expenditure, which can cost between $5,000 and $8,000, because he's hasn't received any complaints from members.

At the $87 million Inspire Federal Credit Union, in Bristol, Pa., EVP Kevin Unger said he pays a monthly flat fee of $250 apiece for an Android and an iPhone app, developed by online services firm HomeCU in Boise, Idaho.

“I have gotten no negative feedback about the mobile apps, none at all,” Unger said. “You can pay bills, view check images, set up alerts, transfer funds. Our members now can do a lot on their phones.”

Unger said he looked at the mobile banking app provided by his core provider, Fiserv, and shrugged: “The pricing is not comparable to what we are paying. There is no reason why a credit union can't afford mobile banking.”

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A third option is pursued by the $22 million Link Federal Credit Union in Indianapolis, where members use mobile remote deposit capture, President/CEO Bill Kirby said. The tool is provided by Burlington, Mass.-based technology services CUSO Vertifi and a mobile banking app comes from Wescom Resources Group LLC, the technology services CUSO of the $2.7 billion Wescom Credit Union in Pasadena, Calif.

“I am personally a little behind in technology but I know what the younger folks want and desire,” Kirby said. “They ask, 'do you have a mobile app?' Now, we do. We are marketing it continuously. We are looking to utilize the mobile app to get younger members.”

Link has been marketing its mobile tools for only a few months and so far, 155 members are using MRDC and nearly 300 are actively using mobile banking, he added.

Is the cost justified? While the fees paid by Link are not large, Kirby said, “You have to offer these tools to stay competitive. It provides convenience to members.”

The $63 million Healthcare Systems Credit Union in Falls Church, Va., has offered mobile banking through Wescom Resources Group since April 2013 and MRDC via Vertifi since December 2013, said Shonari Hale, assistant vice president at the credit union.

Some 840 members are using mobile banking and 176 are on MRDC, he said. Healthcare Systems has also upped its usage by marketing the services to members who live some distance from a branch, he pointed out.

“We are looking to grow,” Hale said. “Members had been asking for this. That's why we offer it.”

Yet another route to mobile banking has been taken by the $63 million First Castle in Covington, La., where members have access to the service through the Mobiliti platform from Fiserv in Brookfield, Wis., President/CEO Kirk Arnold said.

“We are up to 260 users,” said Arnold, who added First Castle is seeing an increase of around 5% per month.

“I'd like to see more,” he acknowledged. “We haven't marketed it enough but we will be pushing it a lot more. I would like to see a 10% to 20% increase every month.”

Arnold said he had looked at a competitive app and liked it a lot, but difficulties integrating it with his Fiserv core led him to adopt the Mobiliti platform. He declined to put a price tag on First Castle's mobile banking, saying, “we do not yet have economies of scale.”

Still, Arnold is happy with the choice his credit union made.

“Our members expect mobile banking. No matter your size, you will be left in the dust if you don't offer it. To us, it was, 'we are small so we have to have it.'”

That's in stark contrast to those who think small credit unions can't afford to offer mobile banking. But for First Castle, the truth is the exact opposite. That is, large credit unions can have many branches while some small credit unions don't have the resources to build a branch network. But a mobile app, Arnold said, allows his credit union to always be with members wherever they go.

“This is positioning us for the future,” he offered. “That's why we have it.”