Last week, dotMobi, a Dublin-based company that specializes in innovative mobile services, announced the distribution of the first two-character mobile Internet domain to Fifth Third Bank. While Fifth Third’s platform seems to include the typical range of mobile banking features – account balances, funds transfer, pending and posted transaction information and an ATM/branch locator – the two character domain name is intriguing and sets the firm apart from competitors.

Fifth Third is smart to take advantage of its memorable numeric moniker. As anyone who’s ever used a Blackberry or iPhone will tell you, it’s not easy entering a string of characters using tiny/virtual keypads, especially if you’re on the move. The firm uses 53.com for its banking website so it makes sense to embrace the brief - and memorable - 53.mobi address for its wireless platform.

Fifth Third joins a growing number of banks that have launched or improved their mobile banking offering in the past few months. Recognizing this trend, we penned a piece for the Spring 2009 edition of the Consulting Insights newsletter that talks about recent wireless banking initiatives. A combination of cutting edge devices and increasingly common broadband access is allowing banks to finally fulfill the much-heralded promise of mobile banking. Interest in these services will only grow as the next generation of financial services consumers - many of whom grew up with a wireless device in their pockets - comes of age.

Since the newsletter went to press, Citi has taken yet another step to close the gap between itself and Bank of America, introducing a Citi iPhone app. With this launch, four of the 10 largest U.S. consumer banks now have a dedicated presence in the Apple App Store, including Bank of America, Chase and PNC Bank. We will continue to monitor these developments closely, with an eye toward publishing a syndicated study on wireless financial services later this year.