A Yankee Group study concluded that mobile banking should be available to a majority of wireless subscribers, including pre-paid and low-income consumers, if it's to be successful in North America, MediaPost reports:

"Unlike in other countries, m-banking in North American markets is typically geared toward more affluent and tech-savvy users as a convenience," the report said. "Low-income consumers in North America make up 21% of all cell phone users, but technology and price barriers keep this group from adopting m-banking services."

The study goes on to say that m-banking vendors should partner with local, brand-recognized banks or national retailers, which would give the m-banking services name recognition and resonate with more consumers--essentially the old brick-and-mortar approach from the dot com days, but this time on mobile.

Study: Mobile Bankers Should Target Low-Income Consumers [MediaPost]