High-profile mobile money launches by Apple and Samsung have recently joined the ranks of companies offering mostly wealthy owners of expensive smartphones the ability to pay for goods with a swipe of their handsets. But while this will undoubtedly help the use of mobile payments to spread, the reality remains that the mobile phone as a means of payment remains relatively niche even in developed markets. In this article, Julien Duvaud-Schelnast, manager at Arthur D. Little, is quoted saying mobile banking is still in its infancy. He expects the market to expand into new areas such as direct debit payments, and he adds that more than half of smartphone users in the US used mobile banking services in 2014. So far, however, he says mobile is mostly acting as a complementary channel for basic activities, such as balance checks, rather than providing the main route of access to banking activities. In terms of providing access to a full range of banking services, it seems that mobile still has a long way to go.