Wireless carrier Vodafone UK agreed to exclusively resell Yodlee Inc.'s mobile banking offering via its Target program.

Yodlee Mobile will be branded for each British bank, offering Vodafone UK customers access across their banking, investments, bills and credit card accounts.

"Our strategy has been that the networks are coming along so fast and the capability of the mobile browsers are coming along equally as fast that the infrastructure and technology now exists to provide rich mobile functionality," said Joe Polverari, senior vice president of strategy and development at Yodlee, Redwood City, CA.

Features touted for Yodlee Mobile consumers include secure access, increased convenience, easy access, alerts, optimized presentation and ubiquitous device support.

The benefits to financial institutions as promoted by Yodlee are quick time to market, universal support, low integration costs, full control, increased customer loyalty and new revenue.

Two undisclosed British banks are said to have signed up to use Yodlee's mobile banking service through Vodafone UK. They will deploy the offering by year's end.

Users will be able to access via a mobile WAP browser and two-way text messages, along with alerts through text and email.

"We don't favor the client-side download," Mr. Polverari said. "Our strategy is through the browser or through SMS because we think long-term in one to two years in the wireless space that will provide a better experience."

The launch in Britain is an indication of the U.S. market's differences in the mobile banking area compared with Europe.

"The opportunity in PC is very much led by American banks, but the opportunity in mobile is very much led by European banks," Mr. Polverari said.

"So the reasons are quite simply that networks and device capabilities in Europe have been historically ahead of the U.S. and now I think you're starting to see the device capabilities here in America," he said. "That, in turn, will have the ability to drive a robust mobile banking experience."

Yodlee is a strong believer in the Web side of mobile banking versus the client-side download process preferred by some players.

"We think the Web will win," Mr. Polverari said. "And I also think there's inherent tension between the banks and the network operators. And Vodafone was the first operator we saw that was able to reconcile that that tension."