They seem like ideal uses for your mobile phone or portable device - checking your bank account, paying your bills, keeping up with the stock market and even trading a few shares.

Being kept constantly up-to-date, as well as having the ability to act while on the move, may not suit everyone. However, for those with ample funds and investments, or for the less affluent wanting constant reassurance, wireless access to financial services is an obvious advantage.

The problem is that, as with much of the high-tech world, the potential is still far greater than the reality. Mobile phones are slow in connecting to the internet - except with i-mode in Japan - and security is a concern. But it may not be too long before your mobile device becomes a banking, trading and payments tool, as well as a communications aid.

These days, the talk is already about integrating the mobile channel into the full range of channels and services provided by banks, brokers and financial service companies.

People will be able to remain in touch with their financial affairs, receiving tailored alerts on account balances and share prices. For banks, this offers an opportunity to provide wealthy clients with tempting new services, says Jacob Marc Goldman, head of sales and marketing for banking and finance at Ericsson, the Swedish mobile company.

"People with a lot of money tend to worry about it all the time. So you have to do whatever it takes to keep your big customers." The business case for providing sophisticated and personalised mobile banking and stockbroking services for high-value clients "is virtually a no-brainer".

But mobile offerings will not be the whole story. "We don't think there will be such a thing as a wireless investor," says Robert Sofman, senior vice president of global wireless at Charles Schwab, the US broking house. "It will not be the only channel. It will be part of an integrated channel concept - people want to be able to access services when, where and how they want."

Mr Sofman says Schwab's own investors were keen to have mobile access to their accounts and to real-time stock quotes, market news and equity trading. But it is not just the active traders who want to use wireless - many people simply want to stay in touch.

As yet, Schwab's wireless service, PocketBroker, accounts for only a small proportion of overall trades. But as the technology improves and more mobile devices come onto the market, he expects a big jump in the volume of trading on-the-move.

Once devices can be "always on" - with GPRS (general packet radio service) - instead of users having to dial up for internet access, Mr Sofman expects applications to multiply well beyond what is currently possible. "There will be a whole host of new services we can't yet envision."

As people switch funds between accounts and pay bills, for example, they could be updated on the overall state of their finances. The consequences of each action would become immediately apparent. "It goes beyond trading and investing and helps consumers become smarter with money and their financial future."

That day is still some way off, perhaps two or three years. But by then, mobile banking and trading should already have reached impressive levels. Ari Seppala, a partner at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting), expects the market to really take off in 2002, helped by GPRS and Bluetooth, which will allow devices to communicate with each other at close range.

Datamonitor, the UK-based market researcher, forecasts that the number of Wap (wireless application protocol) enabled mobile banking customers in Europe will exceed 16m by 2004 compared with some 1.5m this year. In a report called mBanking in Europe 2000, it says surveys show that nearly a third of mobile users see banking as the type of service they would most like to access from their phones.

At the moment, the Nordic countries, with their high mobile and internet penetration rates, lead the mobile banking market. But Datamonitor expects nearly 75 per cent of European m-banking to take place in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain by 2004.

Some banks, such as Barclays in the UK and MeritaNordbanken in the Nordic region, have offered simple versions of m-banking for several years. Others are now weighing up the opportunities or dipping their toes into the water.

But they should not wait too long, says Arthur Andersen, the business consultancy. Banks and financial groups that do not have a sizable m-commerce presence need not worry too much. "However, those who find themselves in the same predicament 12 months from now are likely to encounter difficulties retaining and acquiring profitable new customers."

The comment was made in a study called mCommerce - more hype than substance? The title is indicative of the scepticism surrounding m-commerce's prospects in view of the lame performance of Wap phones to date.

But Nigel Moden, of Andersen's consulting practice, sees strong potential in the mobile financial sector. "Wap disillusionment will be forgotten in a year or so." Banks and brokers should now be concentrating on what they can offer their more affluent customers.

"The mobile channel has a better chance than the PC-based channel of making money," he adds. "If banks can successfully integrate CRM [customer relationship management] and mobile, then it has to be profitable. It's the best new revenue opportunity banks have had for a long time."

Banks have spent heavily on CRM systems and are in a unique position to understand the needs and wishes of their customers. The localised and personalised nature of mobile devices should thus offer them a unique opportunity.

"The push factor - proactively helping consumers to manage their finances more effectively, as well as offering new products and services at the most opportune moment - is the single most defining element of a personalised mobile service," Andersen says in its study.

However, integrating mobile services is a big challenge for established banks, whose various branch, PC-based, ATM, telephone and other services generally use different IT systems. Mobile services should not merely be an "add-on" feature, says Mr Moden. They have to extend right back into the organisation.

Which banks have shown themselves most willing to take on this challenge? As well as Barclays and MeritaNordbanken, those showing most energy on the mobile front include Woolwich of the UK (recently bought by Barclays), SEB of Sweden, Credit Commercial de France, Deutsche Bank, Italy's Sanpaolo IMI and Expandia Bank of the Czech Republic. Another problem for banks is knowing how far to go it alone and how far to partner with profits-hungry telecoms operators, equipment manufacturers and content providers in the complex mobile market. Security is also a vital issue, although impending advances in Wap technology are expected to ease many misgivings.

Two Finnish companies, Leonia Bank and eQonline, the online stockbroker, are singled out by Datamonitor as having a particularly strong commitment to security. Both have partnerships with Sonera SmartTrust, a mobile and internet security specialist.

Other essentials cited by Datamonitor include: the need for m-banking services to be independent of network operators; the importance of quality as opposed to simply being a "first mover"; robust systems that guard against crashes; a selective approach to services offered via mobile; and a strong commitment from top management to ensure enough time and money is provided.

All that may seem a tall order for banks which are already big IT spenders. IDC, the US market research company, forecasts that their banks' investments in mobile technology and systems in Europe will rise from nearly $45m this year to more than $340m in 2003.

Despite the tribulations of Wap, IDC expects it to become the most likely universal protocol for m-commerce. As new standards are developed and the technology is enhanced, consumers should take to m-commerce and m-banking more readily. Advances in voice technology could make the mobile experience even more compelling.

The potential is certainly there. All it needs is for banks and financial houses to pursue it more energetically.