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Standard Bank debuts smartwatch banking

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 11 Jun 2015
Standard Bank is working on a roadmap of banking features for wearables, starting with the Apple Watch.
Standard Bank is working on a roadmap of banking features for wearables, starting with the Apple Watch.

Standard Bank plans to embrace wearable technology, with the forthcoming release of its Apple Watch banking app.

In what the bank says is a "another first for banking in SA", Standard Bank's Apple Watch app is being tested with pilot users and will be available to the general public by the end of September.

This follows the recent launch of Standard Bank's biometric-enabled banking app, which gives users access to smartphone banking using Apple's Touch ID technology.

Magnus Taljaard, head of digital customer solutions at Standard Bank, explains the first version of the Apple Watch banking app will contain a "Balance Peek" feature - allowing users to check their latest account balances without having to log into Internet banking or their smartphone app.

He says the Apple Watch app will be followed by similar rollouts for Android Wear-enabled watches later in the year.

Standard Bank says, as more users start embracing smart watches and other forms of wearable personal technology, the bank will continue to develop a roadmap of banking features for wearables.

"Already on the agenda are smartwatch services that allow share trading clients to track indices and shares, see the biggest market movers and track changes in their share portfolios.

"Importantly, as with any new customer solution, privacy and security issues are high on the bank's agenda. For this reason, users are able to de-link their Apple Watch from their iPhone, as well as to toggle the Balance Peek feature on or off from the main banking app."

The Apple Watch has not officially launched in SA yet, but is available as a grey import.

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