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Battle of the banking apps

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 26 Apr 2013
The battle of the banks is on now that each one of SA's "big four" banks has a mobile app in the market.
The battle of the banks is on now that each one of SA's "big four" banks has a mobile app in the market.

SA's "big four" banks have highlighted the merits of their individual mobile applications - one of the fastest growing banking channels in SA - following Absa's last-past-the-finish-line release this month.

SA's biggest bank by customer numbers, Absa, yesterday boasted "50 000 downloads in 12 days, following the 10 April release of its banking app for customers using Android and iOS.

Arrie Rautenbach, Absa's head of retail banking, says user reviews and industry reaction have been "fantastic". He says the app's growth in SA bears testament to the team's intense work prior to its launch.

"The app is the first native financial services app for smartphones and tablets in SA that is available for both retail and business customers alike. Customers can link multiple devices to a single account or conversely multiple accounts can be linked to a single device."

Rautenbach says the bank has seen its app dominating customer conversations on social media channels and "positive sentiment has been shared".

He says Absa's app will evolve in the coming months, to bring additional functionality and features ? starting with support for BlackBerry devices in the next six weeks.

Path paver

Banking app pioneer First National Bank (FNB) says its app created the need for apps in banking in the local market. "Prior to its introduction there was no local benchmark, case study or competitor."

First to market with its smartphone app in July 2011, FNB had a head start of about a year, with Nedbank and Standard Bank "going app" at the end of June 2012.

With over 450 000 active smartphone app users, FNB unveiled its tablet app last week. Farren Roper, head of FNB Connect ISP and business operations, says the bank focuses on active users, rather than downloads. "In the 10 days since we launched our bespoke tablet app, we have more than 10 000 active clients."

Roper says the figure is encouraging, because it is independent of FNB's smartphone app.

FNB believes tablet app uptake and penetration should be more comparable to online browser uptake. "We believe that tablets are more of an alternative or replacement for computers, rather than smartphones."

Roper attributes FNB's head start to the early adoption of technology and an in-house development team (FNB Mobile and Connect). "We do not outsource any aspects of the developments of our app to anyone at all. Having our own team makes us more agile."

Since its launch almost two years ago, he says, the app has seen rapid growth, with monthly active users now growing in excess of 50 000 per month. "Before its second birthday, the app is set to have over half a million - giving it one of the fastest adoption rates for a new digital channel."

Rival releases

Nedbank and Standard Bank were neck and neck with the introduction of their mobile channels in July last year.

Nedbank says it has seen almost 20 000 downloads of the Nedbank App Suite to date, with BlackBerry recording close to 50% of downloads, followed by Android.

Nedbank CIO Fred Swanepoel recently said it had been a two-year journey to get the bank's App Suite to market. Its launch in September followed shortly after Standard Bank's June release.

Nedbank's app is available for BlackBerry, Apple (iOS) and Android devices, as well as certain Nokia handsets. The bank lauds the platform as a cost-effective way for clients to contain their bank fees.

Standard Bank says its app has just over 152 000 unique registered users, as at 1 April.

Available on iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows 8 platforms, there has been an average of 10 000 new users per month, according to Standard Bank.

Itumeleng Monale, head of channel design and development at Standard Bank, says the total value of successful transactions processed through the app to date is just over R8 billion.

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