First National Bank (FNB) has extended mobile phone banking to the widest market by basing its new cellphone banking service on the lowest common level of technology.
"FNB's new mobile banking offering is based on standard short message service (SMS) technology, which is standard on every handset being used in the country," says Len Pienaar, CEO of FNB mobile solutions.
Mobile banking from FNB and other banks has until now been limited to specific handsets and security identity module cards supporting technologies like the wireless Internet gateway and wireless application protocol.
Michael Jordaan, CEO of FNB, says FNB`s Cellphone Banking service is helping to fulfil the bank`s financial services charter goals by making banking services easily available to a wide range economic groups anywhere, any time, including SA`s rural population.
FNB is aiming to register 100 000 users in the next 18 months through its branches, ATMs, call centre, or Internet banking site.
Pienaar admits it may take time for clients to become comfortable with banking by cellphone, but insists the service is safe.
"In addition to the security provided by the PIN code, daily limits and the inContact service, only requests from a registered cellphone number will be accepted and FNB offers a full money-back guarantee, provided the necessary precautions have been taken," he explains.
Pienaar says perhaps the most significant achievement in bringing this mobile banking service to market was establishing a single standard to be used by all three cellular operators.
Our aim was to provide a standards-based, 24-hour, real-time service that is easy to use and does not require special handsets, SIM cards, software, or phone settings," says Pienaar.
FNB Cellphone Banking involves sending a keyword by SMS to the bank requesting a service and then sending a mobile personal identification number to confirm the request.
The launch of FNB`s Cellphone Banking service marks the first step towards full mobile banking facilities by offering any FNB transactional account holder the ability to check account balances, get a mini statement, transfer funds between FNB accounts, buy prepaid airtime for any phone on any network, and check the status of airtime purchases.
FNB`s real-time transaction service, inContact, is also automatically available to anyone registering for the new cellular banking service.
Although the service is presently available only in English, there are plans to extend the number of languages available.
FNB says costs associated with the new service are comparable to Internet banking fees. A mini statement costs R2, while a transaction is charged at R3.
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