First National Bank (FNB) and eBucks.com have launched cellphone banking via Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and secure SMS.
The WAP and wireless Internet gateway (WIG) cellphone banking pilot project was completed last week.
The group says both the WIG technology through MTN`s secure SMS service and the network-independent WAP application will be available to FNB`s customers for the first time.
WIG uses two-way SMS to deliver information rather than the continuous datacalls of WAP.
It says FNB customers will be able to access any of their accounts, check balances, make third-party payments, change personal identification numbers and transfer funds from one account to another via their cellphones.
"The time is right strategically to adopt this technology across the bank and complement existing financial service channels like ATMs, FirstDirect Telephone Banking and the Internet," says FNB Retail Bank CEO Wendy Lucas Bull.
"Because there are so many variations of handsets in the market, FNB opted to not be handset-, technology- or network-specific, but rather give our customers the widest possible cellphone banking choice."
eBucks.com`s Jacques Celliers says WIG is convenient because any phone that can send and receive SMS can be used for WIG mobile banking without an investment in a WAP-enabled phone.
"Most widely available cellphones are compatible with WIG banking," he says. "All a customer will require extra is a 32k SIM card which they can obtain from their nearest MTN service provider."
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