Citi drives digital roll-out in Oz

US giant Citi is bidding to carve itself a niche in the Australian market by rolling out a slew of digital services, reports Finextra.

Separately, it has also become the first bank in China to open a branch in Shanghai's metro system. The bank, which received a licence in Australia 25 years ago, says it will roll out "innovative services based on the latest technologies" for its retail, corporate and institutional clients over the next 12 months.

In March, Citi upgraded its online banking platform, making it the first retail bank in the country to provide a single view of local and offshore accounts. It now plans to add a mobile service for retail customers and a new hi-tech 'smart' branch in Sydney.

Fiserv is offering a mobile remote deposit service, a move that could rapidly expand the adoption of a technology that is becoming a must-have feature at many banks, says Insurance Networking News.

A handful of financial companies offer mobile remote capture now, but payments executives expect this to change, very soon.

"Quite frankly, our clients were clamouring for it," said Gary Brand, the director of source capture optimisation at Fiserv. The service lets people deposit cheques remotely by photographing them with a smartphone and sending the images to the bank.

China has ordered banks and other firms to limit use of foreign computer security technology, setting up a possible trade clash with America and Europe, writes TodayOnline.

Beijing's rules cite security concerns but are also consistent with its efforts to build up Chinese technology industries by shielding them from global competition. The US and the European Union have raised questions in the World Trade Organisation about the rules.

Authorities are inspecting companies to enforce the restrictions and some have been told to replace foreign technology.