Prepaid airtime top-ups via Absa cellphone banking jumped by 28% in December 2007, compared to previous recent monthly averages, as growing numbers of travelling holidaymakers plumped for the convenience of mobile services.
"Whether they're relaxing at the beach, tucked away in the mountains, or travelling on the road, people on holiday enjoy the convenience of cellphone banking," says Christo Vrey, managing executive of Absa Digital Channels.
Absa's prepaid airtime sales (both mobile and fixed-line airtime) have soared by almost 80% since the beginning of 2007, adds Vrey.
The total number of monthly transactions - including account payments, statements and inter-account transfers - rose by 36% between January and December 2007.
Cellphone banking customers in South Africa doubled in 2007, according to a recent mobile trends study from research house World Wide Worx.
"As the fastest growing banking channel, we expect to reach half-a-million mobile banking customers this year," notes Vrey. Currently, Absa processes over three million cellphone banking transactions per month.
Cellphone Banking has been available to Absa customers since the year 2000; and in the past few years has seen rapid growth.
Cost-effective cellphones and almost-nationwide GSM coverage brings cellphone banking within the reach of nearly every South African, meaning there's plenty of room for growth in this industry over the coming years.
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The Absa Group (Absa), listed on the JSE Limited, is one of South Africa's largest financial services groups offering a complete range of banking, bancassurance and wealth management products and services.
Absa's business is conducted primarily in South Africa and on the African continent, where it has equity holdings in banks in Mozambique, Angola and Tanzania.
At 30 June 2007, the group had 675 million shares in issue and a market capitalisation of R88.8 billion.
At 30 June 2007, Absa had assets of R554 billion; 771 physical outlets; 8.8 million customers.
Absa is a subsidiary of Barclays Bank PLC, which holds a stake of 57.6% in the group. Barclays is an international financial services group engaged in retail and commercial banking, credit card issuing, investment banking, wealth management and investment management services.
The corporate social mission of Absa is to grow partnerships by providing financial and other resources to needy communities, and to ensure their sustainable development. The strength of Absa's corporate social investment (CSI) initiatives lies in long-term partnerships and relationships with targeted communities. In this regard, Absa adopts a developmental approach to the funding of sustainable development projects by utilising community driven programmes with strong community participation. Absa is one of the largest banks in South Africa, and has an integrated corporate social responsibility programme.
For more information, please visit the Absa Web site: www.absa.co.za.
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