Investec has released an app that will allow private clients to bank and trade while on the go, using a consolidated account dashboard.
Users with private Investec banking accounts will be able to pay beneficiaries and bills, and make other ad hoc payments. They will also be able to see balances and transactions, and use interactive graphical representations of information such as inflow and outflow.
In addition, users who have wealth and investment portfolios at Investec will be able to trade in all JSE equities using the app. They will also be able to set up a watch list of stocks they have an interest in, which will ticker across the mobile screen upon login, and view and interact with all account movement and holdings.
There is also functionality for those who are not current Investec clients. A number of daily thought-leadership articles that give financial advice are provided on the app launch screen, along with a ticker tape of time-delayed stocks.
The app is already available for the iPad and will be available for Android tablets within the next few weeks, followed by BlackBerry and Windows tablets. Investec plans to release smartphone apps within the next two months.
"This is the start of a series of releases," says Lyndon Subroyen, CIO of Investec Wealth & Investment. "We're building a base with the consolidated account view. We'll be adding to it constantly, and will soon provide UK and offshore trading and access for our Australia and Mauritius client bases."
Roughly 40% of client transactions currently go through Investec's online portal. The design of the app, which has been done completely in-house, was spurred by statistics showing that a large number of these transactions were being done via mobile.
Digital is becoming an increasingly important channel for the firm, according to Ryan Tholet, head of banking at Investec Private Bank. Clients are demanding access to data on the go. While they are able to access their accounts already via the mobile Web, the app is able to provide a richer experience. For example, it can allow the user to get directly in touch with his or her private banker.
"We want to provide relevant interaction at a client's chosen time," Tholet says. "Our clients dictate what they want from us; we're not going to be prescriptive."
Even though the current app is targeted at private banking clients, Investec aims to release similar apps for all clients in the near future.
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