I went into my local bank over the weekend - something which thanks first to telephone banking, and then its more advanced cousin, Internet banking, I don`t normally do. Technological advances of this sort have allowed me to reach the point where I prefer to interface with my bank electronically - as much for reasons of speed and convenience as for my considerable aversion to the inside of banks.
What puzzles me is why the employers of this sizable chunk of the consumer banking market haven`t yet cottoned on to the idea of paying salaries online.
Basheera Khan, Journalist, ITWeb
But if the crowds at Standard Bank`s Bramley branch are anything to go by, the convenience of online banking is swiftly bypassing the masses. It wasn`t so much the vastness of the queues, but rather the services for which they were queuing that caught my eye.
For the most part, people were waiting to deposit their salaries, or cash their cheques before carrying on with month-end activities. The other serpentine queue waited for card enquiries, and from the look of it, they were mostly users of the bank`s C income earners offering.
What puzzles me is why the employers of this sizable chunk of the consumer banking market haven`t yet cottoned on to the idea of paying salaries online, directly into their employees` bank accounts. By all accounts, business use of Internet banking has precisely the same benefits as the consumer side - online transactions are easier, quicker, and most importantly, cheaper than those reliant on older methods.
The fact that almost anyone with a bank account has a debit/ATM card and that the scope of ATM functionality has expanded over the past years means that the electronic age goal of better, faster and cheaper is on the verge of being realised.
But for that missing link - buy in from the heavyweights of industry - that 20% that employs the rest. One needs to realise that in this day and age, lower income earners are not necessarily oblivious to the various opportunities opened by the use of technology, nor are they afraid to learn. Case in point - I got to talking with several umpires at a nearby action cricket arena, who when they heard the words "technology journalist" were bursting with questions about the Internet, and how they could go about using it.
And while A and B income earners are currently in the sights of financial institutions offering yet more functionality and range of services through their online offerings (NBS`s icanonline and Standard Bank`s MyLife are just some of the most active), it looks like lower income earners stand the chance of being forced to stick to a consumer behaviour pattern they may not necessarily want to continue.
The banks realise the potential cash cow that lower income earner market represents, and they`re in full chase, with consumer education programmes spearheading the marketing initiatives. Will business come to the party soon enough to make a difference?
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