Mobile banking steps up a gear
By Asher Moses | theage.com.au | 31 January
Image: Gabriele Charotte
Australians are fast deserting bank branches and soon we won't even need a computer to transact, now that the major banks are rolling out mobile phone banking services.
National Australia Bank and ANZ this week announced the impending launch of their mobile offerings, both of which will allow customers to check balances, view mini statements and transfer funds between their accounts via SMS.
On top of this, ANZ users will be able to pay bills and transfer money to third parties using a special mobile phone application.
ANZ will be first with the mobile banking functionality on February 11, while NAB will launch in April. The other major banks, Westpac and Commonwealth Bank, have so far resisted the technology.
A report released by Juniper Research this week predicted financial services delivered over the mobile phone would likely "revolutionise the sector" in much the same way ATMs did. It forecasts over 612 million mobile phone users would generate over $US587 billion ($660 billion) worth of financial transactions by 2011.
ANZ's M-Banking will let customers transfer money between their accounts or to third parties via a special phone application, while its TXT Banking will provide account balances and mini statements via SMS.
"More than 95 per cent of Australians have a mobile phone so providing mobile phone banking is just another way we are making it more convenient and simple for our customers to do their banking," ANZ's group managing director for its personal division, Brian Hartzer, said.
NAB's offering is limited to SMS and will only let customers request their account balance, view a mini statement or transfer money between their own accounts. Unlike the ANZ system, payments to third parties are not supported.
"If you can send an SMS from your mobile phone then you will be able to use NAB SMS Banking," said NAB's executive general manager for retail banking, Andrew Thorburn.
Commonwealth Bank spokesman Bryan Fitzgerald said mobile banking was something "we have been looking at and will continue to look at" but there were no plans to launch the functionality at this stage.
When asked why the bank had avoided mobile banking while its competitors forged ahead with the technology, Fitzgerald said it was still assessing whether there was a "proven need for it".
The banks say no customer details are stored on the phone and when transacting via SMS, no passwords or account details are required. Instead, customers register their phone number with the bank and if their phone is stolen the banking service will be switched off when the customer deactivates their SIM card.
ANZ said its M-Banking service would work in a similar way to its PC-based internet banking service and all information would be encrypted.
ANZ said its mobile banking feature would be free until at least December 31. NAB's will be free until October 31, after which account balances and mini statements will cost 25 cents, while fund transfers will cost 40 cents.
But anyone using the services will still have to pay their mobile carrier's standard text message and data usage fees on top of this. All phones should support SMS banking, while ANZ's M-Banking requires a Java-enabled phone with an active GPRS connection.
In the not too distant future, bank customers will also be able to pay for goods simply by swiping their phone over a scanner. Commonwealth Bank and NAB have both announced trials of the "contactless payment technology" in partnership with MasterCard and Visa respectively.
First published by TheAge.com.au on January 31 2008
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